A Valentine to Hough Bakeries
For some, it was the chocolate cupcakes. For others, the chocolate chip cookies. I devoured their corn cakes, toasted and smothered in butter, for breakfast. All treats came home in signature blue-and-white bags or boxes.
But everyone—truly everyone—enjoyed a Hough cake on their birthday. It was invariably a white (almond) cake with buttercream frosting. Grazing on the leftovers for breakfast the next day was a tradition.
Visiting Hough Bakeries was at least a weekly ritual before anyone realized that sugar and carbs were unhealthy.
When my parents were out of town, our (honorary) Aunt Sondra brought us treats from Hough Bakeries to look out for us. I’m sure my mother returned the favor when she went on vacation.
The women working behind the counters at Hough Bakeries all wore uniforms. Mom would take me to the Van Aken location in Shaker Heights and let me pick out items to take home. The pumpkin-shaped cookies dusted with orange sugar were a fall favorite.
Mom, never one to bake, contributed to school bake sales with items purchased from Hough Bakeries. They sold faster than home-baked goods from more traditional moms.
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August 8, 1992, became an infamous day in Cleveland. On that day, Hough Bakeries filed for bankruptcy and shuttered all 32 of its stores.
After the closure, an enterprising former Hough baker named Archie, who claimed to have the recipe for the birthday cake, opened his own bakery and sold the cakes. Archie’s was in a sketchy neighborhood. I went there with Joe, who is not from Cleveland, to get a cake so he could taste for himself what everyone was so crazy about.
Alas, Archie’s cakes didn’t cut it, but that didn’t stop him from opening “Archie’s Hough Bakeries” in the suburbs. Archie was better at marketing than operations, and he never figured out how to handle volume. Demand was so great that lines stretched out the door, and many would-be customers went home empty-handed.
Archie’s Hough Bakeries shut down in October 2024, and I was glad. It didn’t come close to the original. It still has a presence on Goldbelly.
Hough Bakeries is a nostalgic memory. I suppose it belongs in the past, like Ghoulardi and Mr. Jingeling. I doubt it would be part of people’s daily lives if it were still around today.
I don't even like chocolate, but what I wouldn't give for one of those chocolate cupcakes with the smooth, shiny frosting.
And whenever it's my birthday, I still crave a Hough cake. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
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A GREAT ARTICLE ! ! ! ! By the way, Karen worked there when she was in high school and loved the place ! !
ReplyDeleteI to remember Hough bakery. the best ever. Sandy
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I were in Bermuda and just got engaged. She called her mom to tell her of our engagement and in response her mother told her that Hough Bakery had closed. She cried!
ReplyDeleteI remember Hough so fondly for the same reason- my annual birthday cake! I also loved the smell when you walked inside. No where has that smell been duplicated except maybe at On the Rise. Thanks Peter. Cynthia
ReplyDeleteAh, yes - the smell! I almost put that in here, but I didn't know how to describe it!
Delete"Hough Bakeries is a nostalgic memory. I suppose it belongs in the past, like Ghoulardi and Mr. Jingeling."
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Peter. My mother would give elegant dinner parties. Beforehand, we would always make the trip to Hough's, where she would choose divine petit fours. Really nice memory. Thank you for that.