Ron Zammit's business isn't a piece of cake.
Zammit designs, bakes and decorates hundreds of wedding and all-occasion cakes every year. Business is brisk year round but especially busy during the peak wedding seasons in the spring and the fall.
"We'll do 15 to 20 weddings some weekends during the season," he said. "It's nonstop once March hits until the end of April. October and November are big wedding months, too."
He also makes cakes for parties, including birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, bar mitzvahs and other celebrations.
His Beneva Road shop has a display room to show various styles, but many customers show up with magazine photos or their own ideas of how they want their cake to look.
"I love to use my hands to create things," Zammit says. "When people come to me with new ideas, I love that challenge."
Zammit once created a wedding cake that was a full-size replica of a grand piano. The groom was a concert pianist; the project took two weeks to complete.
"Everything is done by hand here, nothing is brought in," he says.
Zammit's first job was as an 11-year-old working at his parent's shoe repair business in the Ringling Shopping Center. He later began helping out at a cake store next to another business they owned. He took some basic decorating classes and was making cakes for family and friends out of his home, while working at his own shoe repair business, before deciding to go into the cake business full time.
"Most of what I've done is self taught," he says.
It's a family business, with wife Crystal handling the business side and doing a lot of deliveries in her SUV. Their children also help with delivering on weekends.
"I work a lot of weekends," he said.
Sarasota Herald Tribune - Last modified: July 29. 2002 12:00AM |
