By Donna Price

dprice@americanpress.com

Story, photos by Donna Price

dprice@americanpress.com

Last year was the first time I had ever heard of Nothing Bundt Cakes. American Press Executive Editor Crystal Stevenson was making a trip to the Lafayette store to buy a birthday cake for her sister, because her sister loves these cakes.

I remembered thinking, “Those must be some pretty good cakes if Crystal is driving all the way to Lafayette to get one.”

Now I know. They are delicious cakes, and since Nothing Bundt Cakes has opened a store at 4740 Nelson Road in the new Kroger shopping center, Crystal and everyone else can buy them without leaving town. The new Lake Charles franchise is owned by sisters Nhi Pham and Trinh Pham.

Nothing Bundt Cakes looks like a small store, but as of Monday they had close to 30 employees and “will probably have over 40” when the hiring is complete, said assistant manager Jesslyn Miller.

The shop has hired bakers, frosters, crafters and employees who assist customers up front, to name a few.

Like the name implies, you’ll find nothing but bundt cakes here, in an array of different sizes and in your choice of nine classic flavors. There is also a flavor of the month, which for January is snickerdoodle.

Get a plain cake topped with the shop’s signature cream cheese frosting or have it decorated in one of 64 special occasion themes.

There are all kinds of pretty things you can get here to stick on top of your cake to customize it.

After a quick visit here, just about anyone can come off looking like a thoughtful gift-giver with a delicious cake in hand. That’s because in addition to cakes, shoppers can find gifts like mugs, water bottles, candles, cards and plates to accompany their cake.

During my visit, I decided on a box of a dozen bundtinis, which are little bite-sized frosted bundts, for $19.50. A standard box of 12 includes four of the store’s most popular flavors: red velvet, chocolate chocolate chip, white chocolate raspberry and lemon.

Inside the to-go box, my bundtinis were secured in a sturdy holder to keep them from sliding around. There is no way these things are going to smash into one another in your car as you get them from point A to point B. Your sealed box of bundtinis could slip off the car seat and fall on the floor and still be perfect when you open the box. Nothing Bundt Cakes certainly has their packaging down.

I brought the bundtinis back to work to share, where they were well received. After eating one, Tami DeMary in the classified advertising department said simply, “Best. Cake. Ever.”

The bundtinis also garnered high praise from Benetta Johnson in accounting. She reluctantly took a bundtini, but said she can’t handle most cake frosting because it’s usually way too sweet for her and these bundtinis came with a big dollop of frosting on top of each one.

Benetta called me later when I was back at my work station. She loved the frosting, she said. It was not too sweet. “And that cake was SO good! It was perfect,” she said.

Which brings up the fact that there is just one frosting at Nothing Bundt Cakes. But as Benetta can attest, this cream cheese and butter frosting is the bomb.

So there you go. Perfect, best-cake-ever cake sold in a delightful fun-to-shop store. Lake Charles will likely find a lot to love about Nothing Bundt Cakes.

Store hours are 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Monday – Friday and 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Saturday. Call them at 337-223-4742.

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Online: NothingBundtCakes.com