Dainty Maid Bakery: The Cake Nazi
By Mary Ellen Brown
The
Cake Nazi. The most affectionate term for the older woman who works behind the
display cases filled with freshly baked muffins, cookies, and specialty cakes
at The Dainty Maid Bakery.
The
woman does not wear a nametag, but if you witness her interaction with customers
you would soon find out she means serious business. But what if you were not
fortunate enough to witness an interaction with the Cake Nazi and a customer
and had no idea what you were getting into?
From
the outside, the Dainty Maid Bakery is an inviting family-owned shop that has
been in South Bend for over 70 years. The window displays are lined with red,
orange and yellow leaves, adding a festive fall touch. A Barbie doll with a
cake dress decorated in white and red icing would be the envy of any young girl.
Other fall decorated cakes fill the window with blank tops waiting for a message.
As
I peer through the window on a Thursday afternoon, the bakery looks empty except
for three workers standing behind the counter. I have never been inside the
bakery, but I received a birthday cake from Dainty Maid all three years I have
been at Saint Mary's College.
You
might call it a tradition. My mother and her sister both attended Saint Mary's
in the 1970s. They'd ride the bus or walk downtown with their friends to shop,
then stop at Dainty Maid to buy a cookie or muffin before going back to campus.
"My
first birthday party was in my freshman dorm room in LeMans Hall," my aunt,
Teresa Long, recalls. "My roommates surprised me with a Dainty Maid cake.
It was my first cake, too, because I always wanted a pie on my birthday when
I lived at home. From that moment, we had Dainty Maid for every occasion. My
friends and I even ordered a cake when we were on campus for our reunion a few
years ago."
Once
you've taken a bite of a Dainty Maid cake, you will instantly wish for another.
You won't be able to pinpoint that single ingredient that tugs at your taste
buds, but that won't stop you from trying. Is it vanilla? Nutmeg? The cake choices
are simple - white, chocolate or banana, but that doesn't make it any easier
to figure out what is in the recipe.
But
I wouldn't recommend that you ask. That would require a confrontation with the
Cake Nazi. Yes, the petite woman with frizzy salt-n-pepper hair, who wears thick
eyeglasses and can barely see over the display cases of sweets. If you do not
order, pay, and leave the bakery without asking questions or taking up more
than a few minutes of her time, you will regret going into the bakery.
And
if you happen to be in the bakery when no customers are in sight, and the Cake
Nazi says in a matter of fact tone, "As you can see we are really busy
right now," or if it's a half an hour till closing and she says, "We're
getting ready to close now" in an attempt to rush you, don't be discouraged.
Don't come out until you get what you wanted. And keep eye contact with her.
Otherwise she knows you are weakening, and you can't let her think she has the
upper hand.
But,
walking on eggshells is the small price to pay for an unbelievable cake.