Baking Bonanza

Word of Mouth Bakery (Photo by John Anderson)

It's no secret that the wedding and specialty cake business is experiencing a boom of epic proportions in Austin. Inspired to new heights of creativity, over 400 people entered decorated cakes in February's That Takes the Cake Sugar Art Show and Competition held in Round Rock. Two distinctly different but equally gifted local cake artists have recently appeared on an overnight decorating competition program hosted by television celebrity pastry chef Duff Goldman, exposing Austin's cake artistry to a national audience. Now we've learned that two longtime local businesses are joining in the boom and fashioning spaces in which to welcome brides, grooms, and other potential cake customers.

Quack's 43rd Street Bakery

Quack's location in the heart of a close-knit central Austin neighborhood makes it an essential component of Hyde Park life. The bakery is busy at all times of day and has maxed out every inch of production space creating the breads, pastries, pies, desserts, birthday cakes, decorated cookies, and sandwiches that patrons devour daily. General manager Heather O'Connor and pastry chef Rachel Larson wanted to expand into the wedding cake business, but there was just no room in which to bake, build, decorate, and store elaborate cakes. Until now. Recently, a nail salon in Austin's original suburban shopping center went out of business, and Quack's quickly snapped up the contiguous 750 square feet of space for their forthcoming cake salon. "We're really excited to be able to add wedding and specialty cakes to our product line. This new space is exactly what we needed to make it happen," O'Connor told us. The transformation of the new space is a work in progress, but O'Connor estimates that it should be functional by mid-April. Once the new salon is operational, Larson will have room to create cakes and host consultations and tastings for potential clients.

Word of Mouth Bakery

As owner of one of the city's busiest and most prestigious catering companies, Leslie Moore knew he had a talented team of bakers and decorators on staff to keep busy and an increasing number of brides and other customers willing to order delicious decorated cakes. He also knew there was a likely market for dessert and pastry trays or savory pick-up items that would fill the needs of hostesses throwing small parties. That's how the new Word of Mouth Bakery came into being. Just opened last week, the new shop offers cases full of both sweet and savory pastries, desserts, cookies, cupcakes, and macarons, as well as elaborately decorated wedding and special occasion cakes made to order. They offer coffee drinks, tea, water, and sodas, and a small seating area if you're inclined to stop a few minutes over pastry and coffee. Pastry chef Liz Gifford will host wedding cake tastings in the shop, and she and her team of Diana Hernandez and Darrin Barschdorf are ready to create the stacked or sculpted three-dimensional cake of your dreams. Pictures of some of the cakes they've already done appear on the company website.