Twenty years ago, Susie Sarich opened the first SusieCakes in Brentwood, CA with her grandmothers’ handwritten recipe cards, a dedication to scratch baking, and a conviction that the best baked goods are the classic, nostalgic ones. This July, SusieCakes is celebrating two decades of doing things the old-fashioned way, the way it has always operated: with guests at the center. Starting now, SusieCakes is marking its 20th anniversary with a community storytelling giveaway, a fan-voted menu comeback, and its annual BOGO event on July 18th—all to thank the guests who have supported the bakery along the way.
The recipes that built SusieCakes came from Mildred and Madeline, Sarich’s two grandmothers who filled her Chicago childhood with the daily ritual of after-school baking. She carried their handwritten 3×5 recipe cards west to California and in 2006, she opened a bakery to share the desserts she grew up loving. The philosophy was simple: bake everything from scratch, every day, with real ingredients like slow-churned butter, premium chocolate, and nothing you can’t pronounce. In the 20 years since,SusieCakes has grown to over 30 locations across California, Texas, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, becoming part of countless birthdays, bridal showers, graduations, milestone celebrations, and “just because” moments along the way. The recipe cards may look more worn today, but the recipes — and the values behind them — remain exactly the same.
“SusieCakes is about more than great cake — it is about the relationships we build and the moments we are honored to be part of,” said Sarich. “We have watched families grow up with us: the engagement cake that led to the wedding cake, which led to the baby shower, which led to the birthday. For 20 years, our guests have invited us to their most important milestones, and that trust is something we have never taken for granted. Everything we are doing this summer is a way of saying thank you to the people who made it possible.”
Share Your Story, Win a Year of SusieCakes
To celebrate the community behind two decades of celebrations, SusieCakes is asking guests to share their favorite SusieCakes memory. Through June 24, anyone can submit a written story—with bonus consideration for a nostalgic photo—at susiecakes.com/20th-birthday. On July 8, SusieCakes will announce 20 grand prize winners, one for each year in business, with each winner receiving a “Year of SusieCakes”: 12 gift certificates to keep the celebrations going all year long at their local bakery.
You Pick the Comeback: Guests Vote to Bring Back a Fan Favorite
SusieCakes is putting one anniversary decision directly in its guests’ hands. Ahead of the July birthday, fans will be asked to vote on Instagram to bring back a beloved menu item for a limited run. The candidates: Lemon Bars, Celebration Sugar Cookies, Whoopie Pies, & Susie’s Animal Crackers. The winning item returns to bakeries from July 18 to July 26.
July 18: Buy One, Get One, and Be the First 20
On July 18, every SusieCakes location will celebrate the anniversary with its fan-favorite BOGO cupcake event. Loyalty program members get a free regular-size cupcake with the purchase of any regular-size cupcake, up to three free cupcakes per transaction. The first 20 guests to make a purchase at each location will also receive a limited-edition SusieCakes mini tote bag.
Full terms and details are available at susiecakes.com/20th-birthday.
The same menu that greeted guests on opening day in Brentwood is still what you will find behind the glass case today. SusieCakes’ Celebration Cake has been baking since the early days, along with longtime staples including Susie’s Famous Southern Red Velvet Cake and the Classic Marble Cake. All of it is steeped in nostalgia. None of it is trendy. Every item is made from scratch, daily, in-house. Over 20 years, that commitment has added up to more than 3.8 million cakes, countless birthdays, weddings, and baby showers, more than one proposal made right inside the bakery, and the occasional record-breaking commission — including a 90-foot layer cake. Behind all of it: an estimated 6.8 million pounds of butter, 5.3 million pounds of flour, 14.8 million pounds of sugar, and 6.6 million eggs.
Sarich built SusieCakes around more than a love of baking. From its start, the company has been committed to creating careers for women in hospitality and today, more than 80 percent of the team are women. Sarich herself is still the first one to show up. She answers guest messages personally through the “Dear Susie” email, and on any given Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas Eve, or unremarkable Tuesday, you are likely to find her on the bakery floor, helping guests and staying close to the experience she set out to create.
“What I’ve watched over 20 years is the industry come back around to what we were doing from the start,” said Sarich. “There have been so many food fads and viral desserts, but a really good chocolate cake never goes out of style. And today’s customers are more educated about ingredients than ever — they want simple, recognizable things they can trust. That’s always been SusieCakes.”
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