A sweet venture

GRCC student bakes up a new enterprise that’ll satisfy your sweet tooth.
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There’s a new bakery in town and owner Pedro Camargo is doing more than just satisfying the locals’ sweet tooth. Mainside Hustle Baking and Co. opened in late June and is making a name for itself with its oversized muffins. A Michigan native, Camargo is currently a nursing student at Grand Rapids Community College and indulges his baking niche through the business.

“I grew up with my father always cooking and making different cheesecakes and pies, always perfecting his recipes,” Camargo said about how his father played a role in influencing his baking interest. “Sometimes we would eat pies every day for a whole month!” he added.

Mainside Hustle is operating on a pre-order pickup and delivery basis through its Facebook page or by text message. The current menu includes customer favorite Blueberry Sunshine, a lemon-flavored muffin with fresh blueberries and topped with a lemon poppy seed glaze. Other items include Nutella Dreams, a Nutella-filled muffin topped with cinnamon sugar; Chocolate Orange, an orange-flavored muffin with chocolate chips topped with an orange chocolate ganache; and the Banana Bandito, banana-flavored with walnuts and chunks
of chocolate chips.

Mainside Hustle also offers Muffin Top Cookies, which are, as the name implies, a cookie in the form of the top of the muffin.

Charitable endeavor

Pedro Camargo enjoys donating unpurchased baked goods at day’s end to the homeless at local parks.

“I wanted to see if I could do something and make a positive difference, and I did, and it’s great helping people out along the way. Plus, I get to make some super awesome muffins,” he said.

Additionally, a portion of the profits from each baked good purchased goes to a different charity every month, with hopes to raise $100 for each. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention was the charity of choice for August.

Camargo focuses on offering customers fresh ingredients by supporting local businesses. Many of the items that go into each baked good are purchased from local farmers markets, especially the fruits.

This fall, Camargo added homemade peach, apple and pumpkin pies to the menu.

“I always wanted to make my own venture, but I wasn’t sure what it was exactly. One day I woke up and started finding recipes for muffins, and thought I’d see how it goes,” Camargo explained. “My first order filled up a lot quicker than I thought, and I ended up staying up till 4 a.m. baking,” he added.

Mainside Hustle Baking and Co. is still a growing business, but Camargo hopes to ramp things up by expanding to other baked goods and starting mail delivery and selling at local farmers markets.

Visit Mainside Hustle on Facebook or in person at 350 Ionia Ave. SW.

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