Baker offers by-the-slice option with Cake Club - Albany Times Union

Libby Bellicosa's with her cake products for a photo shoot Tuesday Dec. 4, 2018 in Schenectady, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

Libby Bellicosa's with her cake products for a photo shoot Tuesday Dec. 4, 2018 in Schenectady, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

Image 1 of / 8

Caption

Image 1 of 8

Libby Bellicosa's with her cake products for a photo shoot Tuesday Dec. 4, 2018 in Schenectady, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

If coming home on a Friday night to a freshly baked slice of cake is an appealing thought to you, you might want to remember Libby Bellacosa's name. As the owner of Libby's Lovely Buns, Bellacosa creates cakes with bold, pronounced flavors not found in a typical bakery. (Think lemon cakes with lavender frosting.)

Perhaps that's because Libby's Lovely Buns is anything but typical, choosing to forgo the traditional storefront to make small-batch cakes and frostings and selling them — by the slice — in her subscription service, the Cake Club.

Bellacosa had been baking cakes privately for friends and family, but when her daughter (now 5) was born, it was the first time Bellacosa was not working full-time outside of the home. She studied clinical psychology at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, and time spent studying in Italy first sparked her interest in baking and pastry. "I didn't know I had that talent," she said, and the time at home with her children (she also has a 2-year-old son) gave her the opportunity to explore that passion.

"In the last year it's taken off," Bellacosa said. Her orders tend to focus on personal cakes or smaller cakes for dessert tables at weddings. "The 8-inch, three-layer cake is the staple of my business," she said, and when it comes to flavors she wants people to "taste the rainbow." That means the lemon-lavender combo, apple carrot cakes, and flavors tinged with rosewater or fresh raspberries. "My motto is, 'Get weird.'"

"So many people said, 'I want to try your cake but I can't commit to a whole cake,'" she said. "People want to try these flavors but don't get the chance." She started the Cake Club in October, quickly filling the eight initial subscription spots. The by-the-slice option seemed to work best for her target clientele, both in size and in price, with a three-month, twice a month subscription costing between $85 and $95 depending on delivery location. She readily admitted her cakes tend to be more expensive than other bakeries because of the unusual ingredients, which lean toward organic and locally sourced.

"I think everyone needs to eat cake. They need to sit down in sweatpants on a Friday night and relax with cake and Netflix," she said.

More Information

More information

Libby Bellacosa takes orders for cakes, frosting and membership in the Cake Club at her Instagram account, @libbyslovelybuns.

For Bellacosa, the ability to connect with people through food keeps her passion alive. Delivering her cake slices — each intricately packaged to feel like a gift — every other Friday allows her to have a consistent connection with her subscribers. "Cake Club membership appeals to me because more than just eating a piece of cake you get an experience. That's the real draw. In this day and age, specifically [my millennial] generation, we are putting a lot of stock into experience and less into 'stuff.' I wanted to be a part of that," she said. As someone who grew up in Maine "where nobody was delivering anything," she said, the option of delivery is attractive, and her Cake Club subscribers seem to agree.

According to research group McKinsey and Company in a report titled, "Trends and Opportunities in the Subscription e-Commerce Market" from February, the $2.6 billion subscription e-commerce market (under which Libby's Lovely Buns falls) has grown more than 100 percent over the last five years. Companies like Blue Apron, Birch Box, Ipsy and Dollar Shave Club spearheaded this sales platform and subscribers to this genre of services and goods skew female (women account for 60 percent of the market). They are also most likely 25 to 44 years old with income between $50,000 and $100,00 in urban environments in the Northeast.

The majority of subscribers to the Cake Club fit this demographic, Bellacosa said, and 2019 subscriptions are already selling quickly. She also plans to sell 16-ounce jars of her made-to-order homemade frosting through her Instagram handle. "It just occurred to me that I could do this. My goal is to have it in stores, be a giant frosting manufacturer," she said. She is currently working to find local producers to work with and provide her with butters and goat cheese, which she uses in her frosting for a cream cheese-like consistency and distinctive flavor.

"Being a bakery isn't my main goal. The goal is to have a space to order and consult on cakes. My dream is to meet with people who remember the flavors of their grandmother's cake and recreate it. I love to make memories and I'm privileged enough to have fed many Albany children. I want those kids to grow up and choose to keep eating my cake. I want my cake to be in their brains as a flavor and time that made them happy. I know it makes me happy," Bellacosa said.

Deanna Fox is a food and agriculture journalist. @DeannaNFox, foxonfood.com

Let's block ads! (Why?)