Bittersweet farewell: Syracuse cookie baker moving kitchen back home after 8 years downtown

Syracuse, N.Y. — After baking cookies for the masses in downtown Syracuse for eight years, Cathy Pemberton is moving her business back to her home.
Pemberton started Cathy’s Cookie Kitchen as a cookie wholesaler from her Camillus home 11 years ago. On Dec. 17, 2016, she took over the storefront at 266 W. Jefferson St. in Armory Square. She continued to fill private orders while maintaining a full-service sweet shop.
“I have loved every minute of it; I still love it,” Pemberton said this morning. “I’m not getting younger, and I’m missing too much with my family and my grandchildren.”
Her last day downtown will be Saturday, Dec. 21. Until then, she’ll fulfill her holiday orders and keep the store’s shelves filled. She’s already received 50 Christmas orders.
She’ll move much of her industrial kitchen back to Camillus. She expects to reopen in late January, just in time for Valentine’s Day orders.
“The timing is actually perfect because January is the slowest month of the year for me,” she said. “You know, the holidays are over and people have healthy resolutions to keep.”
While Pemberton continues to be passionate about making her desserts, she won’t miss the 7:30 a.m. email checks for orders, the hours shopping for ingredients and then driving everything downtown. She’d then mix and bake while standing up until the end of the night.
“It’s been eight years of solid hard work,” she said. “The work won’t be going away, but if I want to start cooking at 6 p.m. and go until 2 a.m., then that’s what I’ll do.”
Pemberton will keep her wholesale accounts and continue to take catering orders.
“I’m not going away; I’m just scaling back,” she said. “Still, it is bittersweet. I absolutely love all my customers and all of downtown.”
Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drinks and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at [email protected]. You can also find him under @HoosierCuse on Twitter and on Instagram. Sign up for his free weekly Where Syracuse Eats newsletter here.