A sibling-run bakery is rising up at the pop-up shop

Though Alexa Carter is quick to credit younger sister Rylie as the better baker between them, Alexa boldly launched their co-owned business, Rising Rolls Baking Company, in June 2024 — a year and a half after conceiving of a bakery item that could only have come from a Nebraska native’s brain: the Chili Roll. 

Yes, you read that correctly, and yes, it’s a cinnamon roll with chili baked inside.

Both sisters grew up baking in the kitchen with their stay-at-home mom on the family farm outside Rising City. As the oldest two of five children in the Carter family, they got inventive with recipes that could accommodate their younger sister who has both diabetes and celiac disease.

Now both in the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program at UNL (Alexa a sophomore and Rylie a freshman), they wear out the highway traveling between the family farm and Lincoln.

And in early May, the two will take over the Small Business Pop-up, bringing Rising Rolls Baking Company’s (we see you in the name, Rising City!) inventive baked goods to downtown Lincoln.

But let’s circle back to the cinnamon roll that changed everything. Alexa was attending the Nebraska Youth Beef Leadership Symposium as a 17-year-old and the groups were tasked with coming up with a new or improved food creation to pitch to a panel of judges. In their brainstorm session, Alexa asked, “Why don’t we just combine chili and cinnamon rolls?”

And it was immediately well-received, naturally. 

Not quite. Despite discouragement and pushback from her group and peers, Alexa persevered and made a prototype, all the while dreaming of marketing it to UNL for concessions. Once her group had presented, the Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Tiffany Heng-Moss, stated boldly, “Now we’re going to pretend this is Shark Tank. I want this on campus.” 

This launched Alexa into the Engler Program, a minor program at the university focused on entrepreneurship and community building, and she was soon selling her Chili-Rolls on campus. Rylie signed her letter of intent to the program in November.

Fast-forward to today, and the sisters are now balancing the end of this college semester, family life, Alexa’s role as an ambassador of agriculture for the State of Nebraska, and taking the next step on their entrepreneurial journey in the Pop-up Shop, expanding their market to Lincoln.

“It helps that we have parents who are very supportive of our business dreams,” said Alexa, with Rylie immediately agreeing. “They’re excited for us to be able to do what we want to do.”

But let’s get down to business and talk sweets. In addition to their most famous roll, the sisters are still selling their spring cinnamon roll flavors, and check out this lineup:

• Regular Cinnamon Rolls (for the traditionalists)
• Red Velvet
• Pecan Sticky
• Confetti
• Chocolate Covered Strawberry
• Apple Pie
• Maple Bacon
• Pumpkin Pie

They don’t stop there though, and their cookie selection looks scrumptious (those with an asterisk can be made gluten-free):

• Strawberry Shortcake
• Lemon Crinkle
• Easter Egg Chocolate
• Cupid’s Blend M&M*
• Red Velvet*
• Snickerdoodle*

Cake rolls are also on the product list, including: 

• Lemon Blueberry
• Chocolate Whoopie Pie
• Strawberry Shortcake
• Carrot Cake
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

The switch to summer flavors will happen sometime during their stay at the Pop-up (they’ll be in the spot through the end of August), and the selection will change based on their baking priorities. We highly suggest following them on Instagram and Facebook and check out their website for your special orders. 

They’ll also be announcing their hours soon, so keep watching their socials for more information as they fine-tune their plans. And make sure you stop by regularly to see what they’ve been baking up!