Local bakery Rem & Bee creates edible masterpieces

Shelby Hemelt Townsend found herself scrolling Pinterest one day looking at hand-decorated cookies. Once she tried it out for herself, Townsend soon learned that creating this kind of art through food came naturally to her—and she hasn’t stopped since.

Townsend has a lifelong background in the arts. She dabbled in many different mediums, including ceramics, drawing and painting, and began her college career at LSU as a graphic design major. In 2014, she channeled that energy into decorating cookies. As word of mouth spread about her colorful treats, her pastime snowballed into a home business.

Today, she creates edible masterpieces for every occasion from her Prairieville cottage bakery, Rem & Bee.

“I am the type of person that once I try something, I kind of want to perfect it and learn everything I can about it,” Townsend says.

There are always new techniques to try and new ways to try designs, she says, and she loves learning all she can.

Each hand-crafted cookie displays intricate designs in an array of colors. Townsend’s favorite sets are usually the result of clients trusting her creativity and letting her imagination run wild. She also loves typography and texture, and her most memorable designs allow her to experiment with each.

She makes cookies for birthdays, weddings, baby showers, holidays, tailgating and more, and her designs have ranged from “chill pill” and Ariana Grande-inspired “galentine” cookies to school supply and Black Lives Matter fundraiser cookies. Her posts on Instagram, where she has more than 11,000 followers, routinely get hundreds of likes.

Rem & Bee is Townsend’s part-time job, as she is a full-time mother to an almost 2-year-old who takes up most of her time. She says she loves being a mom, but her business gives her a good creative outlet.

All of her cookies are homemade, small-batch vanilla cookies, flavored with pure vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste.

“They taste just as good as they look,” Townsend says. “I promise.”

Learn more about or place orders on Rem & Bee’s website.