Eating Oxford
Oxford Bakeries Abound with Tasty Treats and Sweets
When looking for a custom cake or just a sweet bite to eat, Oxford has many locally owned options for a treat. From fun snacks for kids to fresh baked breads at your beck and call, local bakery owners are working hard to provide Oxford with fresh and customizable options for all your confectionary needs.
Kelli’s Cakes and Confections, located in the Oxford East shopping center on University Avenue is owned by sisters Kelli Russell and Ashley Baker. The sisters are coming up on their one year anniversary of being in business this April, but they’ve been Oxford natives their whole lives. “It doesn’t feel like work, even on the hardest days, because we’re all a family here,” Baker said.
In the months since they’ve been open, the sisters have made cakes for weddings, birthdays, sorority events and even received a bid to have their sweets served in the skybox suites in Vaught Hemingway Stadium this past football season.
When it comes to cakes, they specialize in sheet cakes iced with colorful butter cream frostings. Russell has a background in graphic design, working for Oxford Printing for several years, and has developed her own style of decorating whimsical handwriting and lots of color.
Kelli’s is ideal for stopping by with the kids for a quick snack, as they keep their front cases stocked with goodies for all ages. On any day you can find the shelves full of Ole Miss themed cookies, or seasonally decorated cupcakes.
Sweet T’s Bakery, located at 1512 Jackson Avenue is owned by Jeff and Kathleen Taylor, and has been open since July of 2014. Kathleen Taylor specializes in custom ordered cakes and cupcakes using fondant molding techniques.
Taylor began decorating cakes eight years ago, and taught herself after deciding to make her own cakes for birthday parties and such after her son was born. “It’s a lot of fun when you get to create and make things, if that’s your thing, there’s nothing better,” Taylor said. Sweet T’s is currently working on developing a healthier line of cakes with no preservatives or additives so people can “have a treat and not feel guilty about it.”
Honey Bee Bakery, located at 2305 West Jackson Ave. prides themselves on “Bread and pastries baked fresh, by hand, from scratch, with love, on the premises,” according to the signage hanging behind their register. “I know what’s in everything, because I have my hand in it, and I’ve made it myself,” co-owner Shannon Adams says. Along with her family she runs the bakery and restaurant that has been in their location for seven years, since the shopping center’s opening.
Honey Bee offers lunch, brunch and dinner options, as well as a range of homemade breads. Adams uses local starters and says a batch of bread usually takes around four days to make. “They take a while, but that’s the right way to do it, and that’s why it tastes good,” Adams said.
Adams has a background in pottery, which she says has helped her with decorating custom cakes that can be ordered from the bakery. Entering the spring season, Honey Bee also enters their busiest season with orders flooding in for graduations, weddings and other special events, “It seems like everyone gets married right after they graduate!” Adams joked.
Olivia Morgan is a HottyToddy.com staff reporter and can be reached at olmorgan@go.olemiss.edu.