Cakes to Remember, LLC
Custom Wedding and Special Events Cakes
Serving the Middle Peninsula & all Surrounding Areas
(804) 693-0478
Cakes to Remember
4288 Cato Drive
Gloucester, VA 23061
ph: 804-693-0478
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Cakes to Remember, creating memories one bite at a time. Memorable cakes made with fresh ingredients, and each with individual style to match your special event.
Cakes are made for weddings, as well as other special events, including showers, birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, and many more.
The cakes on the site are just a sampling of some of the different styles of cakes created.
Tracey has been chosen by Virginia Living as a top wedding vendor for 2015-2021. She has also been chosen by Wedding Wire to receive the Couples' Choice Awards for 2014-2021. She has additionally had some of her cakes featured in several different wedding and cake publications and several of her faux cakes have been used in theatre productions and national museum openings. One of her faux cake was used for the Mississippi Bicentennial Celebration Events.
Tracey continually stays on top of the wedding cake trends each year, incorporating new and exciting cake techniques and designs as they come out. She has received training from some of the world renown "cake masters" to perfect the art of cake decorating, to be able to offer each client exactly what they are looking for.
Welcome you to Cakes to Remember, and I look forward to working with you on creating your own special events cake.
Warmest Regards,
Tracey
"Tracey made all of the cakes and desserts for everything involved with my daughter's wedding (wedding cake, grooms cake, rehearsal dinner, bridal and bachelor parties, and a full dessert table at the reception). We found out about her through word of mouth, and could not have been more pleased."
Lynn, 2019
"She has made such a wide variety of different cakes-all beautiful and unique and equally delicious! I know that....because she did an awesome job for us at Smith's Florist for our 50th Anniversary-I would make a recommendation to anyone anytime!"
Connie, 2014
"I cannot say enough about Tracey at Cakes to Remember. I have ordered several cakes from Tracey, driving over an hour from north of Richmond to pick them up. Entertaining a lot, and with having used a lot of different storefront bakeries and at home decorators, Tracey's cakes are definitely worth the effort to get on her calendar. They are always fresh, have a strong flavor, the fillings are to die for, and her decorating is simply amazing! She is able to create so many different kinds of cakes to make exactly what each customer is wanting. I would never go elsewhere!"
Chrystal, repeat customer
"Tracey was so amazing! We were very nervous about ordering from "someone baking out of their home." We even asked to see a couple of her business license when we came for our wedding cake tasting. Cakes to Remember is so much better than a bakery in a bridge! Tracey gave us personal attention, spent time talking to us, had no other customers coming at the same time, knew everything about the whole wedding planning process and even gave us names and numbers for other vendors, whom we used, and were great. She designed our cake from scratch and it was wonderful! I cried at my wedding when I saw it! It was breathtaking and every kept raving about how good it tasted - and moist! We will use Cakes to Remember whenever we need a cake."
Shirley, 2015 Bride
Cakes to Remember is a Cakes Against Cancer for Kids & Icing Smiles cake baker.
"With hundreds of wedding under her belt, Tracey is the best cake baker out there. She is huge and very well known in Gloucester. We heard about her from word of mouth - from a lot of people. I actually had a friend call me from a wedding and tell me to make sure I contacted Cakes to Remember in Gloucester for my wedding cake because she was eating some right at the moment and it was the best wedding cake she had ever had. And it was!!! Tracey is so sweet! She truly cares about each bride - we are not just a number to her and she works so hard to juggle and keep up with tons of inquires while also making sure each bride is given personal attention. You will love her and more - you will love her cakes!! Check out her websites - they are awesome - www.traceyscakestoremember.com. She makes faux cakes as well and ships them worldwide. She is getting pretty big for that as well. We only needed a 3 tier cake for 100 guests but really wanted the look of a 5 tier cake, so she made two tiers in a faux cake and 3 tiers edible, making my dream affordable and doable. She is great! They are opening up a store online as well for fake cakes - I think it is Fake Cakes to Remember. Definitely don't miss out and not use her. Get her early though - she books up soon!!! "
Cabe, 2017
"Tracey does phenomenal work with her cakes! My first purchase from Cakes to Remember was my wedding cake, and it looked and tasted amazing! I still get compliments on it. Since then, I have purchased an anniversary cake and a birthday cake. They are all delicious, beautiful, and affordable. I recommend Cakes to Remember for ALL of your cake needs."
