The woman and her secret recipe behind Crispycakes

Vicki Mate has been making Rice Krispies treats since she was a child.

Except now, instead of making a few dozen, she produces about 200,000 of these sweet treats annually as part of her national gourmet crispycake business called The Crispery in Roslyn.

"As a child it was my one indulgence," said Mate, 47, who back then would make crispy treats for fun with her sister using the recipe off the back of the Kellogg's cereal box. "I always loved marshmallows."

That's still true to this day, except the marshmallow crispy treats she makes now are a far cry from the off-the-box recipe she used as a child.

Before launching her business in 1996, Mate experimented for almost a year with different recipes before perfecting her signature crispy recipe that she has safeguarded all these years.

"Every employee that comes in has to sign a confidentiality agreement," says Mate, who has a sales and marketing background but had always yearned to be an entrepreneur. "Not even my kids know my recipe."

Up until 2008, Mate was making the treats out of her home until demand got so great she moved operations into about 2,500 square feet of leased space on Lumber Road in Roslyn.

She doesn't sell treats out of that Roslyn factory, but rather ships them to more than 100 stores throughout the country, including Dean & DeLuca, Zabar's, and Dylan's Candy Bar, including its Roosevelt Field location.

"They're a pretty hot item," says Jimmy King Sr., owner of Kitchen Kabaret in Roslyn Heights, the first store to carry Mate's treats when she launched her business. "People love them."

The individually wrapped treats, which Mate calls crispycakes, come with assorted toppings or with ingredients sandwiched in the middle, like her popular s'mores crispycake that has graham cracker, chocolate, and marshmallow in the center.

She also sells her treats online, offering two dozen flavors from peanut butter and fluff to chocolate-dipped. The 3½-inch square bars retail for about $3.50 each, a price her customers say is more than fair.

"I think it's very reasonably priced," says Robyn Spizman of TheGiftionary.com, who featured The Crispery's treats on NBC's "Today" show in April 2010 as part of a segment on Mother's Day gift ideas. "I've tried every flavor."

Spizman, a gift aficionado, says she regularly features The Crispery's treats on various radio and TV segments. "This is one of those mouthwatering, taste-tantalizing memorable items," notes Spizman. "When I pick something it's got to be five stars. It has to be beautiful and pretty and delicious and memorable."

Mate works especially hard for that distinction, noting that her treats must pass rigorous testing to leave her factory.

"We never compromise quality, because if it ever tastes bad, you lose a customer right there," says Mate, who has had some famous customers, noting she once delivered her treats to the set of "Sex and the City 2" when it was filming at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City.

Going forward, the Roslyn mother of two says she'd like to continue to grow the company, particularly online. Aside from the crispycakes, she also sells online her own private-label hot cocoa and some gift items like teddy bears. She'd like to expand her online offerings by adding other related food and merchandise gift items like gourmet crispy cookies or hand-dipped marshmallows.

"It's got to be extraordinary and different," says Mate, referring to whatever new items she'll launch on her site.

But her crispycakes will always be her signature item.

"I've been doing this over 16 years, and I still love it," says Mate, who never tires of her childhood treat. "I'm living my dream to the T."