An expansion more than a year in the making is finally ready to debut at Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment in Huntsville.

Pizzelle's Confections opened a new bakery Wednesday after expanding its facility into the former Big Glass Art space on Seminole Drive. Co-owner Caitlin Lyon said they also added three employees, including two pastry chefs, and developed new recipes for Pizzelle's customers.

"As far as we know, we're Huntsville's only dessert cafe," she said. "We think this will make Pizzelle's, and hopefully Lowe Mill, even more of a destination for people."

Pizzelle's, which launched at Lowe Mill in 2013, began the construction project last year. Although expanding into a dessert cafe wasn't on their radar for 2016, Lyon said they couldn't pass up the Big Glass Art space, so they changed their plans.

The expansion includes more than 1,300 square feet of additional space, allowing Pizzelle's to increase its product line and workforce. Lyon said they also added more seating, from nine people originally to about 54.

"Nothing ever quite goes as planned, but we've learned to stay flexible, (which is) essential in this business," said Lyon, who expects to expand hours in the future.

The new bakery menu includes cake by the slice, scones, tortes, cannoli, ice cream, sorbet, house-made sodas, a cheese plate, s'mores, croissants, and pizzelle cookies. Pizzelle's makes everything in-house, except the cheeses for the cheese plate.

Lyon said those cheeses are from Bonnie Blue Farm in Waynesboro, Tenn.

"Everything else, from the ricotta for the cannoli filling to the graham cracker for the s'mores, we make in house, and just like with our chocolate truffles, it's an involved process," she said. "The croissants take three days to make, so right now we only have them on Fridays and Saturdays, but we are making croissant bread pudding when we have leftovers."

Pizzelle's will add more menu items in the coming months as seasonal flavors change. Desserts range from $3.50 to $6.75, and $14 for the cheese plate. Lyon said they are expecting a delivery of three gallons of fresh, local strawberries to be used in a new menu item available next week.

Huntsville residents Dustin Timbrook and Molly Kitts visited the bakery Wednesday and enjoyed a "Duke" torte, a small cake with ingredients from Pizzelle's popular candy bar. Their favorite item, however, was the bread pudding, which is made using leftover almond croissant bread.

"I have never tasted anything better," Timbrook told AL.com.

Timbrook, creative director for Red Brick Strategies, worked for several years as the media director at Lowe Mill. He saw Pizzelle's in its earliest stages and isn't surprised by their rapid growth in Huntsville.

"I definitely could predict them becoming this successful early on but that doesn't make me any less proud of them," he said. "It takes an incredible amount of talent, work, and perseverance to grow a business as well as they have. And they've maintained a standard close to perfection throughout that growth."