An ‘accident’ leads to big business for local baker

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – When he’s not delivering custom cakes to clients, like a replica of the White House and Supreme Court Building, Lionel Land can probably be found hard at work at his business, “The Cake Guy Bake Shop.”  

He has had a love for baking ever since his grandmother taught him 20 years ago. 

“My grandmother was a baker, so I said, hey I want to learn how to bake a cake, later on became a cake decorator,” said Land.

Land makes wedding cakes, along with other sweet goodies, but his bakery’s biggest seller is “Cake N A Jar.”

Land says it was discovered by accident. 

“Doing cake pops at my store and had some left over cake batter, had jars sitting around,put them in jars, did a layering process and gave to my kids, one of my kids, having a big heart , took to their teacher, teacher ate some of the cake, enjoyed it, contacted me and said, hey where could we get some.”

The Cake Guy began selling “Cake N A Jar” and took his product to a trade show in Jackson.  

That’s where Mississippi First Lady Deborah Bryant tried ‘Cake N A Jar”, took samples to the Governor’s Mansion and helped put the sweet confection on the map. 

“We found out she named us one of the top ten things to buy in the state of Mississippi, centerfold of the Mississippi magazine, it has been a great run so far,” said Land.

Retailers find out about ‘Cake N A Jar’ primarily through trade shows.  The product is in nearly 300 stores nationwide.

 For now, the business is operated by Land, his wife and six children.  But he knows the future may mean a bigger staff, without compromising quality.  Land says he has learned a lot along the way.

“Stay  humble, be dedicated to what you do, don’t waver, keep God first, everything else will line up,” said Land.

Cake N A Jar has a shelf life of six to eight weeks at room temperature.  They can be refrigerated up to three months or frozen for up to six months.

For more information go to thecakeguyms.com