Created to honor the simple recipes and baking traditions of her two grandmothers, SusieCakes was founded by Susan Sarich in 2006, and today delivers baked-from-scratch, lovely cakes including Vanilla Celebration, Red Velvet, Old-Fashioned Chocolate and more nationwide and via its stores throughout California and Texas.

Sarich, founder and chief executive officer of SusieCakes, shares valuable insights on what makes a great frosting. Her bakery’s specialty is buttercream.

“To make a delicious and quality buttercream frosting, you want to make sure you always source the most fresh and highest quality ingredients you can find,” Sarich explains. “At SusieCakes, we make our buttercream from scratch, using only the finest, real ingredients, including European-style butter!” 

Sarich has achieved great renown for her cake creations. She shares a few secrets to making and working with buttercream frosting.

“First and foremost, it’s important to know there are various types of buttercreams you can work with, such as American, Swiss and Italian. Across all of our bakeries, we use American buttercream for our cakes and cupcakes,” she says.

“My first tip for making buttercream starts at the very beginning. You want to assure that the butter is at room temperature when you start mixing it with the other ingredients, and I also recommend that you sift your confectioner’s sugar to avoid lumps.”  

If you plan to reuse your buttercream, she adds, always mix it again to soften it and prevent the buttercream from breaking, which can sometimes happen as a result of ingredients separating.  

As for flavor trends, Sarich explains that menu changes/rotations shift throughout the year.

“During the summer season, we traditionally see an uptick in fruit flavored buttercreams, like strawberry and lemon which are fan-favorites. Another delicious flavor that is also quite popular throughout the warm season is rose wine buttercream,” she explains. 

“We plan our seasonal specials and limited-edition offerings a year in advance, to ensure we have ample time to work with our suppliers and get the appropriate ingredients stocked up before we launch the product.”

SusieCakes has noticed that guests are now ordering for all types of holidays, such as St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mardi Gras, etc., whereas before, spikes came with the conventional holidays, like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day.

“We love that our classic baked goods bring people together and that guests are making every holiday a cause for celebration, no matter how big or small,” she says.  

Over the past few years, SusieCakes has had to navigate and overcome the continuous labor shortage that practically every industry has faced. To combat this, they moved to a more simplistic menu, with many seasonal features sprinkled in throughout the year.

“We’re thrilled that our loyal fans have responded well to these changes,” Sarich points out. “We’ve had many special edition offerings this year, including collaborations with well-known alcohol brands and chocolate companies. Looking ahead, we’re excited to continue adding new items to our menu that are great-tasting and help our customers celebrate life’s special moments.”