Cake News

Sweet California bakery SusieCakes to open location in East Dallas

Their signature is their Vanilla Celebration Cake, flecked with colorful confetti-like speckles.

Photo courtesy of SusieCakes

Let the cake baking begin: SusieCakes, the home-style bakery concept from California, will open a location in the East Dallas/Lakewood area at 6441 E. Mockingbird Ln., at the northeast corner of Abrams Road, right next to Olivella Pizza.

According to a release, the bakery will open on June 11.

SusieCakes makes cakes from scratch using high-end ingredients such as European-style butter and premium chocolate.

Their signature is their Vanilla Celebration Cake, flecked with colorful confetti-like speckles, plus cupcakes and frosted layer cakes in flavors such as Southern Red Velvet, 6-Layer Chocolate, and Tropical Coconut.

Their portfolio of traditional cookies and bars includes soft, chewy snickerdoodles, brownies, seven-layer bars and whoopie pies. They also feature rotating seasonal items include fruit pies and holiday treats such as pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting.

The first SusieCakes debuted in 2006 in Los Angeles' Brentwood neighborhood from Susan Sarich, with her partner Houston Striggow. They've since expanded to include more than 20 locations throughout California.

Their only foray outside of the Golden State has been to Texas, yay us, where they debuted with a location in Dallas' Preston Center in March 2016.

They also have a location in Fort Worth which opened in 2017 at WestBend. (They had a stand at Legacy Hall, the food hall in Plano, which has since closed.)

The company closed its retail shops during the pandemic, but began reopening stores in early spring 2021.

The bakery will go into what was previously an Ebby Halliday real estate office, a space that's being broken into more than one storefront; Ebby Halliday relocated to another spot at Hillside Village.

They also recently launched national shipping for their two best-selling cakes, the Celebration Cake and Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake; order at susiecakes.com/national-menu/.

The bakery joins what is becoming an increasingly long list of food places at the East Dallas/Lakewood center including Olivella, Dream Cafe, Hillside Tavern, and Haystack Burgers, along with a Sprouts supermarket slated to open in the old Stein Mart space in 2022.

Striggow says they're extremely enthusiastic about the location.

"We wanted to open something in East Dallas, and we love that center - it was built in '50s, and is being upgraded, but they've kept the retro feel," he says. "There's so many young families with kids in the area, and great schools. We're in he celebration business, and that's our bedrock."

A grand opening party will take place on Saturday, June 11 from 12-3 pm, and will include children's activities such as a balloon artist, face painter, and coloring contest. A raffle for a year of cakes, a grab bag, and many samples will also be offered.

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Popular Indonesian mobile kitchen Angel Touch debuts restaurant in Plano

Facebook/Angel Touch Kitchen

Mie ayam, a beloved Indonesian street dish featuring egg noodles, chicken mushroom topping, and greens.

A longtime mobile eatery specializing in halal Indonesian cuisine is now cooking inside new permanent Plano digs: Angel Touch Kitchen will officially open its doors on October 29 at 280 Legacy Dr. Ste. 300, at the corner of Legacy Drive and Chase Oaks Boulevard.

Though it's the restaurant's first permanent home, Plano diners might find the food and brand familiar. Indonesian-born chef and entrepreneur Yenni Haryanti has been operating Angel Touch as a catering and mobile kitchen since 2014. Her frequent appearances at festivals, corporate events, and parties throughout Dallas-Fort Worth have attracted a large following.

In 2021, Angel Touch opened a semi-permanent spot inside a Carrollton food court where, "after years without an Indonesian restaurant in DFW, the response was overwhelming," Haryanti told Voyage Dallas. "We sold out in hours and customers traveled long distances for our food."

Last summer, Haryanti announced plans for a permanent Plano restaurant. Social media followers were treated to peeks at what it takes to maintain a mobile diner and prepare for a restaurant opening, as the business posted photos of hood vent cleanings and inspection preparations and shared thoughts on the experience: "Running a small food business comes with a lot of behind-the-scenes work — long hours, cleaning, prepping, maintaining equipment, and making sure everything is done the right way. We’re tired, but grateful to keep doing what we love."

Angel Touch Kitchen settles into permanent space after more than a decade on the road. Photo courtesy Angel Touch Kitchen/Instagram

Angel Touch Kitchen held its soft opening October 19-25, serving dishes such as its in-demand beef rendang — a rich, slow-cooked Indonesian-Malaysian dry curry — and ayam goreng kuning — an Indonesian twist on fried chicken.

“Our beef rendang sold out two days in a row, so we’re making a fresh batch,” the kitchen posted at 3 am on Facebook a couple days into the soft opening. “We give it a little extra time to make every bite tender and full of flavor.”

Other menu items include:

Ayam woku: Chicken with fresh herbs, spices, and citrus.
Ayam semur: Sweet-and-savory braised chicken.
Terong cabe ijo: Eggplant stir-fried with spicy green chile.
Acar kuning: Cooked yellow vegetable pickle, often served as a side.
Kentang balado: Fried or roasted potatoes tossed in a spicy, savory red chile sauce.
Capcay: Vegetable stir-fry.

Entrees with a side run $14-$18.

Drinks and sweets, with items priced $7-$8, include es cendol (an icy drink with jelly strands) and es campur (various sweet toppings over shaved ice), and the dark sticky rice or porridge ketan hitam.

Beginning October 29, Angel Touch Kitchen will be open 12-2 pm and 5-8:30 pm Thursday-Friday and 12-8:30 pm Saturday-Sunday. The restaurant is closed Monday-Wednesday.

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