Posted 8:45 pm Sunday, August 08, 2010
Off-Beat Business: Amazing Grace How Sweet The Taste
Griffith's Cake Creations Nothing But Amazing
By CHAD THOMAS
Business Editor
Making the classic upside-down cake isn't so hard, even for an amateur baker.
Business Editor
Making the classic upside-down cake isn't so hard, even for an amateur baker.
Turning a four-tiered wedding cake upside down and keeping it that way? That's a feat for even the most accomplished sweet-treat masters.
Count Letha "Cookie" Griffiths among the latter group.
The veteran confectioner and owner of Tyler's Amazing Grace Cakes turns flour and sugar into mouthwatering mountains of art, giving classic cakes a newfound panache that has gained popularity with Tyler residents young and old.
A longtime Tylerite, Mrs. Griffiths opened Amazing Grace with her husband, Michael, in February 2009. What the modest shop on the Southeast Loop may lack in visual pizzazz, its cakes, pies, cupcakes and cookies more than make up for.
Amazing Grace is best known for its cakes, customized for the special occasion -- weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and beyond.
And while Mrs. Griffiths can make something simple in a half-day's time, she and her husband often team up to create the elegant or the unusual.
A hubcap-sized Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, a life-sized cake of a Gibson Custom guitar and a replica of a vintage cigar box -- complete with sweet stogies inside -- are just a few of the outlandish requests that the couple have successfully executed.
Regardless of the occasion, the Griffithses say their confectionary creations are secondary to the connections they make with their clients.
"What I like about the business is that it's an opportunity to be a part of these special occasions in people's lives," Griffiths said. "We get a chance to share in their lives, and a lot of our former customers remember us and will come back six months or a year later for something and we get to renew those friendships."
Loyal customers and rampant word-of-mouth advertising have helped propel Amazing Grace's business up to almost 10 cake orders each week.
But niche television shows, particularly TLC's "Cake Boss," also have spurred interest in custom-made and crazy cakes.
For that reason, Griffiths said, customers are known to come in with outrageous requests -- as seen on TV -- trying to stretch Amazing Grace's skills to the limit.
"The shows are really challenging for us because they set the bar so high, but we love the challenge," he said. "Our saying goes, 'we specialize in spectacular,' so we try to give people that."
Mrs. Griffith spent seven years at a Tyler bakery honing her cake-making skills before going out on her own almost 18 months ago. The entrepreneurial endeavor was guided by God, she said, and the business' name was divinely inspired.
"I prayed and said, 'Lord, whatever your will is, just let me know, and I won't step outside of your will,'" she said of the decision to launch her own business.
"When He opened this door for me, and we were thinking of a name, I just started praying about it. Every time I prayed about it, Amazing Grace kept coming to me," she said. "God showed me it wasn't about the cakes … Amazing Grace was the journey."
The Griffithses, members of Tyler Christian Fellowship, say faith plays a role in their everyday work. They're not hesitant to pray for, or with, customers who walk through the door.
As part of their message of faith, in addition to Amazing Grace's higher-end offerings, the confectionery can make reduced-cost cakes that have all the look and flavor of an expensive gateau but with a few variations that save on ingredient and labor costs.
"I hate to see people have to compromise their dream, so we try to work with them so they can get what they want even if something isn't in their price range," Mrs. Griffiths said.
More than 450 photos of Amazing Grace's creations are available to view on the business' Facebook page, but interested customers also can contact the Griffithses at amazinggrace_cakes@yahoo.com or at 903-279-1606.
Amazing Grace crafts bride and groom cakes and offers up samples of each of its seven cake varieties along with a selection of icings and accoutrements. Just don't ask Mrs. Griffiths to pick out the best one.
"When customers ask me what my favorite cake is, I say, 'whatever's coming out of the oven right now,'" she said.