Sara McDonough, 2016
"ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! It is pretty bad when your guests are talking about your wedding cake all night and not you, but I LOVED IT!!! Tracey scheduled a cake tasting for us, made flavors we wanted to try, not what she had on hand, designed the exact cake we wanted, was very affordable in her pricing - too good actually, we gave her a big tip at the end, and when we got our cake the day of, it was even more beautiful than we had thought it would be!! It smelled good, looked amazing, such detail work, and oh my gosh!!! tasted wonderful - moist, tasty, buttercream homemade and fresh!! I am in love!! I know she is in Gloucester but you will always remember your wedding cake! And if she does not deliver to your area, get a cake small enough for someone to pick up. You definitely want her making your wedding cake!"
Jess, 2017
"Even if I were to open a storefront I couldn't do anymore than I do now," Esplin said. She likes to do every step on each cake herself.
Six years ago, Esplin received a request from her daughter for a special unicorn cake. She said her husband had previously made the children's birthday cakes when they were babies using special pans or designs but they never turned out quite right.
Esplin, herself, had never really baked.
She took a stab at it anyway.
It turned out great and two months later she made another successful karate-themed cake for her son.
"The grocery bill started adding up and I had to at least ask that people pay for the ingredients," Esplin said. "That's really how it got started."
Then the requests started coming in from strangers.
"In all honesty, it exploded from there," she said.
In mid-2011 Esplin officially opened "Cakes to Remember," receiving her business license and health certifications.
Since then she has made more than 1,000 cakes, each personalized to her customers.
"I have done cakes from pictures people have brought me but I really prefer not to use a picture," Esplin said. "I like to talk to them. Get the information about what they want, think about it, and it comes together."
She offers 30 flavors of cakes — almond with raspberry filling is the most popular — and keeps her recipes close.
While she makes cakes for a variety of occasions, Esplin's favorite to design are wedding cakes.
"I just love weddings and getting to go set up for the wedding," she said.
But the cake that was the most fun to put together was a fire-breathing dragon for a little boy's birthday.
The high demand has forced Esplin to establish a schedule: early Monday and Tuesday mornings she makes the decorations for the cakes; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are baking days; and Thursday, Friday and Saturday are spent putting the cakes together and adding finishing touches.
Esplin said her passion and talent for cake-making came as a surprise.
"I couldn't make a cake at all and I am seriously not artistic," she said. "I always think it is funny cause sometimes people instead of cake decorating say you are a cake artist. I always think that is cute because in my head I am anything but. It really kind of throws me."
Her customers would beg to differ.
"She makes the most amazing cakes. We just loved our wedding cake," said Brittany Smith of Gloucester.
Esplin contributes her efforts to organizations like "Cakes for Kids with Cancer" and "Icing Smiles." The organizations use cake makers around the country to create and deliver amazing birthday cakes for kids battling cancer.
"We are so blessed with healthy children. I could not imagine what these parents go through," she said. "It's a way that I can give back because we have the ability to do so."
Esplin found out Tuesday that she received the Wedding Wire Couple Choice Award for 2015. The award is given each year to the top 5 percent of cake decorators in the nation.
"It was a nice surprise," Esplin said.
While she may never take her business out of the comforts of her home kitchen, she does see it as a long-term venture.
She has 27 weddings already scheduled for 2015 — two are on the same day in April and are five-tier cakes — and her biggest fear is having to turn customers away.
"I just enjoy watching them come get their cake," Esplin said. "My favorite part is when someone comes in and they smile. I love the faces."
Hubbard can be reached by phone at 757-298-5834
Cakes to Remember
Visit http://www.traceyscakestoremember.com for more information about Tracey Esplin's custom special events cakes. See a video and photos of Tracey's cakes at dailypress.com.
Copyright 2014 Cakes to Remember. All rights reserved.
Cakes to Remember
4288 Cato Drive
Gloucester, VA 23061
ph: 804-693-0478
homeamer