Elegant cake designs are having a profound effect on customer demand at bakeries like Miranda Brothers Bakery in Salem, Oregon.
“We sell a lot of tres leches and mocha cakes, and we have added flavors,” explains Laura Miranda, owner of Miranda Brothers Bakery, listing chocolate and strawberry as two of their most popular flavors with customers. “Tres leches tops them all. We sell 150 cakes every Saturday.”
La Tapatia, which has three locations including a retail store in Salem, Oregon, features inventive individual desserts like cake pops, which are growing increasingly popular because of the fun flavors and convenient sizes.
“Cake pops are really popular now,” points out Brenda Alvarez, whose father, Mauricio, founded the bakery in 2003.
She adds an important point that younger customers, first and second-generation Hispanics, are loving cake pops because they are delicious – and not wasteful.
“Newer generations are more conscious of not being wasteful, and that affects their purchasing decisions,” Alvarez says. “And eight of 10 customers who come into their bakery reference a cake they saw on our social media.”
Personalized numeral cakes are a hot new trend, as more customers order birthday cakes shaped in large numerals that signify the birthday of the person.
Social media is having a profound influence on the consumer preferences of decorated cakes.
“We are doing a lot of 6-inch cakes and mini cakes right now. We are also doing vintage cakes. Everybody who comes in wants our new cake designs,” explains Kevin Miranda, whose father, Gustavo, owns Miranda’s Bakery in Woodburn, Oregon.
“Cakes have completely taken off because of our Instagram posts and Pinterest,” adds his sister Gissel Miranda. “We specialize in custom cakes. Social media is so aesthetic, and we really please our customers with aesthetically attractive cake designs. People see exactly what they want.”
“We want to bring in new people through our social media,” she emphasizes. “We have already seen a rise in our business because of it.”
