Grab a slice of cake and a cup of coffee at the new Cake Bar located at 2254 Dillard Road in Highlands.
Owned and operated by Krysti and Thomas Henderson, with their daughter Sarah Rogers hard at work in the kitchen, the Cake Bar is an offshoot of their wholesale cake business, Chocolate Heaven Company, located next door.
“We were growing and we needed to expand,” said Krysti. “We simply needed more space for Chocolate Heaven and people kept coming in asking for a slice of cake and a coffee. So, we took the place next door to use as office space and created the Cake Bar.”
Krysti said the Cake Bar is somewhere people can go for a quiet place to relax away from the hustle and bustle of downtown.
“We wanted a low key, quiet, out of the way speakeasy-type feel,” said Krysti.
The Cake Bar is located next door to Chocolate Heaven (wholesale cake company) at 2254 Dillard Road. Pictured above is one side of the Cake bar, owner Krysti Henderson said she wanted a laid back, speak-easy feel. Artwork on the walls by Jeanie Edwards.
On any given day, the Cake Bar offers a variety of sweet delicatessens that may include cake and cupcake versions of red velvet, coffee cake, caramel cake, and banana bread to name a few.
Krysti began Chocolate Heaven over 20 years ago solely making flourless-chocolate cakes she called Chocolate Heaven, which are gluten free.
“I started out making them as a hobby on the side,” said Krysti. “It grew and grew and then in 2014, I started making other things from recipes I liked.”
After calling a couple kitchens home, they eventually settled off Dillard Road in January 2017. Krysti said working with her family makes for a great team, especially during the holidays when it’s all hands on deck.
“It works well because we all speak each other’s language,” said Krysti. “It does get crazy, but you keep the family drama out of the business and we make it work. I know how blessed we are because I never thought I would one day open a cake bar and we’re so grateful, but as Thomas says ‘make God laugh, tell him your plans.’”
Sarah Rogers makes chocolate chip banana bread (her favorite) for the new Cake Bar.
Krysti’s daughter Sarah said she enjoys working with her family, but things can get tedious in the kitchen because some tasks get repetitive, such as peeling about 500 pounds of bananas a week.
“To be honest, it’s a lot better than what I thought it was going to be like,” said Sarah. “Growing up, I thought it was a possibility (working with family) but I didn’t think I’d be doing this now.”
Sarah added that her favorite treat is the chocolate-chip banana bread and the most difficult thing to make is the red-velvet cake. Someone who has the red-velvet cake down to a science is Thomas, after about 60 failed attempts.
“It’s cool because I get to watch this process grow,” said Thomas. “We laugh about prep work that used to take 20 minutes that takes two hours now because instead of shipping 20 cakes we’re shipping 200, but I just love watching it grow.”
Thomas Henderson cranks out Chocolate Heaven cake for the new Cake Bar in Highlands.
The kitchen smells of a combination of cinnamon, bananas, chocolate, and a slew of unnameable baking scents, but when you spend the hours Thomas puts at the the oven it can get a little old.
“I love my job, but it’s not the most exciting thing because it’s cake, all day every day,” said Thomas. “You think you made a great cake, that’s awesome, now make 300 more.”
For more information about the Cake Bar and Chocolate Heaven Company click HERE.
Article and photos by Brian O’Shea
plateaudailynews@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram: @plateaudailynews
Like us on Facebook HERE
Great article – can’t wait to check it out!!
Ty Tug! This article required three visits to the Cake Bar over a 24-hour period. During that time, I ate three cakes. Not three slices. Three cakes…