SusieCakes makes Sac a little sweeter!

I had the wonderful opportunity of joining fellow media professionals and bloggers at the new SusieCakes Sacramento location in the upscale Pavilions Shopping Center for a special preview event.  We had the opportunity to meet the face behind SusieCakes, founder – Susie Sarich. I was really impressed by her story, her business model, and her interest in our own personal stories.

SusieCakes is an all-American, homestyle bakery specializing in a variety of dessert favorites. From their cakes to their cookies, all items are made by in-house bakers, offering one-of-a-kind – made from scratch, treats. 

Susie grew up with fond childhood memories of baking alongside her two grandmothers, Mildred and Madeline. She shared with a few of us that her bakery’s “Susie Blue” signature color was actually inspired by the color of her grandmother’s Pyrex bowls. Pretty sure we had the same blue set in my house, circa 1970. I love that she cherished her kitchen time with her grandmas and that some of their recipes still remain a huge part of her bakery today.

I know I too cherish the hours spent at the bar stools in my Mom’s kitchen watching her prepare meals. As a working mom, she had everything down to a science – at times she’d leave instructions, and as I got a little older, I’d start dinner before both of my parents got home from work. I too have a wooden box filled with family recipes. My grandmother’s Kitchenaid sits proudly on my kitchen counter and is a reminder of how the role of family and cooking/baking traditions have continued to fuel my own passion for spending time in the kitchen and enjoying good food.

Susie opened her first location in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles back in 2006. The bakery became an instant neighborhood hit. Susie’s husband shared that their customers return again and again to celebrate important family events – from birthdays, baby showers and weddings, to customized sport themed cupcakes – SusieCakes became part of others’ family traditions and that meant a lot to them. 

Their Carlsbad and Laguna Niguel stores will be the next two to open. Carlsbad is slated for March 2015 and Laguna Niguel will follow in May 2015. For my Willow Glen peeps – Susie shared that they were looking at Lincoln Ave. as a possible new location – so hopefully that happens, because I think this type of bakery would be an excellent fit. Raviolis at La Villa, followed by dessert at SusieCakes – sign me up!

Other Northern California locations include Greenbrae (Marin), Chestnut Street (San Francisco Marina), Menlo Park, Lafayette and San Carlos.

I couldn’t get over the cuteness factor of the store’s decor and the employees that worked there. It was a little slice of retro heaven. From the Susie Blue painted walls to the cherry and floral fabric on the white metal bar stools – I loved all of the store’s design details. The merchandise for sale was very Pinterest worthy and totally “my thing” – I had to refrain from buying enough candles to light up a year of birthdays. 

Susie took a few of us at a time through the kitchen where we got to see the employees working. They were decorating custom cookies with logos from businesses all over Sacramento. The bakery has big glass windows that customers can see all the bakery action through. 

We were each given a tasting plate of cake. We sampled seven different cakes while sipping champagne. The cakes are all made from scratch. No mixes, artificial preservatives or trans fats are used. What they do use is European-Style butter, Scharffen Berger Cocoa, Ghirardelli & Callabaut Chocolate and Tahitian-Bean Vanilla.  

We sampled the Carrot Cake, Tropical Coconut Cake, Vanilla Celebration Cake, Classic Marble Cake, Old-Fashioned 6-Layer Chocolate Cake, Famous Southern Red Velvet Cake, and the Luscious Lemon Cake.

My favorite was the Vanilla Celebration Cake, six layers of vanilla cake with confetti, covered in Susie Blue colored vanilla buttercream frosting. It was like butter on a spoon. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it was – frosted butter :). 

My second favorite was the Luscious Lemon Cake, followed by the Old-Fashioned 6-Layer Chocolate Cake. The fresh lemon curd is also used in their lemon bars. 

We were sent home with a box of treats – a giant chocolate chip cookie, a whoopie pie, a heart shaped iced cookie and a 7-layer bar cookie. I will be diving into those as soon as my sugar coma subsides. 

SusieCakes Sacramento family-friendly grand opening celebration is scheduled for this upcoming Saturday, January 24 from 1-4 p.m. Guests will be treated to complimentary mini desserts, photo ops in a classic car, face painting, a balloon artist, and a coloring contest for the kids. The kickoff celebration continues all week long with special promotions – a cupcake happy hour and two-for-one slices of cake, just to name a few.

A big thank you to Susie and her husband for hosting such a fun evening and to Jairo at Bouchard Communications and Jessica with SusieCakes for inviting me to the special preview event. I had a wonderful time and look forward to placing many customized cake and cookie orders in the future. This design girl was sure impressed and energized by this new addition to Sacramento. 

Cheers to Susie and her newest Sacramento location!

SusieCakes – Sacramento

564 Pavilions Lane
Pavilions Shopping Center
Sacramento, CA 95825
(916) 865-2250
Mon-Sat – 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.