In between Julie Rajcich Photography and A Wild Hair on East Wishkah Street in downtown Aberdeen is a glass door leading into a sweet tooth’s dream come true.
A clear counter full of cupcakes and the sweet scent of baked goods welcome customers. Pop music drips from the speakers set around the store with walls painted in chic teal and gray hues. To the left is a dining table and to the right are two comfortable chairs with a table set between, notebooks full of photos of past projects stacked near them. Within moments of entering, a bright faced woman wearing a black shirt and a pink and green headband, both with CaKescaKes elegantly printed on them, emerges from the back to greet you.
This is Brittany Figg, owner of the bakery CaKecaKes Gourmet Treats.
Since April, Figg has been churning out cakes, cupcakes and cookies from this storefront after two years of using Facebook and her home kitchen to create edible masterpieces. She became hooked on baking while growing up in Kelso. Once a week, a friend’s mom would let her come in to decorate cupcakes to take home.
“I was always the kid who wanted to help stir the batter, like most kids do,” she said before smiling. “But I guess I took it a lot further than most kids by opening up this place.”
The name, with capital K’s, is in honor of her son Kingston, who had trouble saying “cupcake” and resorted to “cakecake” instead.
Her prices range from $2.75 for a single cupcake to hundreds of dollars for a large custom cake to feed a large crowd. There are no boring sheet cakes to be found here, only custom orders of cakes, cupcakes and cookies like French macarons.
“These aren’t just sheet cakes slathered with frosting. Everything is made from scratch. I don’t use anything that comes from a box,” she said.
The most complicated custom cake she has made to date was before the store front opened. She formed a golf bag using eight cakes stacked and shaped upon crushed graham cracker sand. The clubs sticking out of the top and balls in the bag pocket were rice crispy treats. The whole thing was covered in different-colored fondant. Twelve hours after starting, the cake looked like it was ready to hit the green. A custom cake big enough to feed more than 100 people with this much design detail costs around $500.
She approached opening the store with the same level of care she puts into her baked treats. Although she announced to her Facebook fans last June that she was working on getting a storefront, it took eight months to put it together. The large space split into the storefront with a kitchen in the back, full of appliances she slowly accumulated on Craigslist, the mixer being the only thing brand-new.
Currently, the shop is open Thursday through Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. (or until she runs out of treats in the case). These hours allow Figg to have a bit of balance in her life with a 3-month-old daughter at home. Throughout the rest of the week, she still receives inquiries through Facebook, but does orders over the phone or in person.
“I like to make sure I know exactly what people want,” she said. “There are some people who are very specific and will bring in a bunch of photos pointing out the things they want and others just say, ‘I trust you, do what you think is best. ’ ”
For those who just want a single baked treat or a dozen, the case up front is full of varieties like cookies n’ cream and strawberry cheesecake cupcakes, “quarter pounder” cookies with marshmallow squished between and many more. She currently has more than 50 cupcake recipes, and she rotates through all of them each week with six different flavors each day in her front case. Once these are gone, the store is closed and she goes back to putting together the long list of orders currently on her schedule.
On top of sugary delicacies, Figg also sells handmade accessories. Currently, she is stocked with Harts and Pearls headbands and infinite scarves. She also carries Swayze Jean Boutique headbands that are customized with Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Seahawk and other colors. As of last Thursday, headbands featuring Hoquiam High School crimson and gray were sold out in time for the upcoming graduation.
Graduation parties are keeping Figg busy until the middle of the month. The bookings don’t end there, with several orders already planned in advance for every weekend well into September.
“It’s fantastic to be this busy because I wasn’t sure how people would react to a bakery like this,” she said. “So far, it’s been overwhelmingly positive.”
To request a custom order or check out what’s in the case that day, visit http://ift.tt/1mDdgTl or call the store phone at 360-532-0170.
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