Cake is the Best Part

Have you ever wondered what corporate accountants in Redding do for fun? Drive race cars, count their money or, perhaps, skydive. If you are Teri LaHorgue, you bake and decorate delicious and gorgeous custom cakes in your very own bakery. Cake is the Best Part Bakery is located at 1024 Placer Street, next to Owen's Pharmacy and across the street from Shasta Community Health Center.

Cake is the Best Part Bakery in Redding

The bakery is easy to overlook, as it is unexpectedly located in an older house. The former front room serves as a cozy seating area, complete with a fireplace and small tables with chairs, for dining in. The commercial kitchen, which is visible through an arched doorway, takes up what must have been the original dining area and kitchen. There is a counter with a large bakery display case for ordering that divides the two areas. The atmosphere is causal and retains the feeling of a home. 

Terri on a Saturday Morning at the Bakery

Terri is a native Redding girl who started baking in high school for the Donut Wheel. At 18 years-old she had already opened and was in charge of the Donut Wheel's Dunsmiur store. While she grew up to be an accountant, her passion is cake decorating. She specializes in anything from a decorated sheet cake to a sculpted, multi-tired wedding cake. She believes that everyone should be able to have a special cake and strives to keep her prices reasonable. Her cakes start at $18 for a simple sheet cake and $50 for a sculpted cake. Most wedding cakes are around $250, but have been known to reach $800 for a particularly extravagant and elaborate creation. The price depends on both the size and complexity of the design as does the lead time for ordering. 

Casual Sheet Cake

Frosting Detail from a Birthday Cake 

Ordering a custom cake is a collaborative design effort. There are several framed posters on the walls and photo albums with examples of previously baked cakes. There is also a shelf of cake books for more inspiration. Along with the design, there are choices in cake flavor, filling and frosting. The buttercream and some of the specialized cake flavors are made from scratch in the bakery. However, most of the cakes are made from mixes. Terri is not the first cake baker to tell me that cake mixes consistently produce more moist, better tasting cakes. The goal is to create a cake that is not only beautiful to look at, but scrumptious to eat, as well. No nasty sawdust-tasting surprises lurking inside her glamourous cakes. 

Examples of Terri's Cakes from a Poster

Terri has been baking at her present location for about 3 years. She makes 6 varieties of cookies, daily, during the week. It is best not to count on a day-old discount, as the cookies have a cult following in the neighborhood. She also fills her bakery case with house-made goodies like fat, frosted cinnamon rolls, pecan rolls, scones and coconut macaroons. I had an apricot scone. It was not the usual pastry equivalent of a hockey puck. It was pale colored, moist, soft and crumbly. This is primarily a cake bakery. So, while the danishes and croissants are baked in house, the dough is purchased frozen from a bakery suppler. Likewise, the sandwich breads are store bought.

Chocolate Scones

Sandwiches are ordered using the tradition checklist of possible ingredients. They are priced from $3.50 to $5.00, depending on the meat choice. The options include enough variety to allow for creativity, while limiting the possibility for culinary disaster. There are also several salads offered and a daily house-made soup. The prices are very reasonable. A robust lunch consisting of a roast beef sandwich, small salad, soda and cookie is just under $10 with tax. The bakery is open Monday thru Friday from 7am to 4pm and Saturday from 8am to noon. 

Tea for Scones