A warm Southern hospitality that’s as genuine as the ingredients in their award-winning cakes sweeps over visitors to the kitchens and offices of Cakes by Jane, one of Asheville’s sweetest success stories. This small – yet enormously popular – business was built upon the culinary talents of Jane Tomlinson, a “Georgia peach” who made a name for herself early in life in the Georgia catering business when she successfully catered the 1975 inaugural of Georgia’s then-governor George Busbee – for 5,000 of his closest friends.
With that kind of resume in her pocket, Jane could have gone into full-scale catering when husband Don’s work brought them to Asheville in the mid-1980s, but Jane decided to concentrate on her Southern cream cheese pound cake recipe, along with her exquisite work on wedding cakes.
Jane carefully adjusted her pound cake recipe, which was originally her grandmother’s homemade recipe, until she could consistently reproduce it in her commercial kitchen – but she never compromised on using the very best ingredients. The freshest ingredients, as Jane said back in 1997, were critical to the cake’s exceptional taste and texture.
The little bakery has also turned into something of a “media darling,” winning high praise from Southern Living Magazine, the Food Network, Bon Appetit magazine, Turner South Television, and DixieDining.com. As food critics (both amateur and professional) point out, this is no “assembly-line” production – these cakes are handmade from scratch. The care that is taken in the kitchen pays off in the taste.
Sadly, in spite of all the success, the Tomlinson family had to deal with Jane’s passing in 2003. The company was sold to Melissa Kreidler in 2005, and the mother of three has passionately run the business ever since. Melissa has added several flavors to the menu in recent years, and now the company also offers wedding cakes and custom-designed cakes.
There are several ways to get in touch with Cakes by Jane. For more information or to place an order, please call 888-834-9981 or visit their website at www.cakesbyjane.com. Cakes by Jane is located at 55 Monticello Road, Weaverville, NC 28787.