Local Cake Pickin’ serves sweets, community

In Southern Community Park on Sunday, local bakers gathered by a pavilion decorated with jars of flowers and bright tablecloths. In the center was a long table filled with cakes and sweet treats. A bracelet-making station and board games occupied the side tables.

This afternoon gathering was known as the "Cake Pickin’” — an event for local bakers to share their food creations with others, created and organized by two local residents, KC Hysmith and Oona O’Toole. To participate in the event, attendees either  brought cakes, or made a donation to the World Central Kitchen or PORCH.

Hysmith is a local food scholar and co-organizer for the event. She said that the event was inspired by the Southern "pig pickin'" — a gathering that traditionally involves a barbecued pig, various side dishes and a “pig pickin’ cake” made of cool whip and pudding.

“We just leaned into the cake part,” she said.

Hysmith and O'Toole hosted a similar event in Cary this past May under the name “Cake Picnic.” Their Cake Pickin’ on Sunday was the first time they hosted the event in Chapel Hill under the new name.

O’Toole, who owns “While You’re Up Bakery,” said she was inspired to host these events after seeing Elisa Sunga — a baking influencer — host her own Cake Picnics. O’Toole met Hysmith at the Carrboro Farmers Market and asked her to plan the first cake picnic with her.

For O’Toole, these events serve as a way to connect with other bakers.

“So many of us are very solitary,” she said. “We all have our own little businesses, and we're doing things more or less solo — maybe with a little bit of help — but it's nice to meet other people who do the same thing as you.”

The Cake Pickin’ boasted twenty-two baked goods, ranging from a PB&J cake by UNC graduate student Aubrey Lewis to Hysmith’s yuzu and olive oil cake inspired by traditional pig pickin’ cakes.

Sitting on top of a gingham-print tablecloth was a cake that looked like an abstract art piece come to life. Frosted sunflowers, cherries and popcorn were embedded into the cake’s pale green frosting, with a line of thin blue frosting weaving between the toppings.

This pumpkin polenta zucchini and apple butter cake was made by Emily Cheves, owner of Durham-based cake company Sugar Lumps.

Cheves said her cake decorating style is something that she’s been developing over the years, inspired by wanting to be a bit messy with her designs. 

On the edge of the table was an unexpected savory surprise: petit fours made of bread and cheese that were all eaten by the end of the event.

These bite-sized pastries were made by Hannah Bardin, a chef at Figulina in Raleigh, who thought a savory dish might help cleanse attendee’s palettes.

Bardin’s dish is based on an appetizer her mom used to make called dill squares. Bardin said she was most proud of the salt-rising bread in her petit fours, which is native to the Appalachian Mountains and can rise without yeast.

Bardin also said she liked Cheves’ cake and an almond cake she didn’t think she was going to taste at first.

“It's funny because I probably wouldn't have even tried it, but I just kind of got to talking with someone and was like ‘What cake did you make?’” she said. “You meet people and then you want to try what they made.”

Cheves and Bardin’s dishes won the titles of “showstopper” and “most unique,” respectively. These awards and the title of “best flavor” were voted on by attendees.

Hysmith said that community events like pig pickins don’t occur as often as they used to, despite basing the Cake Pickin’ on them. 

“This [Cake Pickin’] is like a little version of that — for those of us who want some version of that — and it gives us an opportunity to gather and eat so much cake that we'll never want cake, at least for a week,” she said.

@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com