Located in downtown Covington, Virginia, Cakes Your Way and the Coffee Café is your convenient stop for a latte and a satisfying sweet craving. Locally owned and operated by Theresa McCoy, this bakery and coffee shop has a strong focus on custom cakes, but a routine menu of morning pastries, Danishes, cinnamon rolls, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, and unique decorative sugar cookies makes it a destination for those wanting a sweeter bite. Serving drip coffee, espresso, and lattes, they use Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company which helps provide education employment, access to healthcare, and sustainability for those living in the farming villages of Rwanda. Since opening their doors in November, 2017, the local community has shown steady support and the local Chamber of Commerce selected them as Small Business of the Year in 2018.

Bonus: This December, enter for your chance to WIN a dozen cupcakes! Find Krampus hidden inside our December 2019 issue. Tell us where you find him by emailing us at info@christinae6.sg-host.com. Hint: He is carrying a sack. Deadline to enter is Tuesday, Dec 17. We will select one winner by 12p on the 18th.

Theresa is a self-taught baker without any formal training or cake decorating instruction. She began her baking journey in 1997 making a cake for her son’s first birthday. The cake was a success but shortly thereafter Theresa endured many hardships including a divorce, raising two children as a single parent, working various jobs, and baking cakes from home to make ends meet. She was inspired to open a bakery after recognizing that custom cakes and a coffee shop were not only a viable market but a community need.

This past November marks 2 successful years with her bakery on Main Street and she has big plans for the new year. Beginning in January 2020, Theresa and her team will sell “Cake Kits” that will be shipped throughout the United States. These kits allow anyone to experience the fun of cake decorating in the comfort of their own home and more importantly, at their own pace. The kit comes with a fresh-baked cake, icing, tools, and step-by-step instruction. Theresa says, “We have literally taken all of the hard work out and left all of the fun in.”

Providing cake decorating instruction is not new for Theresa. Since 2016, she and her staff have offered a “Cake Class,” which trains cake instructors with ways to teach fun and engaging cake classes. They equip the instructors with the tools while inspiring creativity. One of the greatest joys Theresa gets to experience is sharing what she knows and has learned over the years about cake and cookie decorating. On the website, Theresa offers recipes, tips, and tutorials to help you along your cake decorating journey. Just in time for the holidays, some recipes include “Crusting Cream Icing Recipe” “Theresa’s Sugar Cookie Recipe” and “Theresa’s Royal Icing Recipe.”

Theresa believes she is an accidental entrepreneur and says “Big things can happen in the lives of those who don’t feel they have much to offer. I was someone who took the resources and skills that I had and put them to work as a means for me to help provide for my family while adding value to the lives of others. She loves cakes and goes onto say that it’s “not because there is anything super magical about the baking process, but it’s the creativity and design that I most enjoy. I love to take the ideas and visions that people have and turn them into a one-of-a-kind cake that more than meets their expectations.”

On your next journey through Covington, stop in Cakes your Way and the Coffee Café. Hours are Tuesday-Friday, 9a-5p and Saturday, 9a-12p. They are located at 214 W. Main St. For more information call 540-958-6810 or visit customcakesyourway.com. To stay updated with specials, follow @mccoycakes on facebook and @cakesyourwaycoffee on Instagram.

– HashtagWV #120. December 2019.