While the Texas A&M community gathers to celebrate Aggie Ring Day, local bakeries are setting their cake mixers on high for this Friday’s workload.
Over 3,000 students will be receiving their piece of Aggie gold this week, and at the end of a long day of celebrating, another slice of joy awaits them back home. Tasty treats, pastries and double-decker cakes are a staple of post-ring festivities. Accounting for students, family and friends, bakeries in and around College Station are keeping the ovens hot and whipping cream on standby.
In its eighth straight year of being awarded the Best of the Brazos award for cakes, Bryan-based Cake Junkie is one of several local bakeries taking orders for Ring Day. Head baker Fredna Moffett said 80 cakes are ready to be distributed, but she anticipates more orders to pile in soon.
“A lot of them are last-minute,” Moffett said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, I forgot to order a cake, can you please get me one out by Friday?’ A lot of times I’ll bake several, maybe a dozen extra cakes, just so we’ll have them on hand for last-minute orders.”
Traditional pastries and cupcakes are Ring Day favorites, Moffett said, but on occasion Cake Junkie will pull out all of their baking sheets to produce an almond butter replica of an Aggie Ring. Each ring cake is handcrafted and detailed to include every edge and emblem a real piece of Aggie gold has to offer.
“My part is just baking the cake, but as far as the decorating goes, our decorators are amazing,” Moffett said. “If you’re an artist, it makes it real simple to envision what it’s supposed to look like, and then you go from there to planning the cake to where you get the definition of the cake.”
While a ring cake may seem daunting to prepare, Moffett said the real task of a baker is providing a client with something to smile about while they chow down.
“I can’t say we’ve had any complaints because of the way we follow through,” Moffett said. “A lot of people will come in with their own design for Ring Day and show us what they’re wanting on there as far as how to read it. A lot of people want ‘God bless’ and even scripture on them, and it’s just real special that we can provide that for the customer without any flaws and to keep them as a returning client.”
Gina Gutierrez, owner of Cakes by Gina in Houston, is also receiving Ring Day orders. The aspiring-architect-turned-baker said the pressure of multiple Aggie orders is high, but it does not surpass her passion for baking.
“Sixteen years ago, I decided to open up my bakery, and now this is what I like to do, and I get to do it every day,” Gutierrez said. “With all the crazy things we do on cakes, I’m glad I studied architecture.”
Gutierrez said the treats at Cakes by Gina are sweet, but the sight of a happy customer is even sweeter.
“It’s exciting because the mothers that are ordering the cakes are very happy to see that their kids are getting closer to graduating, period,” Gutierrez said. “They want this, no matter how big or small, to be special.”
Despite the bakery not being located in College Station, Gutierrez said she takes pride in fulfilling each order for the Aggie community.
“It’s a big Texas tradition,” Gutierrez said. “The Aggie family is so big and proud, and we can become part of it too.”