Whose birthday? It is mine.
When I was growing up, birthdays always meant a cake from Hough Bakery. For my brother, born in March, the cake was covered in spring flowers. For my sister’s June birthday, frosting roses decorated the cake. I think I really got the best deal because for my October birthday, my mom would get a cake with the entire top covered in frosting mums in autumn colors. I cannot describe how beautiful it was – and how delicious.
Hough closed their retail stores in 1992. You can tell a native Clevelander by the dreamy, far away look in their eyes when you mention the name Hough Bakery. They will sigh, “Oh, yes, I remember the . . . “(filling in the blank – birthday cakes, corn toasties, brownies, blondies, hot cross buns, daffodil cakes, Hungarian delights, etc., etc., with whatever was their favorite.
If you did not grow up on bakery from Hough’s, the names will mean nothing to you. But to a native Clevelander, Hough’s was more than just a bakery, it was part of our history.
The daffodil cakes and so forth may be gone, but you can still get a Hough-style birthday cake at Archie’s Bakery. Archie was a baker for Hough’s and he negotiated with the family to continue baking and selling their distinctive birthday cakes.
I’ll get mine.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 