photo by Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph A Hot Fudge Sundae cupcake is pictured at left among other cupcakes during an employee training day at Smallcakes, a new cupcake shop that will have their soft opening Jan. 15 and grand opening Jan. 31. Smallcakes will feature 14 signature flavor cupcakes daily and four specialty cupcakes daily. They are located at 5875 Old Bullard Road, Suite 300.

Becki Reiss learned how to bake and decorate cakes when she was 11 and has had a passion for whipping up sweets ever since.

Mrs. Reiss, 48, learned the trade when she took a cake decorating class at J.C. Penney in 1977 and worked for a bakery for five years while in college. She has made wedding and grooms cakes, as well as cakes for birthdays and anniversaries for family, friends and co-workers throughout the years.

After working for Half Price Books for 20 years in Corpus Christi, McKinney, Frisco and Lewisville, Mrs. Reiss said she was burned out from the book business.

It had always been a dream of hers to open a bakery and over the years, co-workers have encouraged her to follow her dream, she said. About five years ago, she and her husband began looking at franchises.

Now, they plan to open Smallcakes, a “cupcakery,” in Tyler on Thursday.

“When I discovered this (Smallcakes), it was just right,” Mrs. Reiss said.

She said the product is what drew her to the franchise.

She had tried several new cupcake businesses that had popped up in the Dallas area during the past few years and wasn’t impressed until she found Smallcakes.

After picking up a dozen cupcakes to take to her co-workers, she said, “We were all floored at how good these were,” she said, adding that they were consistently good every time she went back to Smallcakes for more.

At the Tyler store, Smallcakes will offer every day 14 signature flavors, such as wedding cake, strawberry, peanut butter cup, cookies n’ cream, lemon drop, caramel crunch, chocoholic and birthday cake.

They also will offer three or four specialty flavors that rotate every day. These will include Kentucky bourbon, German chocolate, cherry bomb, and Fat Elvis (banana cupcake with peanut butter frosting).

Mrs. Reiss and her employees have been working hard for the past few weeks to set up the shop and start baking with her four employees. She plans to open the doors to her business in The Shops at Old Bullard retail center on Thursday and will have a grand opening celebration, with face painting, balloons and prizes on Jan. 31.

Mrs. Reiss and her husband of 20 years, John Reiss, will run the business.

Reiss worked as a flight simulator technician for 15 years in Corpus Christi and Dallas, and was a chef before that.

“He has a lot of experience in the kitchen,” she said. “It’s a pretty good mix.”

Mrs. Reiss said her parents live in Holly Lake Ranch, and they began visiting Tyler about 10 years ago. She said they loved the city and moved here on Oct. 31 to open the franchise.

Smallcakes is a privately-held company owned by Jeff Martin, who started it in Overland Park, Kansas in 2009, offering 18 made-from-scratch flavors, as well as special edition seasonal flavors. Mrs. Reiss said Martin has been featured on Cupcake Wars, The View and was voted in the Top 50 Places to Have a Cupcake by USA Today.

Now, there are at least 75 locations in 19 states across America, as well as in the United Arab Emirates. Tyler will be the 14th store in Texas, according to the company’s website.

Smallcakes believes in its slogan of “Maybe a Cupcake Will Help?” and regularly rewards customers for their cupcake loyalty, according to www.smallcakescupcakery.com. Giving back to the community by supporting charitable partners is a core value that is important to the Smallcakes brand, the website states.