Photo courtesy of Emma Joganic
Employees with Daughters Baking, a specialty cake company, create layered, “naked”-style cakes in the Yellow Bicycle Catering Co. in Homewood. The company will open its first storefront this summer in Mountain Brook Village.
A specialty cake baking company is soon getting its first brick-and-mortar location.
Mallory Webb, owner of Daughters Baking, had been baking cakes in the kitchen at Yellow Bicycle Catering Co. in Homewood. This summer, she plans to open a storefront in Mountain Brook Village.
She started baking right before graduating from Samford University in 2013. Then when she got a job at Urban Standard after college, she had more freedom to experiment in the kitchen. She spent time studying the art of baking foods like croissants, puff pastries, pies and more. When she landed on cakes, she found something she really enjoyed.
“I made a few cakes in the back and served them in slices at Urban,” she said. “They didn’t sell super well, because they’re a different kind of product than what Urban usually sells. But the people who did buy the cakes were so encouraging and were like, ‘This is amazing!’”
Webb’s goal is to make the cakes moist, so they’re soaked in a sweet liquid mixture. Her cakes are tall and “naked,” which means the cake is nearly bare on the outside instead of covered in icing. Each cake has four components: cake, buttercream icing, a filling and something crunchy on top.
She likes this style of cake because it’s “playful,” she said, and she didn’t enjoy baking more traditional cakes in previous years.
“Obviously it takes skill and focus, but this style is a bit more fun than other styles,” she said.
Cakes come in three sizes: a 3-inch mini cake, which serves two to four people; a 6-inch cake, which serves 16-20 people; and a 9-inch cake, which serves 30-35 people. Flavors listed on the website include blueberry lemon, classic chocolate, bananas foster, carrot, lavender honey, Reese’s peanut butter and more.
Her first wedding cake was for her brother’s wedding four years ago. A lot has changed since then, she said — now she has six employees, and she said she has enjoyed learning how to build a team and a culture.
“I’ve really enjoyed cultivating a positive work environment and growing into that,” she said. “I’ve made lots of mistakes. When you lead people, things become stressful sometimes. I’m learning how to navigate stressful situations in a way that you can still communicate clearly and in a way that benefits people.”
When brainstorming ideas for a business name, the word “daughters” kept coming to mind, she said.
“I think that word meant a lot to me in terms of the way I relate to God,” she said. “It’s something that’s really important to me.”
Her new storefront will be at 2812 Cahaba Road, which is to the left of Bromberg’s and right of Ousler Sandwiches in Mountain Brook. Webb said she anticipates a July opening.
“It has been a dream of ours for a while to have a beautiful space that is easily accessible to our customers, where we can accommodate walk-in and last-minute orders, as well as expand our products and offerings,” the company said in an Instagram post. “We are so happy that this dream is becoming a reality, and we can’t wait for you to experience the fruit of it.”
For more information, visit daughtersbaking.com.
