Virginia Franzoy first discovered her passion for baking at grocery chain Piggly Wiggly in Lubbock more than four decades ago.
She learned to appreciate cooking and baking from her mother, but it was soon after she started working in the grocer’s bakery department that she took it seriously as a career path.
“I fell in love with it then because I had always done baking at home,” Franzoy said. “My mom was a very good cook and a baker so I [learned from her]. When I [combined] the decorations and the baking, that was it for me.”
Today, Franzoy uses the same skills at her Spring-based business Virginia’s Cakes Cafe Bakery on Louetta Road.
The eatery serves lunch every day from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. featuring customer favorites, such as the chicken poblano and the salad trio. Many of the lunch menu items are Franzoy’s personal recipes. The bakery also serves pastries, including cinnamon rolls, muffins and croissants, on Saturday mornings starting at 8 a.m.
However, cakes are the main attraction and largest source of revenue for the business, Franzoy said.
Offering a diverse selection of flavors, Virginia’s Cakes bakes for birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. Franzoy said she offers everything from simple sheet cakes to intricately sculpted tiered cakes.
Franzoy will never forget sculpting a 200-pound rhinoceros or re-creating Texas A&M University’s football stadium, Kyle Field. She said she also enjoys designing superheroes and Disney characters for children’s birthdays.
“We have about 15-20 different flavors of cakes and all different kinds of fillings,” Franzoy said. “We do all of the cakes you see on TV: the sculpted cakes, the layered cakes, the sheet cakes and the tiered cakes.”
She suggests customers schedule a consultation for large-party or ornate orders, allowing Franzoy and her team to discuss the cake’s design and provide samples to the potential customer.
Wedding cakes and groom’s cakes are a staple for Virginia’s Cakes Cafe Bakery, she said. Her bakery completes as many as 10 wedding cakes each week.
“For the wedding cakes, we do the sparkles and the rhinestones,” she said. “Sometimes we match the bride’s dress pattern or something in their design.”
After migrating to Houston from East Texas and after stints at three local bakeries, Franzoy opened the first Virginia’s Cakes about 25 years ago. She expanded the concept to add breakfast and lunch three years ago with the creation of Virginia’s Cakes Cafe Bakery.
The bakery serves as a family business for the Franzoys. Her husband makes deliveries, her daughter works as the office manager and her daughter-in-law is the production manager.
Franzoy fell in love with the Spring area when her family moved here.
“It’s a wonderful place,” she said. “I’ve been here 25 years, and I do not want to move anywhere else.”
