After Ceiling Collapse, Palette Bakery Owner Makes a Sweet Comeback in Enoch

ENOCH — Matt and Erica Farmer bought The Palette Bakery in January 2022. Less than a year later, the ceiling collapsed during operating hours, right before Christmas. Erica felt more than drywall and debris fall around her.

"It felt like all the hard work, dreams and future plans came crashing down with it," she said.

The popular Cedar City bakery had just wrapped up a holiday event when an employee called in tears: "The ceiling just fell down."

Erica rushed to the shop and later reviewed security footage showing that the collapse narrowly missed customers and staff. No one was injured — a fact she still calls the "tender mercy" of that day.

From Passion to Success

Baking has long been part of Erica Farmer's life. After studying elementary education at Brigham Young University, she transferred to Utah Valley University to pursue culinary arts. While pregnant, she won the state SkillsUSA baking competition and later placed ninth nationally with a 7-week-old baby in tow.

After moving to Cedar City in 2020, Erica built a thriving home cake business before purchasing The Palette Bakery, Ice Cream & Confections in 2022 (later renaming it, The Palette Bakery and Ice Cream Parlor). The bakery quickly grew to 26 employees, secured contracts with the Utah Shakespeare Festival and approached $500,000 in annual sales.

"We had outgrown the space because we were so popular," she said.

Erica had invested nearly $80,000 in renovations and carried roughly $90,000 in inventory when the collapse occurred.

"Loss After Loss"

In the weeks that followed, Erica refunded orders, paid employees and moved equipment into storage. Without full replacement insurance coverage, she received no compensation for lost inventory.

"It felt like a death in my life," she said.

With no suitable space available and mounting costs, she ultimately walked away — but never gave up on reopening.

A New Chapter

Now four years later and after a lot of challenges, The Palette Bakery is reopening in neighboring Enoch at 4777 N. 410 E. Erica signed a lease in December 2025 on a newly constructed building with a kitchen four times larger than the original. The new venture, The Palette Bakery: Cake • Ice Cream • Catering, will expand well beyond its previous offerings. In addition to its homemade ice cream, the shop will feature cheesecakes, brownies and bars, cookies, gluten free treats and savory options to come! A $4,500 cookie printer will allow the bakery to create custom logo cookies, cake pops and many other custom printed treats that can be shipped nationwide.

The space will also include a kid zone with an indoor playhouse where children can "play bakery," a cake creation studio for date nights and parties, a grab-and-go freezer, extended evening hours and consignment shelving highlighting local vendors. Expanded catering services will continue, including work with venues such as Cedar Rose Estate and The Barn Event Center.

"It's been plot twist after plot twist," Erica said. "But we're still here."

Former employees say the reopening means more than just baked goods returning to Iron County.

"To this day, working at Palette Bakery has been my favorite job I have ever had," said former employee Sadie Stock. "I learned so much from the Farmers, not just how to make excellent cookies, but also how to be successful and still humble and kind. I am beyond thrilled to hear that the Palette is returning."

Abbie Ray, another former employee, echoed the sentiment.

"The community we built truly felt like family," Ray said. "Erica and Matt deserve all the support in the world and I'm so excited that Palette is reopening."

For Erica, the comeback is about resilience.

"Plans have come crashing down many times," she said. "But sometimes you rebuild something even better."

Customers have already flocked to the bakery during their soft opening, finally satisfying their cravings for Erica's famous homemade ice cream, cheesecakes and soft pretzels.