In some ways, launching a business after a global pandemic began was fortuitous for Cake Bloom’s Susan Sweeney. With couples downsizing their weddings, that meant downsizing the cake, too—just the kind of thing Sweeney specializes in. Cake Bloom, a botanical cake bakery, incorporates greenery and florals into each design. And what’s more, her cakes are small, starting with the “baby cake” size that feeds four to six people.
“Most of my weddings this year were very last-minute, rescheduled events, so they were small,” Sweeney says. “I created a line of two-tier Garden Cake packages for these intimate weddings that seemed to work well.” We asked Sweeney to tell us a bit more about her business, style, and her own wedding cake.
C-VILLE Weddings: Tell me a little about your background and how it led you to start Cake Bloom.
Susan Sweeney: I moved to San Francisco in my early 20s to attend culinary school, but it was my years working in the historic Ferry Building where I discovered the farmers market culture of the Bay Area—and the great diversity of California flowers and produce—that really inspired me to bake. I’m a big nature girl, and I think cakes are my way of expressing the joy it brings me. Being in Charlottesville is like a whole new world of flavors and produce to explore, and I’m just getting started.
CW: How does Cake Bloom differ from other cake vendors?
SS: I would say my style is what sets me apart. Using fresh florals requires a lot of knowledge about materials. There’s the safety aspect and knowing where blooms and greenery comes from (I use local, organic growers exclusively) to ensure materials aren’t sprayed, which is so common in the wedding industry. And of course knowing what blooms are toxic and nontoxic, which requires a great deal of attention. Lastly, I think I bring an artistry to the styling that is uniquely Cake Bloom. Staying within the parameters of safety, I seek out the most interesting vines, blooms, or flowering herbs I can find to create something really special.
CW: Can you tell me about some of the decorations/botanicals you put on the cakes for each season?
SS: I’m actually working with a few growers and buying seeds to map things out a bit better for both my fresh and pressed botanical cakes. Since this was my first season in Virginia, I’ve been learning as I go. In early spring, I’ll be pressing forsythia, lilac, and wild violets; in late spring, lavender, parsley flower, and chamomile; in summer, celosia, calendula, and bee balm.
CW: What are some of your clients’ favorite flavors you offer?
SS: My rainbow carrot cake with salted caramel and my Wahoo Stout cake, a boozy cake featuring Three Notch’d Jack’s Java Stout and Vitae Spirits Coffee Liqueur are both very popular.
CW: What did your own wedding cake look like?
SS: Sadly we didn’t have a wedding cake. We eloped in San Francisco City Hall just two weeks before we moved cross country, so it was all very rushed. We’re hoping to have a proper celebration (with lots of cake!) sometime after COVID.
