If Pittsford were a cupcake, Morgan Washburn knows exactly what flavor it would be: lemon.

"Pittsford is the Sunshine Village," she says. "Lemon makes me think of sunshine."

It is an apt description from the 24-year-old Pittsford native, whose business, Peony Cupcakes, has grown from a childhood interest in baking into a specialty business known for elaborate floral cupcakes, cupcake bouquets, cake pops, cakesicles and, increasingly, wedding work, all completely custom.

Washburn has lived in the same Pittsford house her entire life. She began baking as a child with her mother, Phaedra Knapp, and her grandmother figure, Anne Shannon, who is her grandmother's best friend, and who took over the role when Washburn’s grandmother died. Washburn has always called her “Annabelle.”

"She's an amazing woman," Washburn says. 

Annabelle is now ninety, and Washburn’s favorite chocolate cupcake is made from Annabelle's recipe.

That history of recipes with meaning gives Peony Cupcakes its personal character. For Washburn, baking is not simply about producing something attractive or delicious. It is a way of carrying forward relationships and creating new ones.

Although Peony Cupcakes began as a side hobby, and Washburn did not initially expect it to become the business it is growing into today, she is passionate about her work. She sees her small business as a way to give back to the community that has always supported her. 

She has seen that support grow from her first cupcake order, which she remembers vividly. Christine Maseroni ordered a vanilla cupcake bouquet for Mother's Day in 2023.

"It was plain vanilla and it wasn't very pretty," Washburn admits. 

But Maseroni kept coming back. Washburn later made cupcakes for her daughter's engagement party and baby shower, and Maseroni helped spread the word about Peony Cupcakes.

"She's supported me from the start and has seen my skills improve to where they are today," Washburn says. "She's given me great word of mouth, which is the way small businesses like mine grow."

It is a story that also illustrates what Washburn values about operating a business in a small community: customers can become supporters, collaborators and, over time, friends.

Now she’s had years of practice, and she says, "I hear all the time that people don't want to eat my cupcakes because they're too pretty." But of course, when they do eat them, "the look on their faces is priceless!"

Washburn is largely self-taught, particularly when it comes to decorating, for which she uses Russian piping tips, specialized decorating tools that can be challenging even for experienced bakers. Washburn taught herself the hand and wrist movements necessary to work with them, even while dealing with wrist pain. She says it’s worth it to get the look just right.

"My specialty is floral designs,” she says. Washburn’s cupcake bouquets are particularly popular for Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. She now takes custom orders and has begun doing wedding work as well.

Her designs are highly individualized. One of her most memorable requests was for an engagement party with a Highland cow theme, resulting in chocolate Highland cow cupcakes. For fall, one of her most distinctive flavors is caramel apple: a cake cupcake with apple filling, vanilla-cinnamon buttercream and caramel drizzle.

She also makes lemon, raspberry, pumpkin and spice cupcakes, along with cake pops and slightly larger cakesicles that can be completely customized. Her lemon raspberry cupcake has an especially local connection: she uses raspberries from a naturally occurring domestic raspberry patch in her backyard.

Washburn also takes pride in using as many local ingredients as possible. At Pittsford Day, for example, she made zucchini bread using locally sourced vegetables from Gallipo's Farm Stand, along with Vermont eggs and milk and Cabot butter, which she uses without shortening to make her buttercream.

"This takes more work, but it is worth it," she says. "The slight resistance when you bite into a cupcake that has been frosted with the real buttercream is delicious to me."

For Washburn, entrepreneurship is also a way of creating a career that works with her circumstances. She previously worked at DreamMaker Bakers in Killington, a job she loved, but a conventional nine-to-five job isn't always sustainable for her because she lives with POTS. Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome is a disorder involving the autonomic nervous system that can cause fatigue and other symptoms. 

"Living with disabilities has its challenges, but I never wanted them to define what I'm capable of doing—especially as a young woman," she says.

"I am a baker, an artist, a business owner trying to build something I am proud of. I am not just my disability."

That perspective has become part of what she hopes others will take from her story.

"There are a lot of people who live with chronic illness in their lives," she says. "I want them to know that they are more than their illness and that we should not let the disability define who we are."

Building the business has reinforced that lesson for her.

"It has taught me that I'm stronger than I think," she says. "I always make it work, even when it’s stressful."

Washburn says the community has been one of the biggest reasons Peony Cupcakes has continued to grow.

Her recurring customers are primarily Pittsford residents, and she is particularly grateful that they have continued to support her as the costs of ingredients and supplies have increased.

"My customers have stuck with me, which is amazing," she says.

Like other small-business owners, she faces the challenge of keeping prices reasonable while also making sure her own work is valued. She says, "Seeing people when they see and eat my cupcakes is what keeps me going."

For Washburn, it is as much about where she has her business as it is what she is doing. "Pittsford is a very supportive town," she says. "Everyone wants everybody else to succeed."

That sense of connection is part of why she believes her hometown is different and why she has become increasingly involved in Pittsford's civic life and hopes to become even more involved.

"Pittsford is one of those places where you can walk in anywhere and everyone knows who you are."

Baking isn't Washburn's only creative pursuit. She has been a singer-songwriter since she was 13 and performs at open mics, including those at Red Clover Ale in Brandon. Her primary instrument is ukulele, with piano as her second instrument.

Singer-songwriter Emily Ann Roberts is one of her biggest influences. "She's a real person who gardens, crochets and bakes," Washburn says.

Washburn's own music is personal. One of her songs, "Goodbye's Gonna," is particularly meaningful to her, and many of her recent songs reflect her long-distance relationship with her boyfriend, who is in the military.

Peony Cupcakes offers a 10% military discount as a way for Washburn to give something back.

For her, baking and songwriting have something important in common.

"When people can resonate with my songs or my cupcakes, that's a really nice thing."

Peony Cupcakes currently operates under Vermont's Cottage Food Law, which limits the ways Washburn can operate as a wholesale business.

There are plans for the future, although she's keeping some of them under wraps.

"Things are in the works for expansion," she says. "But I don't want to spill all my secrets!"

Her long-term vision is clear. Ten years from now, Washburn would like to have a full bakery offering more than cupcakes, perhaps with a coffee shop as well.

But the most important part of that vision isn't simply expansion. It's creating a particular atmosphere.

"Somewhere people can feel like home," she says. "Where they can walk in and feel instant relaxation and welcome." She wants the bakery to be a place people can visit on a good day or a difficult one simply to relax. That is also what she wants her cupcakes to provide.

"When my customers eat my cupcakes, I want them to feel joy and happiness."

Her business tagline sums up the combination of ambition, creativity, and honesty behind what she's building: "Baked with love and anxiety."

For Washburn, Peony Cupcakes is a business, but it is also an expression of who she is: a baker, artist, musician, entrepreneur and lifelong member of the Pittsford community.

Find Peony Cupcakes on Facebook here.