BISBEE, Ariz. (KGUN) -- — For this latest visit, we're heading to Bisbee for something sweet.
The drive from the heart of Tucson is worth it, though, to support a small business on Main Street doing their best to stay open in the aftermath of the fire on Valentine’s Day.
Tom and Kathy Jackson have their own slice of this tight-knit community. Tom said Bisbee GoodCakes’ story started in 2016.
"We started out really at the Bisbee Farmer's Market,” he said. “In order to develop some cakes... we needed to actually get real people to taste them."
Through trial and error, the Jacksons found there's a growing customer base who still want to satisfy their sweet tooth while trying to keep their gluten-free or vegan diet.
Working in Bisbee, Tom said he also had to learn to compensate for how the elevation makes or breaks how his cakes rise.
"You have to adjust every aspect of the recipes: from the right flour density and moisture content to temperature,” he said.
For this tasting course, we started with a savory bread first. Jackson said he’s been tweaked his Irish soda bun by baking fresh rosemary into it, and then sprinkling it with a little sea salt when it came out of the oven.
Of course, the Jacksons have the tried-and-true flavors covered as well; chocolate and vanilla-vanilla, which is Kathy’s favorite.
How popular is this cake? Tom said when they host gallery openings for local artists, they often put batches of this cake by the shop window. "It doesn't matter if we have pizza or anything else,” he said. “(It’s the) first thing gone!"
What if you're craving a more specific comfort flavor? Jackson said in his kitchen, they do not skimp on the carrots in carrot cake.
"About 60% of the weight of the cake is pure carrot,” he said. “It's low in sugar because we love the carrot flavor coming through.”
Jackson said he’s also noticed the carrot-cake crowd are passionate. "People, as it turns out, become polarized when it comes to carrot cake. If it has raisins, they say no!"
True to their experimental roots, the Jacksons also skipped using flour to make their almond strawberry cake.
"In the case of the almonds, they're high in fiber, and so just that flour binds the cake together, so this cake is incidentally gluten-free."
The icing on our visit was a glittering lemon and blueberry cake. On this visit, we also learned that currently there’s technology to make nano-scale sugar crystals an edible kind of glitter. Both Tom and Kathy said they squeeze several dozen lemons fresh each time they bake a batch for their discerning customers.
"You'll find it's worth it, because it gives a real rich, intense lemon flavor,” he said. “Then we use organic blueberries and layer them in the cake, all the way to the top."
