Here is the true story of one baker’s perseverance in the face of adversity. My friend, Jen Drury, is the owner of the specialty cake bakery, No More Boring Cakes in San Marcos, California, USA. All of the beautiful custom themed cakes that appear in this feature were made by her.
Junk Food Lover’s Cake
Angry Birds Cake
When I met Jen in 2011, she was running her bakery business out of part of a commercial catering facility in San Marcos, California.
She had a sweet set-up with her own work area and space to meet with clients. Most bakers would love a corner spot like that! Jen makes gorgeous cakes so her weekends were filled with orders.
Paint Splatter Cake
Summer on the Prairie Cake
Pet Lover’s Cake
Baseball Lover’s Cake
So you see how talented she is. How clean and professional of a style she has. How well-balanced and poised her cake designs are. Which is why it is such a shame that in 2012, Jen got hit with a triple whammy.
Mad Hatter Tea Party Cake
Above was the last cake that she made before it all went wrong.
First, there was an electrical fire in the commercial kitchen. A hole incinerated part of an inner wall and the building was forced to close for repairs for so long that the catering company moved out and Jen lost her sublease. At that time, there was no cottage law in California that allowed bakers in her situation to work from home so No More Boring Cakes had no choice but to shut down business.
Two days after the fire, Jen’s dad was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Two short months after that, he passed away, her #1 fan and the biggest supporter of her baking dreams.
But it wasn’t over yet. Then Jen was held up by a thief at a sporting goods store. It was a messy robbery too in which the owner of the store was brutally run over by the assailant’s car, and Jen witnessed it.
Fire, death, and then mayhem! What a whopper of a triple whammy it was that brought Jen Drury’s business to a halt and uprooted her life in 2012. Reflecting on it optimistically, she told me that perhaps the fire was meant to be since the time away from work allowed her to be with her dad and family when it mattered most.
The only problem with that arrangement: There were THE MOST BORING cakes in the San Marcos area throughout 2013 while Jen’s cake stuff was piled in storage.
Her customers never gave up on her though. They kept on calling. So it wasn’t long before she got back up and running again.
Monkey Themed Birthday + Smash Cake for Baby
Barnyard Cake
Announcement >> No More Boring Cakes in San Marcos, California is officially re-opened! She’s back, cake lovers! By appointment only. If you are in Southern California, especially north of San Diego (Escondido, Carlsbad, Rancho Bernardo, Vista, Encinitas) and are looking for a specialty cake, here’s who I want you to contact. Jen works with both fondant and modeling chocolate. You can check out some more of her work on her website here here: No More Boring Cakes.
Send Your Support!
If you can relate to this story of a bakery enduring so much and surviving or if you want to tell Jen how pumped you are that she’s back in business, please find her online at:
No More Boring Cakes Website Link
No More Boring Cakes Facebook Page
New to Wicked Goodies? Start *HERE*
You might also enjoy
