It’s no surprise that customers travel from far and wide to taste The Rolling Pin’s baked goods. Owners Isabelle Loiacono and Vanessa Baudanza have created cakes and gourmet donuts for rapper Drake’s birthday parties, fielded visits from the likes of MasterChefCanada judge Alvin Leung, and won $10,000 on The Food Network show Donut Showdown.
“It gave us a lot of opportunity and exposure. When people see us on TV, they come by specifically to try our donuts,” says Isabelle, whose tiramisu donut — one of the bakery’s bestsellers — was one of the gourmet concoctions to secure the $10,000 prize on the first season of Donut Showdown. “We actually had a guy from Texas come in just to try our doughnuts.”