What began merely as an idea for a Bat Mitzvah project has quickly spiraled into a business opportunity for two young bakers.

Upon entering the Upper School this year, seventh-graders Shoshana Greenblum and Dalia Siegel are hoping to popularize their cupcake business: “Cupcakes in Crime.” Originally, the girls had hoped to bake cupcakes as a joint Bat Mitzvah project and give a portion of the money to charity. Instead, though, they decided to turn the idea into a business while still giving a percentage of the money to charity.

Moving to Maryland and coming to JDS in fifth grade, Greenblum and Siegel soon became best friends. Often referred to as “partners in crime,” hence the name of the business, Greenblum and Siegel do almost everything together and at first were not expecting their cupcake idea to become anything substantial.

“One of our teachers was talking to us and she [said], ‘I don’t know where to buy gluten-free cupcakes’ and we were like ‘we can make them for you,’” Siegel said. “We weren’t expecting her to pay us, we were thinking about it as a favor, and then she [said], ‘here’s twenty dollars’ and we were like, ‘huh, that’s a good idea.’”

This experience inspired Greenblum and Siegel not only to bake cupcakes that tasted good, but cupcakes that would cater to food allergies. For this reason, they focus on perfecting their gluten-free and vegan cupcakes in addition to the others.

Still, it remains difficult for the girls to accumulate customers. As Siegel put it, when she went to the Lower School, “teachers that weren’t our teachers weren’t really interested in buying food from children.”

The young bakers also have other hobbies and obligations that make it difficult to focus completely on baking. Both girls have a passion for music, instruments and performing in theater productions. They also have to balance the increased homework workload that comes with the shift from the Lower to the Upper School, making baking almost solely a weekend activity for the girls.

Nevertheless, Greenblum and Siegel have already experienced major success with their business.

“At the party that we gave them to, they said they were the best gluten-free cupcakes they’d ever tasted,” Greenblum said.

Even though the bakers have made their customers very happy with their unique flavors and flexibility, they had to make sure they themselves were satisfied with the product.

“They’re really good cupcakes,” Siegel said. “If I didn’t sell them I would probably eat them all the time.”