Photo Courtesy Shelby Cake: Shelby Wiltbank stands outside of her new business location for Shelby Cake. The specialty cake shop/bakery opened its brick-and-mortar location last week.
By Jon Johnson
CENTRAL – Just over one year ago, Shelby Wiltbank had a problem. She was searching for specialty cakes that used fresh ingredients and both looked and tasted great but found local offerings lacking.
That’s when she decided to take it upon herself to fill the void and Shelby Cake was started as a home-based business, selling specialty cakes and cupcakes.
“We wanted to create something that looked great and tasted even better,” Shelby said. “Because you can get cakes from anywhere, but we wanted cakes that tasted good with super good, quality ingredients – not just frozen ones that you can get anywhere.”
“I only did stuff to order or special events, but now we just have them all day every day,” Shelby said. “It used to be everyone would do a drive-through at my house. I would do it once a month and we would do a drive-through, but now we have them available all the time, which is what we wanted to do.”
This past September, Shelby made the jump and opened her brick and mortar business in the old Pinky’s location just west and across the highway from The Gila Valley Arizona Temple at 5350 U.S. Highway 70 in Central, and, so far, the response from the public has been overwhelming.
“We decided that it was time to make the jump and open a shop,” Shelby said. “If you would have told me a year ago I would’ve been in here I would have laughed. But it’s been fun.”
At Shelby Cake, everything is baked fresh daily and only fresh ingredients are used. The store offers whole cakes, cakes by the slice, and cupcakes in the bakery ready for pick up every day.
“Everything is made with top-quality ingredients and everything is made fresh daily,” Shelby said. “That’s really important that nothing is ever frozen or set out. It’s always fresh.”
Shelby advised the Gila Herald that while the store’s current modified hours have it opening at 3 p.m. to the general public (and staying open until 9 p.m.) she often finds herself at the shop as early as 4 a.m. to get ready for the day.
“We’ve just been so busy I can’t keep up,” she said. “I can only bake so much, but we hope to open earlier soon when everything calms down.”
The big breakout hit has been her cake shakes (cake milkshakes), which are made with ice cream, cake, and whipped cream. There are nine different varieties of flavors, and there will be a new flavor every month. For the rest of the year, the new flavors will be seasonal, with a pumpkin-flavored shake next on the menu for Thanksgiving and Fall, to be followed by a Christmas cake shake, according to Shelby.
“Each cake shake has its specific ice cream blend for its flavor,” Shelby said. “We add a bunch of extra stuff in there so it tastes good.”
The cake shakes are made to order in person at the shop, but Shelby also takes pre-orders for specialty cakes, including weddings, by email at shelby@shelbycake.com. Cakes are available by slice or whole cakes, and the store also features cupcakes, variety boxes, and more. Additional information can be found at the store’s website shelbycake.com and pictures and promotions can also be found on the store’s Instagram and Facebook pages.
If you go don’t forget to bring your pocketbook: cake shakes are $7.95, with whole cakes mostly at $65 each and slices at $5.50, and cupcakes at $13 for a half dozen and $25 for a dozen
What: Shelby Cake
Where: 5350 U.S. Highway 70 in Central
Hours: Monday – Saturday, 3 – 9 p.m. (But they will change soon, according to Shelby)
Social Media: Instagram – Facebook
Website: www.shelbycake.com
Contact: shelby@shelbycake.com or (928) 965-4762
