Mother turned grief over son's death into a passion for making treats for others
EVANSVILLE ? April Winstead knows about turning your pain into a passion.
She loves making desserts and had started occasionally producing treats for friends when, in 2019, her 16-year-old son Amarius was shot to death in Owensboro, Kentucky.
“I was working at a spa and couldn’t go to work and be OK every day,” Winstead said. “My mental state wasn’t right, and I wound up losing my job two weeks before Christmas. I still had two children to support as a single mom and I didn’t know what I was going to do, but thought I would try doing desserts.
"I posted on Facebook that I was going to make desserts on a Monday, and by Friday I had like 50 orders. It was a blessing, and it gave me something to focus on.”
That was the beginning of Posh Sweet Treat Creations LLC. The number of orders grew. Winstead said it was rough creating a home-based business from scratch.
She lived in Evansville and did a lot of delivering orders to friends and family in Owensboro. She started by producing one day a week, but soon was making desserts nearly every day.
The product that really put Winstead on the map was “taffy grapes” ? grapes coated in white chocolate with caramel and peanuts on top. They taste like a candy apple in a convenient bite size.
“The taffy grapes really ignited the business, and I was making mostly those for a while; everybody loved them,” she said. “Then when COVID hit, I was the busiest. Everybody was stuck at home, and they couldn’t go to restaurants and they didn’t have anything to do but eat. I started having pop-up shops.
"Hoosier Burger let me use their parking lot and I put the first one on Facebook. I knew I needed to make at least 200 orders and I sold out of everything.”
More recently, Jessica Machen, the owner of Agape Graze charcuterie, contacted Winstead about producing chocolate-covered strawberries for her and explained the steps for getting licensed and working in a commissary kitchen; Winstead got her LLC and started using in the commissary kitchen at Venue 812 about two years ago. Now she’s at Kitchen 812 on Weinbach Avenue.
She still posts daily offerings on Facebook and does pop-up shops a few times a year.
“Posh saved my life because there were days when I didn’t even want to get out of bed, but when orders came in, I had to get up," Winstead said. "I had to take care of my kids. I was grieving, but I had something to look forward to and people were believing in me. It’s been five years since I lost Amarius, and I keep working and working so I don’t get down.”
On the menu at Posh Sweet Treats
Winstead doesn't bake other than some cookies, but makes what she calls "dessert treats." She coats fruit or pretzels with chocolate or sweet and sour coating, produces her famous taffy grapes, and cooks homemade pudding which she tops with whipped cream, cookies and other garnishes.
Other options are cheesecake cups, coated apple slices, Oreo balls, cake balls, cake pops and more. A new favorite for her is frozen fruit with a secret formula ? crunchy, but not sticky, candy coating and candy garnishes.
Winstead posts daily items for pick up on her Facebook page before 10 a.m., or she can be called at 812-773-8870 between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. If you're searching for the Facebook page, look for Posh Sweet Treat Creations LLC.
Winstead will respond with information on how to pay and when to pick up. Evening pick up is available. Other than on pop-up days, all items must be pre-ordered and pre-paid ? there is no walk-in service. Delivery is available for a small fee up to 10 miles away from Kitchen 812.
Large or custom orders may be requested ahead of time – two days for small custom orders, and a week for large orders for events.
Posh Sweet Treats
Location: 122 N. Weinbach Ave. (Posh Sweet Treats Creations is not a storefront and there are no walk-in hours. Location is given for order pick-up only.)
Phone: 812-773-8870
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Posh Sweet Treat Creations offers candied fruit and more to Evansville
