“You’ve probably heard the news by now. There are going to be some tremendously heartbreaking changes in the coming months,” Brittany Stuart recently wrote on Facebook.
What was happening? I dove into her Facebook post, curious about news that promised to break hearts and depress us all. It’s been a long year already and many of us haven’t yet filed our taxes.
The post continued: “Cupcakes and I have decided to move forward with a conscious uncoupling. We had a good run filled with so much laughter and love, but nothing lasts forever. Not even Kanye’s manic episodes.
“This will be a difficult transition for me. Please respect my privacy at this time. Cards, wine and other care packages can be sent to my office.”
Cupcakes? I had to know more. I posted a comment:
“It sounds like an emotional disaster. Let me know what I can send you.”
Moments later she responded:
“I need a persuasive essay that will convince the owners of the bakery to share their recipe with me. They close in June. You’ve got time to formulate your best argument.”
The post features a photo of Brittany, taken ten years earlier. She is behind the wheel of her car, wearing her best, most radiant smile, holding a vanilla cupcake. If ever there was a photo that captures the essence of happiness, it’s this one. The caption reads, “Selfie with the love of my life.”
More information was necessary, so I looked up the Cake Designs Facebook page. After some deep-dive research, I switched over to Messenger, for a private conversation with my friend.
The owners of Cake Designs recently announced they will retire in June 2024, effectively closing their doors after 39 years of providing cakes and cupcakes to adoring and devoted Montgomery, Alabama consumers. According to numerous articles, including one in the venerable magazine, Southern Living, they are renowned for their wedding cakes. In the spirit of transparency, I do not know this bakery. While I lived in nearby Wetumpka from 1996-2012, I cannot recall enjoying a goodie from this establishment. While raising my three children, I baked cakes and cookies and hundreds of cupcakes for classroom birthdays, celebrations or as complimentary endings to my homecooked meals. Later, my good friend Carl Stokes baked cakes for my momentous events like college graduations, bridal showers, a wedding reception and the baby shower for my first grandson Samuel. While I am a competent baker, my decorating skills are not worthy of public display, and I confess there have been times I’ve cemented cakes together with extra frosting.
My initial thought was to find a good cupcake recipe and send it to Brittany. But then I realized that wasn’t what she needed. She was mourning more than the inevitable cessation of vanilla cupcakes--she was dreading the loss of the relationship she had with the bakery, and the importance their goodies had played throughout her life.
Brittany has been a dedicated customer for years.
During her first year of college, Brittany worked at Pump-It-Up, an indoor bounce house for children. “We hosted birthday parties all day on the weekends. Good parents got their child’s birthday cakes from Cake Designs. As the host, I was responsible for cutting and serving the cake. The birthday kids always got the first slice of cake. One day, I asked a little girl which slice of cake she wanted. It was a Dora the Explorer cake. She said, ‘I want Dora’s eye.’ My first cut was made slightly off center in the cake to give that child Dora’s eye. Her parents were impressed. They gave me a tip and a piece of cake.”
Years later, Brittany was a professional insurance agent in Montgomery. Treats from Cake Designs are her guilty pleasure. “I get a half dozen cupcakes every six weeks or so,” she said. “I’d eat them more often if I weren’t trying to stick to a healthier diet.” She has a teenage son, Max, and she has purchased Cake Designs birthday cakes every year except for the brief time they lived in Ohio. Upon returning to Alabama she ordered a birthday cake for herself. She once ordered a cake for a preschool graduation ceremony.
“I’ll find any excuse to buy a Cake Designs cake,” she said. “In fact, I know their cakes when I see them. They have a signature style.” She attended a business open house last year and saw “a big, delicious sheet cake at the end of the table. I nudged my friend and told her in an excited whisper, ‘that’s a Cake Designs cake.’
“I’ll bet I could do a Pepsi challenge-type test and pick their cake while blindfolded.”
To help cope with the loss of Cake Designs, she would like to have the recipes for their white cake and vanilla icing. She would also like a baking lesson from the owners to properly teach her how to make the perfect cupcake.
“Unless they provide a recipe with clear instructions, I’d love to bake a batch of cupcakes with them,” Brittany said. “People tend to leave out important techniques when they pass along a recipe.”
Until the owners close their doors in June, Brittany will continue to buy her cupcakes from Cake Designs. And she’s hoping for that personal baking lesson.
Aside from those cupcakes, Brittany mourns the loss of her connection with the owners of Cake Designs. “I went to the bakery on February 17th to tell the owners that I have never been so simultaneously so happy for someone yet equally upset. Sandra was on the phone calling brides and wedding planners while I was there. She was reassuring everyone that she was still honoring the contracts that she had entered.
“It’s hard to find that level of service and caring these days. They will be missed by every one of their patrons. Sam and Sandra always gave me a few napkins with each box of cupcakes in case I got hungry on the way home.
“I always got hungry on the way home!
“Between now and then, I’ll take what I can get. It breaks my heart that after 39 years all we will have left are memories. Sweet memories.”
I can share my recipe for leftover honey baked ham —bean soup. lol. This wasn’t about a recipe though. Life is short. Even 39 years. I have to tell you that in the beginning you had me. I thought it was about her getting a divorce. It was a much more upbeat story, really a celebration.