Thursday, July 11, 2019
Sugarpan Bakery expands to Campbell facility
CAMPBELL
Darla Cecil’s parents were about to celebrate their 40th anniversary, and she wanted to surprise them with a wedding-like cake.
She had been baking since she was young, but her only advanced training in the craft came in the form of a cake-decorating class she took at a local craft store in the mid-1990s.
Fearing that wasn’t enough to deliver the cake she envisioned for her parents, Cecil went online, searching for tutorials on YouTube, and baked her parents’ gift from scratch. That cake was the seed that eventually would grow into the Sugarpan Bakery at 196 McCartney Road.
“I got really good feedback from it. Everyone was surprised by the cake and how well I did, and I think that reaction – the oohs and ahhs – kind of propelled me into baking professionally,” Cecil said.
She has been baking professionally out of her home since 2007, but as her customer base grew, she found her home quickly taken over by her work.
“My house was full of baking and kitchen supplies. It was everywhere, overrunning my house. That’s when I knew I had to expand into a store,” she said.
Cecil moved into the space that was formerly occupied by Pizza Joe’s, which shut down in 2018. She said that moving out of her home has been challenging, but it was ultimately the right move for her businesses’s future.
“It’s a tough transition to make, moving from home baking to baking in a facility,” she said. “Plus I don’t get to see my kids as much as I used to. Time management is also tough because I bake and prepare and deliver the orders that my customers call in.”
Cecil fills orders for parties, weddings and any other event, often baking platters of cookies, large cakes or pies.
Of her products, Cecil says her most popular item is her lemon bars.
“I have people coming in specifically for the lemon bars,” she said. “I’ll have visitors show up looking for Pizza Joe’s and walk out with a slice of cake.”