My grandmother’s baking was an inspiration to my desire to bake. When I was five years old she would always call me into the kitchen when she was about to bake. She called me her little helper, it also provided a bonding experience which I sorely needed. I was too short to see or to reach the table top so she would turn a chair so that the back of the chair was against the table and I would crawl
up on my knees into the chair so I could see the table top. At age eleven, I became the family “bread baker”. I would bake the biscuits or cornbread for the family dinner, from scratch, to their delight. At the age of twelve I baked my first cake from scratch. Most recipes, back in the day, included lard or shortening as an ingredient which had to be blended by hand, as we did not have an electric mixer, imagine that. When I sliced my first cake, it had the appearance of Swiss cheese. I had failed to blend the shortening into the dry ingredients well enough, thus leaving holes in the cake as the shortening melted during the baking process. You are correct in assuming, my first cake went immediately into the trash. I would not allow anyone to see it, tasting it was out of the question. The second cake was a success, including praises from the family for a job well done. In December of nineteen eighty-eight, I baked my first cake for sell. My inaugural cake was the Red Velvet. Over the years I have included other cakes to my menu of very fine and tasty cakes. All products are made from scratch, which gives me the opportunity to add as much love and care as necessary. In all cakes that include chopped pecans as an ingredient, I chop them by hand to achieve the desired coarseness, I do not like “nut chips” as neither do you. I like to taste the pecans and know they are pecans. Two cups of chopped pecans is a lot of chopping by hand but that is an example of the love that I lavishly pour into each of my cakes. I taste every cake that I bake. It rarely happens, but if a cake does not meet my high standards, it will never leave my kitchen. I learned at the age of twelve to never serve a less than perfect cake. I prepare all cakes with quality ingredients so you, as my customers will enjoy the quality flavor you deserve. I pray that your enjoyment equals my zeal in baking these wonderful products, bon appetit. EAT RESPONSIBLY!!
-Baker and Founder Rick Hall