Maggie Oyen Turns Pandemic Pivot into Flourishing Business

Maggie Oyen, who once roamed the halls of Seymour Smith Elementary, found an unexpected outlet for her creativity during the pandemic.

For nearly three decades, Oyen has run the floral and events company Stems, Inc., based in Rhinebeck. Like many event planning businesses, Stems faced challenges during the pandemic. To adapt, Oyen drew on her Norwegian heritage and launched Mandel — mandel meaning almond in Norwegian — baking and selling intricately piped, stacked almond cookie rings known as kransekake.

Kransekake — meaning “wreath cake” in Norwegian — is typically served at weddings, birthdays and other special occasions. Oyen’s connection to the delicacy runs deep. Her father was Norwegian and so is her husband, Ola Ustad. “He’s the baker in the family,” Oyen said, adding that they met while both were airline pilots, a career Ustad still pursues.

The idea to start Mandel came to her in late 2020.  “When we mail-ordered a kransekake as a Christmas gift for an elderly Norwegian friend, it arrived in such lamentable condition that I said, ‘We can do better than this!’” Oyen recalled. Ustad then crafted the perfect kransekake for their friend, but his contribution didn’t stop there. “You and your fertile mind,” he said, heading down to his workshop. He soon emerged with a prototype box for shipping kransekake without damaging the fragile confection.

The family then spent seven months refining the process, with their daughter Lillian, a neurobiologist who came to live with them during the pandemic, pitching in. “ I’m the creative, my husband is the builder, and [Lillian] did the weights and measurements,” Oyen said, noting her other contribution: “99% of our customers buy from us because of my piping skills.” 

After Mandel officially launched in June 2021, Oyen was surprised at how quickly her new enterprise became popular. “A Pine Plains person was our first customer,” Oyen said.  “She went to my mother’s church.”  From there, orders for kransekake, which is time-consuming to make, started pouring in from across the U.S., Canada and even as far as Japan. 

A 12-ring cake costs about $80, with a large 36 ring cake costing over $400. “People pay dearly because it’s cumbersome to make,” Oyen said.

Though the kransekake is baked at a professional kitchen in Poughkeepsie,  Oyen operates out of her studio and storage space in a barn behind the Baden House (the Herald’s office is in the building), a historic property in Pine Plains that she also manages. The barn serves as a storage facility for her businesses, where she keeps boxes used to ship the cakes.

While she may now be known for her kransekake, Oyen’s floral skills are equally renowned. When asked where she studied arranging, she quipped, “I didn’t study it. I have an English mother!” Her mom, Penny Wheeler, ran the Pine Plains restaurant Crumpets for 12 years starting in the mid-1990s. Located where Champêtre now stands, Crumpets served pancakes and other dishes, making it a local favorite.

Oyen’s journey has taken her far and wide. After attending Seymour Smith, she moved to Germany when her father, who worked for the farming machinery company DeLaval, was promoted. “Back in the day, the Hudson Valley had two major employers: IBM and DeLaval,” Oyen said. “They made centrifuges that the dairy farms used to separate their milk.” She returned to Pine Plains to complete high school, graduating in 1984 before pursuing a career as a pilot, starting her flight training in 1987.

Today, Oyen and Ustad reside in Rhinebeck, where Stems, Inc. remains her primary business. But it’s clear that her kransekake venture has added a unique new layer to her creative portfolio, one rooted in tradition, family and the community that has always felt like home.