Made by Mom Gift Guide: Mama Dip's daughter whips up cake mixes so you can make your own desserts at home

Generations of the Council family have made a big impact in Chapel Hill with the iconic Mama Dip's Kitchen restaurants, famous for its soul food. But family members also have branched out on their own, including Annette Council, who has her own line of cake mixes.

Posted 1:14 a.m. Nov 29, 2018 — Updated 3:47 p.m. Nov 29, 2018

Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

, Go Ask Mom editor

Editor's note: Check back regularly over the next couple of weeks for closer looks at the businesses featured in our Made by Mom Gift Guide.

Generations of the Council family have made a big impact in Chapel Hill with the iconic Mama Dip's Kitchen restaurants, famous for its soul food.

But family members also have branched out on their own, using that same entrepreneurial spirit to launch their own businesses. They include Annette Council, a Chapel Hill native who has lived in Cary for the last two dozen years.

Council's Sweet Neecy cake mixes are on this year's Go Ask Mom Made by Mom Gift Guide. Here's a Q&A with Council, whose grown daughter now lives in New York City.

Go Ask Mom: How did Sweet Neecy get its start?

Annette Council: I gained my experience from working in my family's business - Mama Dips - for over 30 years. I started my business in 2010. I got my start from listening to customers at our restaurant, who said they could not make a scratch cake because it was too time consuming. That is when I began making homemade cakes for extra money.

It didn't take long to quit because of the big mess I had to come home and clean up. So, I thought, "If I can create a mix to reduce the steps and clean up, I had something to offer." After testing my product and found it was a success, I let others make the cakes to ensure not only I could pull it off.

Announcing Go Ask Mom's 2018 Made by Mom Gift Guide!

GAM: What all do you offer?

AC: I offer consumers an all-natural line of delicious cake batter mixes (vanilla, chocolate, spice and red velvet). You can make all kinds of cakes, cookies and many other desserts using the mixes as your base for other recipes.

GAM: I know you've gotten a lot of inspiration from your mother and grandmother. Tell us about how that has impacted your business.

AC: Watching my grandmother and mother bake and create successful businesses in our hometown gave me the direction I needed to move forward and create my line of mixes. Our history of operations are definitely the key to me becoming my own entrepreneur.

GAM: What do you love about what you do?

AC: I love what I do because I have simplified and made it easy for others to make home desserts.

GAM: Where can people find your products?

AC: You can find my mixes at Whole Foods Cary at Waverly Place, Whole Foods Six Forks Raleigh, Mama Dips restaurant, Sweet Tea and Cornbread at Crabtree Valley Mall and Cameron Village shopping center, Root Cellars in Chapel Hill and, of course, www.sweetneecy.com.

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