Part-time cupcakers turn into full-time bakers with K.C. Cakes shop at NewBo City Market

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids couple has swapped part-time cupcake deliveries for a full-time bakery, with a new opening in NewBo City Market.

K.C. Cakes, opened at the market in November and repositioned to a larger spot in February, is growing about as fast as the cakes rise in the oven.

But a few years after they started from scratch at home, for owners Krystan Proctor and Alex Cooley, it’s more than cakes.

How it started

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For mother Krystan Proctor, baking started at home long before she was a mother.

“I’ve been baking as long as I can remember,” she said. “My family is hard-core Czechoslovakian. My mom grew up making kolaches by hand. It’s something I’ve always liked to do.”

But when she became a mom herself at 19, the interest was reborn as a way to bond with her daughter. Instead of making kolaches, she channeled her energy into cakes that allowed her channel her artistic flair into more complicated desserts.

“As a young mom, I wanted her to have the best. I’d bake her all these elaborate cakes,” Proctor said.

But when the pandemic hit, the need for something from scratch took on a new meaning. With her children and Cooley, the couple turned Cooley’s DoorDash delivery route into a cake walk of sorts, selling 6-packs of basic cupcakes and building an online following the way many foodies did in 2021.

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But after a spinal surgery, Cooley was forced to retire from his work in construction.

“ (My doctor) told me that if I go back to construction, I may never walk again,” he said.

What’s in the oven

With some experience as a NewBo City Market guest vendor, Proctor swapped burning the candle at both ends with bartending and overnight baking, for a full-time business that’s grown past the basics. Now with mini cakes, cheesecakes, brownies and a variety of cookie types, both Proctor and Cooley have grown a following that has outpaced their business projections.

Served in pink aluminum tins, their signature mini cakes are about a cupcake and a half with a heaping of icing, decorations and, sometimes, fillings that go beyond what the structure of a cupcake can offer. Today, Proctor loves to embellish the treats through butter cream, ganache and more.

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Most cakes are a modified base of recipes passed down through generations in her family, and most offer some form of trendy twist that coexists well with tradition — even the basics, like Oreo cakes.

Today, cheesecakes are closing in on the cake business, with a rotating selection of seasonally conscious flavors like chocolate chip, banana pudding and red velvet. Others, like peanut butter cup, remain a relatively stable offering throughout the year.

A few other novelties are in the modestly-prices mix, like cake push-ups and cocoa bombs.

“I’m always trying to keep things different, so now I have an area to consistently come up with new ideas,” Proctor said. “I love the custom orders. Now that we’re here, it’s nonstop.”

Custom orders for full cakes also give her more real estate to sparkle with her decoration schemes.

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Soon, they’d like to go beyond cake to offer more savory food. Cooley, a southern Louisiana native, hopes to share his Cajun roots as he pitches in more around the kitchen.

They hope to show it all off by snagging a spot in NewBo City Market’s 7-day market, opening in 2025.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.