Stephanie Tran’s day job is keeping pearly whites squeaky clean — but her side hustle is for those with a sweet tooth.
The Recent Jersey dentist began baking macarons at the beginning of the pandemic, and turned her hobby right into a business.
She launched her company, Steph’s Macarons, in July 2020, and peddles her creative creations for $3 for traditional rounds and $4.50 for her signature character cookies.
Patients “are either surprised, impressed or they think it’s funny,” said Tran, 27, whose creations might be in pop-up shops throughout the Garden State next month.
“Nobody thinks it’s unethical; they think it’s cool. I feel people need to see their dentist as a human who has interests, that they’re not only of their white coat with a needle of their hand.”
The Fort Value, Texas native uses the slogan “Only causing problems I can solve” and said that in terms of cavities, it’s about timing, not portion control.
“You possibly can get cavities from cookies, but it surely’s really more concerning the frequency at which you’re eating sugary foods, not the amount,” said Tran, who’s spoken to her boss at Oakland Premier Dental in Oakland, N.J. about adding her macarons to patients’ goodie bags.
“You usually tend to get cavities if you happen to’re snacking on one macaron every half-hour relatively than eating a whole dozen multi function sitting. So it’s okay to binge … Just make certain you sweep and floss before you go to bed.”
Tran at all times had a “baking bucket list,” so when her dental school shut down through the pandemic, she tried her hand at macarons.
She whipped up her first batch in March 2020, while quarantining at her parents’ house and things took off after a friend complimented her confections.
Tran, whose first customers were her dental school classmates, set her macaroons apart with flavors like crème brûlée, s’mores and birthday cake.
“Macaron boxes sold within the supermarket have weird flavors that no person wants, like apricot and cherry,” she told The Post.
When she moved to Hackensack, N.J. for her residency, her business grew as a result of a “more sophisticated” clientele.
“I assumed I did well, but realized, ‘It’s so a lot better in Recent Jersey because people here know what a macaron is,’” she explained. “They wouldn’t query why they were so expensive.”
Tran — who spends a median of 4 hours an evening within the kitchen and hopes to open a storefront — speculated on the recipe for her success.
“Macarons generally all taste the identical; you’ve got to read the flavour to know what it’s,” she said.
“My goal with mine is you must give you the option to shut your eyes, bite into it and know.”