Valley Girl Sweets Opens in Centre Hall

Most coffee lovers agree there is nothing better than a good coffee shop, and now there is a new one in Centre Hall. Valley Girl Sweets, 407 S. Pennsylvania Ave., recently was opened by Kristen Cowher.

Cowher already is known for her custom cakes, and that side of her business will continue. But her new endeavor offers coffee, both regular and wine-infused, and all sorts of treats. She even has two separate kitchens to bake her regular and gluten-free cupcakes, muffins, cookies, biscotti and specialty desserts.

“The world needs to know that gluten-free can taste good,” she said. “At first, I planned to only do baked goods, but you know, when you have sweets, coffee just naturally comes to mind. I think people will like what I have added with the Molinari coffee.”

Molinari is a wine-infused coffee. The idea comes from a friend in Napa Valley, Calif., who took 100 percent Arabica coffee beans and allowed them to rest for a while in wine before drying and hand roasting them in small batches. The wine that is used is from the Robert Moldavi Wineries in California, which currently is closed due to the wildfires in the Napa Valley and Sonoma area.

The coffee is especially good when put through a French press, acoording to Cowher. “If you refrigerate any leftover coffee, it is even good the next day as a cold drink.” Customers also can buy bags of Molinari coffee to take home.

Cowher lives in Milheim with her husband and six children. She studied graphic design, but decided that wasn’t for her, but her artsy side is evident in her fancy, imaginative decorated cakes. She has an extensive catalogue of designs and pictures of cakes she has done to show prospective buyers.

One thing that spurred her on to tackle her new business was attending a Penn Stater Expo last year where she sold 200 cupcakes in just 90 minutes.

“That started my serious thinking about expanding my business beyond the cakes,” said Cowher. “When this site became available, I was ready.”