Article and Photos by Larry H. Oskin
Sweet Cups Chef celebrated its move to a new location at 628 8th Street in Downtown Clermont, near West Montrose. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was hosted by the South Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Owners Frank and Amy Anastasia have put their heart, soul and flavors into this sweet shop. Frank had spent most of the past eight years working with Walt Disney World in hospitality until he got furloughed due to the Covid pandemic. Amy spent the past twenty years as a successful school teacher at Sunridge Elementary School in nearby Winter Garden. The pandemic moved her into virtual teaching. They started their sweet treats business by selling cheesecakes and cookies at local farmer’s markets. With a very fast and positive acceptance to their specialty treats, they first opened a small storefront within the Clermont Downtown Exchange. That too was so successful, that they needed to move out to their current new location.
Frank Anastasia notes, “Our brand concept centers around Flavor Trip Time! We try to help take your taste palette somewhere it has never been before.” Sweet Cups Chef prides itself by only using the very best high-quality ingredients while using as many local sources as possible. They credit Kim’s Cabbage Patch and Lake Catherine Farms for their peaches, apple butter, pumpkin butter, blueberries and other fresh fruit additives. Frank adds, “We always add homage to the famed TV Golden Girls as they always solved all of their problems while eating cheesecake together.”
Sweet Cups Chef offers a variety of specialty cheesecakes served in glass mason jars as well as an array of huge cookie treats, that are made fresh each day. They offer over 40 different cheesecake flavors and recipes while keeping nine of them available each week. Sweet Cup cheesecake flavors include The Riz, Just Peachy, Pumpkin Patch, Blueberry Bliss, Chocolate Hazelnut and Chocolate Chip, they keep these desserts exciting. They also have a large number of cookie flavors including Chocolate Chip Cookie Monster, Oatmeal Raisin, Chocolate Chip Walnut, White Chocolate Chip with Apple Butter Caramel and many more. All of their cheesecakes are gluten-free, unless they are made with a cookie. They always have at least one new keto sugar-free cookie flavor every week.
Sweet Cups Chef plans to launch a new gift card program before the year-end holidays. Check out hours of operations and weekly flavor updates by visiting their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/sweetcupschef/ or call 352-717-4243.
