Business Spotlight: The Bread Basket

The Bread Basket's strawberry cream cake is the most popular of the five cakes offered for half-price during the bakery's Cake Day promotion. (Contributed photo)
The Bread Basket's strawberry cream cake is the most popular of the five cakes offered for half-price during the bakery's Cake Day promotion. (Contributed photo)

Let them eat cake

The Hixson store is holding its Cake Day sale Thursday, Sept. 7. The Signal Mountain store is holding its Cake Day sale Thursday, Sept. 14. The East Brainerd store is holding its Cake Day sale Thursday, Sept. 28. Pre-orders will be accepted for the East Brainerd sale until Sept. 23.

Owner: Anson Hyde

Recipe for success: The Bread Basket first opened in 1988 on Signal Mountain. Marie and Charlie Hyde had recently moved to the mountain, and as a housewarming gift, a neighbor brought them a loaf of sourdough bread - which they devoured. When Marie Hyde called the neighbor to thank her, she asked for the recipe. The neighbor, who has since passed away, brought over a bucket of the liquid starter used to make the bread, which customers know now as the Bread Basket's signature Southern sourdough. Marie Hyde had never been a baker or a businesswoman, but she developed variations of the bread by adding ingredients to the liquid starter, such as apples and cinnamon (which became the apple cinnamon loaf) or cream cheese (creating the top-selling cream cheese muffin).

Branching out: The Signal Mountain store was so successful that Marie and Charlie Hyde decided to open an East Brainerd location in 1993 and another in Hixson shortly after. They were a bit overwhelmed at the time and decided to close the store in Hixson. Their son Anson Hyde, who had been working with his parents for years but was still in school when they opened the other locations, reopened it in 2014, after buying the business from his parents in 2010.

Special delivery: Anson Hyde said the Bread Basket's brick-and-mortar stores are the business's bread and butter, so to speak, but almost half of his business comes from online orders. The Bread Basket ships its baked goods all over the U.S., and the majority of orders are placed during the holidays. But for Hyde, the stores are more than a business; they're where he gets to interact with customers and see their faces as they bite into tasty treats, the icing on the cake for him.

photo The Bread Basket's Black Magic chocolate cake is owner Anson Hyde's favorite cake that will be offered for half-price through the bakery's upcoming Cake Day promotion. (Contributed photo)

Savor the season: The Bread Basket offers different cakes depending on the season, and is currently phasing out its margarita cake and offering its peanut butter cake from the end of summer through fall. The bakery's "Cake Days," on which it offers five different cakes for half-price, are currently ongoing. The deal is available on the caramel cream cake, five-flavor pound cake, Black Magic cake (a chocolate cake, and Anson Hyde's favorite), cream cheese pound cake and strawberry cream cake. He said the latter, a spring and summer seasonal cake featuring ribbons of strawberry puree throughout and topped with strawberry-cream cheese icing, is the most popular cake offered through the deal.

Fill up: The Bread Basket is located at 2116 Taft Highway on Signal Mountain, 7804 E. Brainerd Road and 5023 Hixson Pike. Call the Signal Mountain store at 886-7771, East Brainerd at 510-8881 or Hixson at 870-9991. To check out the bakery's selection or place an online order, visit breadbasket.com.

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