This Publix bakery staple has been creating confectionary delights for 20 years

From its staple chocolate chip cookies to its Key lime pies, the Publix bakery department has something of a cult following, both in Florida and across the South. Occasionally a cake made in the department goes viral — spreading sugary supremacy way beyond the grocery giant’s eight-state footprint.

Consider a Southern Living magazine article published June 22 under the headline “This Publix Bakery Shortcut Will Have Everyone Asking You for Your Cake Recipe.”

“Our editors have raved about the berry-filled Chantilly Cake, cookie cakes, banana muffins and more,” the magazine gushes. “But there’s a lesser known item that you might not know about that could save you precious time in the kitchen: In addition to all of their other offerings, the Southern supermarket chain sells unfrosted cake layers.” (The magazine says the flavors come in a range of choices, including chocolate, marble or Superfetti.)

Food & Wine magazine entered the Publix bakery chat just before that, with a June 11 story titled “Publix Transformed This Fan-Favorite Cake Into Ice Cream,” on a limited-edition light and fruity cake-turned ice cream. “When life gives you Chantilly Cake,” the magazine adds, “make ice cream with it.” 

And in 2019 the bakery department picked up a rush of internet fame, courtesy of a cake decorator in a Duval County store. She made some cakes with the hurricane swirl symbol — what she called a stress reliever for the incoming Hurricane Dorian. National news outlets like the “Today” show, CNN and Fox News covered the cakes, which generated mixed reviews: Some enjoyed the we’re-all-in-this-together gallows humor; others thought it made fun of a serious time. Publix weighed in from its Lakeland headquarters in August 2023, stating, on its website, that it wouldn’t make hurricane cakes anymore, as “it is our company policy not to create bakery cakes that would make light of a natural disaster.”

Photo by Mark Wemple

Lakewood Ranch Publix bakery department cake decorator Sara Stone has made thousands of cakes from her perch at the Lakewood Ranch Town Center store, just east of the University exit of Interstate 75. She’s become something of a customer favorite, having carved out several regular cake customers in her 18 years at that location. “I didn’t know that I was going to love this as much as I do,” says Stone, 40.

In a recent conversation with LWR Life, Stone talked about her career, the quirkiest cakes she’s made and more. Edited excerpts:

Family affair: Stone’s sister worked at Publix for five years. Her brother is a store manager for the store on Fruitville Road and Honore Avenue and her mom worked at Publix for 21 years. “I would go shopping with my mom every Sunday, and I would watch them decorate the cakes, then put them in the display case,” she says. 

Batter up: Her aunt worked at Publix too, and baked cakes on the side for friends and family. She became a mentor to Stone. “I thought it was so fascinating going from wet ingredients to a beautiful cake,” says Stone. “My aunt made everything from scratch.”

Debut dough: Stone started at Publix in 2002 when she was 17. Her first location was the University and Tuttle store, where she worked mostly 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and helped clean up and close up the store.

Cake walk: Stone grew up in Bradenton, not far from Lakewood Ranch in the Elwood Park neighborhood near the former Mixon Fruit Farms. Today she lives with her husband, TJ, in the same area, two blocks from her dad’s house and where she grew up. 

Flour Flower: Stone is a learn-by-doing baker, like with the flowers that go on many cakes. “I had a really hard time making the flowers at first,” she says. “It took a long time and a lot of practice to learn how to do that.” Even now, when during a busy weekend she can bake up to 30 cakes, Stone works hard to perfect fondant, a thicker and fancier frosting. “It’s hard to put the pressure on (with my hands) to do that,” she says.

Knead more: One of Stone’s regular customers asks her twice a year to make a cake in the shape of a shaggy dog. It’s a 5-inch treat, with, Stone says, a “lot of frosting.”

Fun frosting: Some of the odder cakes Stone has baked at Publix include one that looked like a bowl of ramen and another designed to look like chips and salsa with a side of guacamole. She also once made a cake that looked like a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket — with Rice Krispies Treats as the chicken. Back before Publix altered its corporate policy, Stone, on approved custom orders, made a few hurricane cakes. And during the height of the pandemic there was some more dessert-focused gallows humor: she made several custom cakes shaped like toilet paper rolls. 

Tasty treat: Stone is at her best, she says, with custom orders and when her manager allows her to go off the menu a bit. “We can be creative and do some different things as long as it’s not copyrighted,” she says. 

Just say no: The question Stone says she’s asked the most is “how are you not as big as a house?” working 40 hours a week in a bakery. Her answer: familiarity. “When you’re up to your elbows every day in frosting,” Stone says, “it’s actually really easy to say no.”