Walk into any Dorothy Lane Market (DLM), and the bakery is bound to be one of your first stops. At the recently opened Mason location, something extra special is tucked just behind the counter. The grocer’s boutique cake division, known as Love Cakes by DLM, operates with designers in full view, allowing guests to watch the decorating, piping, and artistry that go into their beautiful cake creations.
“Because we are literally right behind the counter, it feels more like a little bakery even though we are inside a big store,” Stephanie Carraher, manager of the Love Cakes team in Mason, tells us.
Stephanie got her start in the baking world at a small urban bakery in Cincinnati, where she decorated cookies and cakes. She joined DLM’s Love Cakes team, left for a season, then came back as soon as she heard the Mason store was opening. The draw was simple: the company’s culture and creative freedom.
As she puts it, “I love the company and everything that they do for their employees. I appreciate the fact that they allow us to be so creative here.”
Stephanie’s favorite cakes to create are wedding cakes. She loves the full process from flavor tastings and design consultations to seeing the finished product in the venue. She particularly enjoys seeing the cake in the environment it was intended for, surrounded by flowers, candles and the full wedding ambiance.
“I love delivering wedding cakes. It's cool to see everything come together and see my work in its environment. It may be a temporary art, but a picture can last a lifetime,” shares Stephanie.
Now more than ever, couples are envisioning what they might want for their wedding cake using artificial intelligence tools that are widely available. While these images can spark ideas, they often include details that cannot be created in the real world. Love Cakes designers help couples sort through what is realistic and guide them toward designs that both honor the spirit of the image and are achievable.
One of the best ways couples can experience the real artistry created by the cake designers of Love Cakes is by attending the annual Wedding Showcase held on February 22, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the loft at Dorothy Lane Market in Springboro. This free event fills the mezzanine with 20–40 showstopping cakes to be viewed and tasted, with even more designers participating this year.
“Each designer picks a theme, and they have two full days to do nothing but cakes for the showcase,” explains Centerville Love Cakes Manager, Stacy Felumlee. “This year’s themes include: timeless romance, botanical elegance, buttercream renaissance, whispers in white, midnight garden and grand gestures.”
The Showcase is an event that Stacy is very familiar with, as she has been part of the Dorothy Lane Market family for nearly three decades. She guides the Centerville shop that anchors the Love Cakes team, the same bakery that produces and delivers cakes to the other DLM locations, ensuring every store offers the same quality and creativity.
“We want to keep things cohesive. We try to make everything consistent between the stores, even though each designer brings their own style,” says Stacy.
Whether you are at Dorothy Lane Market ordering a cake in Oakwood, Washington Square, or at their newest location in Mason, you can be sure that you will receive the same refined craftsmanship and personalized care. “We focus on quality, and our decorators constantly stay on top of new trends,” Stacy notes. “It allows us to offer designs that truly fit what people are looking for.”
For both Stephanie and Stacy, the joy of this work comes from being part of a family’s story. A wedding cake might lead to a baby shower, a first birthday and later an anniversary, with each cake designed with care by decorators who love what they do. At every store and in every slice, Love Cakes reflects the creativity, care and community spirit that make Dorothy Lane Market such a meaningful place to celebrate life’s sweetest moments.
For more information on placing a cake order with Love Cakes, visit DorothyLane.com/LoveCakes.
“I appreciate the fact that they allow us to be so creative here.” -Stephanie Carraher, Love Cakes Manager, Mason.
“We focus on quality, and our decorators constantly stay on top of new trends. It allows us to offer designs that truly fit what people are looking for.” -Stacy Felumlee, Love Cakes Manager, Centerville.