Bakery Specializing In Unique Cakes Opens In Stamford

STAMFORD, CT — A new bakery specializing in bundt cakes has opened in Stamford, offering customers an array of deliciously moist cakes topped with a signature cream cheese frosting.

Nothing Bundt Cakes is a franchise with hundreds of locations across the country, however the new Stamford shop is their first location in Connecticut. The store, located at 838 High Ridge Road, had its soft opening in early July but officially opened to the public this month.

According to Ann Folger, the owner of the Stamford location, her new store is the franchise's 365th location, but each item sold still has a homemade touch. (To sign up for Stamford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

"We are a full bakery," Folger said to Patch. "We bake everything from scratch in the bakery, and we bake daily...we use the best ingredients, so we're able to put out a very moist product."

The store offers nine standard flavors of cake, as well as featured seasonal flavors like pumpkin spice, blueberry bliss and snickerdoodle (Folger personally recommends sampling the white chocolate raspberry cake).

"There's always something new when you come into the bakery," Folger said. "It's not just your average sheet cake."

All cakes can be decorated for any occasion, such as birthdays or holidays, and can be personalized in many ways as well. The store even sells wedding cakes and retail items for birthday parties, including candles, balloons, paper plates and napkins.

"We try to be like a one-stop birthday shop," Folger said, "so if you are celebrating a birthday, we can help you out. We can do your balloons for you, provide paper goods and all those kinds of things."

Folger's bundt cake-filled journey began in her home state of Texas, where she worked at one of the franchise's shops.

"After working there for three months, I decided I had to own one," Folger said.

Folger spoke with franchise officials and inquired about opening a location in Connecticut, a state she had come to love after a number of visits to her daughter, then a student at New York University.

"When I would go and see her [at school], we would always go to Connecticut," Folger said. "We would spend a lot of time just driving around, and we just fell in love with the state. While talking with the franchise, they said they didn't have [a store] in Connecticut, so I said 'well, that's me.'"

Soon after, Folger and her two daughters packed up and headed north to their new home in Stamford, and work on the new store began moving along smoothly.

Then the coronavirus hit Connecticut in March, forcing businesses across the state to shut down in an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus, also referred to as COVID-19.

According to Folger, the franchise gave her the option to hold off work on the new store during this time, however she decided to push forward. In fact, Folger's contractor was able to put together a great team of workers due to many being out of work as a result of the virus, she said.

"[Construction] moved along quickly," Folger said, "just because we had a lot of people willing to work."

A similar situation applied when it came to hiring employees to work at the store.

"I posted jobs on a career hire website, and in two days I had 170 applicants," Folger said, "so getting my staff together was easy. I have wonderful people working at the bakery, who are just happy to be there and happy to have a job."

Still, Folger had to adjust to some unique challenges as a result of the virus, including installing sneeze guards, laying markers for social distancing and training staff to wear masks and thoroughly clean everything in the shop.

While the store only allows a certain number of customers inside at one time, the team is also able to cater to people who are uncomfortable entering the store.

"We offer curbside [pickup], and we offer delivery," Folger said. "We have a lot of customers who will call us, and we'll bring their order out to their car...and we're happy to do it."

While the virus has added an extra challenge to the already tough work of opening a new business, Folger is happy to provide a service that brings people joy.

"My husband teases me all the time, 'leave it to you to try and open a business during a pandemic,' but I've always just felt good about it," Folger said. "The good thing is people are still having birthdays, so it is nice that people can just come in and pick up a cake."

She also is proud to serve the people of Stamford, a city she describes as "a shining gem."

"The Stamford community has been super supportive," Folger said. "We've just been so happy with how things have gone so far."

Those looking to order a cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes can do so at the bakery's website or in person at the shop on High Ridge Road.