Being one of two girls raised in a single-father home, Roxanne says she had to learn how to cook and bake at a young age.“ That was our job,” she said. Roxanne’ s first waitressing job was at the J9 cafe in Hill City, though she worked at several restaurants throughout the Black Hills and even Colorado. She credits Dianne as her biggest mentor.
“ I think I’ ve learned the most from Dianne, working hands on with her in the kitchen. There’ s no way I can ever accumulate all the knowledge this woman has, but I try,” Roxanne said. Dianne admits she loves running the grill, but her heart is with baking.“ The bakery is her heart for sure,” said Roxanne. Dianne’ s baked goods tantalize the senses from the moment you walk in the door, greeted by a delicious array of pies, breads, cinnamon rolls, biscuits and of course, DONUTS.
“ They don’ t taste like grocery store donuts. They taste like real donuts,” said Dianne.“ You can’ t have a bakery without them.”
The donuts may be a necessity, but Dianne prefers making cookies, pies and cheesecakes. She even bakes custom cakes for any occasion, from birthdays and anniversaries to specialty wedding cakes.
“ I do every kind of cake imaginable,” said Yourre.“ It’ s very fun. I like the cake decorating side of it. If I have a day where I can just do a cake, I’ m in seventh heaven.”
Something unique about Heaven Scent’ s bakery items is that they use no additives or preservatives.
“ It’ s real food,” said Roxanne.“ We take a lot of pride in making sure that the ingredients we serve are what we would served to our families.” Something that health conscious families can appreciate.
An extensive menu of gluten-free items is also offered, from cookies, brownies and bars to several varieties of breads.
A gluten-free, lactose-free soft serve ice cream offered in chocolate or vanilla is the perfect topping to any bakery treat.
“ We’ ve got all kinds of toppings. We can do pie a la mode, fry bread and sundaes.”
Holiday cookie platters, available in three sizes, have become a staple during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons with special orders welcomed. You won’ t settle for just cookies as the platters also come with a variety of bars: lemon, Carmelita brownies, mint-swirl brownies, or raspberry swirl brownies.
Dianne admits, she couldn’ t keep up without the help of her long-time right hand man, Lonnie Miller, who helps with breads, biscuits, cinnamon rolls and more.
“ If it wasn’ t for him, I could not do it all,” said Dianne.“ I would be lost without him.” Roxanne added that he’ s even been known to jump in and do dishes from time to time.
The duo has been in business for just over a year, but to the community of Hot Springs, they are nothing new. Dianne owned the Upper Crust Cafe once before, in the same building where they are located now. After selling the business and diving into other endeavors, including her own food truck, she was offered the opportunity to return, and did, bringing Roxanne with her.
“ It was one of those things, no matter where I went, everybody said,‘ we miss you so bad, can’ t you come back?’,” said Dianne.“ I was really happy in the whole food truck thing.”
When she discussed it with her partner in the food truck, Roxanne, they decided to go for it.
10 Down Country Roads January / February 2026