Family-run businesses and local bakers share time-tested treats, from fruitcake to conchas, that bring loved ones together for the holidays and beyond
By Renee Ambroso | Photography by John Micheal Simpson
Craveable Confections
The dessert cases at downtown Pittsboro’s Carolina Cravings Co. are stocked with a combination of the shop’s original recipes, like pie bars and muffins, alongside Latin American favorites like conchas – shell-shaped sweet breads – and tres leches cake.
Co-owners Iliana Escalante and Yeraldyn Martinez took over the bakery in February 2021 – Iliana had worked under the previous owners for a year, and Yeraldyn had spent three years sharpening her skills at The Phoenix Bakery. The duo soon added breads and pastries like bolillos and pan dulce to Carolina Cravings’ menu.
Yeraldyn manages most of the shop’s day-to-day operations, including sales, marketing and ordering supplies, while Iliana spends her time hands- on in the bakery. She first started baking as a part-time summer job at a doughnut shop in Sanford, and later learned to decorate cakes. “I’m always learning new things or [skills] every day,” Iliana says. Currently, she’s delving into intricate fondant decorating techniques for wedding cakes. “I think Iliana has a very artistic hand and imagination, because she can look at any picture and recreate it,” Yeraldyn says.
Like Iliana’s learn-by-doing mentality toward baking, running the shop has been a journey the pair has navigated together by learning as they go. “The way we [took over] Carolina Cravings was just [through] trial and error, that’s what has brought us here,” Yeraldyn says. Both she and Iliana are passionate about supporting other local makers and small business owners – they serve Vortex Roasters coffee and sell locally produced honey, Cackalacky goods and flower bouquets from area growers such as Buck Naked Farm in the bakery, too. “We try to support local as much as we can,” Yeraldyn says. Carolina Cravings also supplies desserts and bread to local restaurants including The Sycamore at Chatham Mills, BMC Brewing, Ta Contento and Sanford’s A Toda Madre.
Iliana says that Carolina Cravings’ bestsellers include conchas, brownies and pecan bars, but every customer has different preferences and requests. “That’s what we [enjoy] about this,” she says. “It lets us experiment and add new things to the menu.” She and Yeraldyn hope to add croissants to the bakery lineup soon, but note that whatever decisions they make for the shop, customers are top of mind. “We try to accommodate [any] budget,” Iliana says. “[We keep our items] affordable.”
Traditions With a Twist
Gray winter skies loom beyond the window of Mary O’Loughlin’s Briar Chapel kitchen, while inside, the oven is hot. Her hands are kept busy measuring ingredients, kneading dough and decorating cakes. Each year she spends the colder months methodically testing, refining and perfecting new recipes.
Mary has been baking just about as long as she’s been walking and talking, and in February 2023 she started Irish Bakers after retiring from her career in education. She sells her homemade baked goods at local farmers markets – you’ll find her at the Pittsboro Farmers Market and Briar Chapel Farmers Market in Chatham, plus others in Wake County, each week – and delivers orders directly to her Briar Chapel neighbors.
“The name Irish Bakers came about because the first thing I ever learned to bake as a child was Irish bread from my mother,” Mary says. “It’s an Irish recipe from County Mayo. … Growing up, we [ate] Irish bread every Saturday, not just on St. Patrick’s Day.”
Mary now bakes that same family recipe of the cinnamon raisin bread, along with a gluten-free version plus Irish tea cakes, Irish scones, cookies, brownies, cakes, muffins and other treats. “It’s all [made with] fresh, simple ingredients,” Mary says. “That’s how the Irish bake desserts. I use Kerrygold butter, whole milk [and] eggs – it’s very simple but tasty.”
Mary specializes in gluten-free baking, a skill she developed due to her own intolerance to wheat, which led her to take a class at the Culinary Institute of America to learn more about alternative baking methods and ingredients. She’s since carefully developed modified versions of classic recipes. “The goal is not being able to tell that it’s gluten-free,” she says. “[And] to create something the whole family can eat. It’s nice when young children that cannot have gluten are able to have a birthday cake or sweet potato bread and the entire family can enjoy it, too.” Mary has also added several dairy-free options to Irish Bakers’ menu due to high demand for them, like an apple cider doughnut cake.
Mary relishes the reactions she gets from satisfied customers. “I’m very happy to be able to really do something that I love full time now, and [have enjoyed] the support of my neighborhood and the whole area.”
Fruitful Celebrations
The family behind Bear Creek‘s Southern Supreme Fruitcake & More know that if something isn’t broken, you shouldn’t fix it. The business hasn’t strayed the town it was founded in back in 1985, nor has it changed the recipe of the fruitcake it’s become known for.
Southern Supreme President Randy Scott says his mother, Berta Lou Scott, “left out a lot of what I would call excess candied fruit that [many] people use in fruitcake.” Her version of the classic recipe would later become Southern Supreme’s flagship product. “Our cake does have golden raisins, dates and pineapple and a few red cherries, and the rest of it is pecans and walnuts … over a third of the cake is [nuts],” Randy says.
Back in the ’80s, Berta Lou, Randy and his siblings would produce about 1,800 pounds of fruitcake each year out of a converted garage. “For about four seasons we stayed in that little kitchen,” Randy remembers. “In 1990, my father decided to [construct] a small building to house the fruitcake kitchen, and maybe a small warehouse and a little bit of office space. “… Since then, we’ve built on [to it] about 13 times.” Specialty equipment, including large ovens and mixers, has allowed the business to scale up to producing 3,000 pounds of fruitcake per day.
“We knew we had a good cake – we had no idea it would turn into what it’s turned into,” Randy says. “And it didn’t happen all at once.” Over the years, nuts, brittles, chocolate treats, jellies, condiments and more were added to Southern Supreme’s offerings. While it’s still a family business – with cousins and even grand- children of the founders now on the payroll – a total of 125 employees keep the ship running during its busiest months in winter.
