Jenny Smith, a Kensington resident, avid baker, mother of four and busy sports mom, is opening Jenny Cakes Bakery in the former Itsy Bitsy Bakery at 10419-B Armory Avenue in Kensington on April 5.
Smith, who says she has been baking her whole life (and used to make some of the sweets for the former Café 1894, located next door), will be focusing on cakes, cupcakes, muffins and some savory items such as quiches. Cake flavors will include German chocolate, Italian cream, carrot, red velvet, lemon and more.
Smith said it was her children who kept urging her to take over the Itsy Bitsy space, where they had gone for after-school snacks with their friends.
That bakery, which opened in September 2010, closed this winter.
“They kept saying, ‘mom, you should open [there].’ ” Then one day, after she woke up from nap, it came to her. “You know what, I’m going to do it,” she said she decided.
But it was more than just the baking that appealed to her.
“It was whole package deal,” she said. “It’s two blocks from my house and I know so many people in the community.”
Smith purchased most of the equipment from the previous bakery owners, and will be sharing the rent with Frank Linn, owner of Frankly…Pizza! Linn operates a wood-fired mobile pizza oven and will be using the bakery at off-hours to make dough, Smith said.
Frankly…Pizza! sets up its mobile trailer at the Kensington and King Farm farmers markets, corporate gatherings, parties and other events. Linn also sells pizza every third Thursday of the month from 5 to 8 p.m. on Armory Avenue, in the area right in front of the bakery and the Two Pears Café.
