Photo by Meghan Doll

The mention of wedding cake conjures a specific image — a tiered cake, usually white and covered in fondant. But Tami Cabrera has been winning converts from the traditional with her Muddy Paws Cheesecake, a wholesale bakery specializing in cheesecakes prepared for weddings.

“The challenge was creating the idea that cheesecakes were acceptable for weddings. For the first few years, we had a lot of mad moms who really wanted their daughters to have the tall, white cake,” Cabrera says. “They even called us the rebel bakers, but since then, people have really come around to the idea of cheesecake as a wedding cake. Once people see how pretty they are, and how gourmet they are, there's no reason to doubt.”

An immediate obstacle to the concept was consumers' perception of cheesecake as a shrink-wrapped block fished out of a freezer chest. Cabrera and office manager/wedding coordinator Amy McMonigal combat that image with meetings and tastings. An extensive photo album of their work depicts their cheesecakes at other weddings, helping to normalize the concept. And seeing the products in person, complete with elegant cake stands, fresh fruit garnishes and floral accents, is often the tipping point in making a wedding sale.

“Once in a great while, I'll have a bride walk in with a clipped-out picture of a cake with frosting, fondant or pastel flowers, and I'll just have to stop her and tell her, ‘That's a pretty cake, but it's not what we do,’” Cabrera says. “The last thing I want to do is cover up something as pretty as our cheesecake with frosting and try to make it something other than it is. We don't want to dilute our brand.”

Potential customers often cite cheesecake as a contentious item. Cabrera will compromise by offering a second option, usually a small traditional cake round or a cookie and crispy bar dessert display, but she bristles at the idea that cheesecake is somehow controversial. “We find there are more people who don't like regular cake than don't like cheesecake,” she says. “A large percentage of people who say they don't like cheesecake have just had really bad cheesecake or something hasn't worked for them flavor-wise. Not to mention, the majority of people who like cheesecake really love it and get excited by it in a way they don't for regular cake.”

Cabrera also positions cheesecake as a point of differentiation for her customers. Weddings can be formulaic, so brides often try to find small touches to make their day distinctive. Offering cheesecake in place of a traditional wedding cake is one way to do so. Cabrera tells her customers that cake is common at birthday parties, graduation parties and office get-togethers. Cheesecake, she says, can make a wedding celebration stand out from other special occasions.

“We're still on the upslope of popularity, and we're still growing, especially since we're no longer considered to be alternative. We are mainstream,” Cabrera says. “It's fun to be the first ones. And now that we have this experience behind us, we are considered the wedding cheesecake experts.”

Despite being the only wedding cheesecake game in town, she also is able to sell on price. Muddy Paws' cheesecakes run about $2.75 to $3 per slice. This is on par with an understated buttercream cake, and far below the $5 to $8 per slice for an elaborate fondant cake. Without decorating labor, cheesecakes are affordable as luxury items go. Also, they aren't as difficult to transport as intricately decorated cakes.

But Cabrera tries not to be over-competitive when it comes to other cake bakers, because brides are going to have what they like — no amount of salesmanship can sway them from the picture in their mind's eye. There are more than enough weddings to go around, and several very good traditional cake options are available locally. “I know when they walk in the door, if they know who we are, they already want cheesecake — most of the sale is already done,” she says. “All I have to do is seal the deal — give them some slices, show them the photo album. We have a 98 percent booking rate for brides who walk through the door; the hard work is getting them there.”

Core competency

Cabrera started Muddy Paws Cheesecake in 1992, experimenting out of the back of her house after leaving a career in advertising. She chose the name “Muddy Paws” because of a passion for pets, but was concerned with confusing people. “At first, as I was really taking off, I was worried that the name might be confusing, and that people would think I was baking cheesecakes for dogs,” she says. “But I'm a sensitive and overly passionate person, so the name had to be something really personal to me. I almost changed it, but decided to stick with it.”

After experimenting with dozens, Christine McGlynn, head baker, discovered the ideal plastic spatula for cheesecake depanning at a local dollar store.

She rented her initial kitchen for only $5 per hour, but it was her first taste of the enormous costs of overhead. She didn't have much money, but her former career taught her the value of promotion. She had to carve out a niche for herself. With the last $1,500 to her name, she took out an advertisement in Wedding Pages magazine, the print predecessor to popular national bridal publication The Knot. It was a big risk, but it worked. Orders began trickling in, and the idea of wedding cheesecake took off. And because cheesecakes are shippable, she was able to serve wedding cheesecake customers across the country.

In 2003, Muddy Paws made a foray into foodservice with a 5,000-sq.-ft. retail location and production facility that employed more than 30 people in the heart of Minneapolis' uptown area. Cabrera now calls the location her “$12 million branding machine,” because when it was all said and done, that's how much it cost. The central location got the brand a lot of exposure; she received lots of positive reviews, won awards and even was featured on the Food Network.

But the foodservice location precipitated a new menu, which spelled potential for the company losing its focus. “It was very hard for me to have so many options — to tell the staff, even though we have wonderful salads and wonderful cookies, the cheesecake is the focus. Customers have to know who we are and what they can come to us for,” she says. “We're not just pretty good at lots of things; we're really good cheesecake makers who just happen to have these other things. I wanted people to know who we were and what they could count on us for. “

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