On The Job: Cake Art
Without delicious baked goods, the holidays wouldn’t smell and taste the same. Thankfully that’s not the case this week as 47 ABC heads to Cake Art in Salisbury to make some yummy holiday treats.
Walking into Cake Art feels and smells as if you’re in a dream, a sweet one! There are dozens of cookies, cupcakes and even wedding cakes set up around the store. Owner Susan Patt says her bakery has been around for five and a half years.
Patt tells 47 ABC, “We were one of the few places downtown when we started, people were like downtown you’re going to move downtown? It was before everything started picking up but we were hopeful that that was going to happen and now we’re seeing it it’s been great.”
The bakery is complete with tables and counters full of cakes, but one of the most eye catching things in there? The huge oven. Patt already had some cakes baking in the oven. So how do you know when the cakes are done? Patt says if the center appears to jiggle, it is not ready. The cake should appear sponge-like and bounce back when you press it down.
Patt tells 47 ABC, “Because we have so many things going in and out on a regular basis, it’s one thing if you put everything in at once and it’s done at once but because we make so many sizes..Everything has a different baking time.”
Everything you find in Cake Art is made from scratch and right in the store. She also tells me they don’t give away their secret recipe! Patt says they work hard on their recipes, perfected over the years.
Patt also tells 47 ABC when the holiday seasons first come around, she will give into her cravings and eat a few cookies but she says, “By the end of the season we don’t want to look at another cookie. You just look at it as work.”
For the holiday season, Patt made some cute Santa hat cupcakes. First you take the cupcake and you do a small mountain of white icing made from vanilla, butter and powdered sugar, right on top. Next, you roll it in some red sanding sugar and then, you will take your bag of icing and fill in the edges. To finish off the cupcake, you add a little dollop of white icing for the pom pom.
Besides the cupcakes and cookies, Patt says wedding cakes are a big part of her business. She says during wedding season, they’re booked every weekend.
Patt tells 47 ABC, “We set up appointments and we have a little bridal suite area where we meet with them we do a tasting and they bring their pictures and ideas and we design the cake for them.”
She says many brides and grooms will bring in their invitations and match them to the cake. They’ve created hundreds of styles including beach themed ones with starfish and seashells, your traditional white with flowers and even a baseball themed cake for a Shorebirds customer! Your options are endless. But no matter what you choose it’s sure to be delicious.
