From food truck to storefront, The Pound Cake Man Bakery opens in Clemson
If you’ve missed seeing The Pound Cake Man’s orange and purple truck at festivals and farmers markets this spring, you can find him Tuesday through Saturday at his new bakery on Old Greenville Highway in Clemson.
“It’s one of those deals that you realized early on with the food truck that it was going pretty well,” says Jeff Bennett aka The Pound Cake Man. “I was making cakes out of my house and out of the truck and I just didn’t have anywhere to store them. During a (Clemson) football game last year, I had to do 165 cakes. I can make that number, but they were literally all over my house. I had to have a brick and mortar spot.”
So, on May 18, in the middle of a pandemic, Bennett opened The Pound Cake Man Bakery at 530 Old Greenville Highway in Clemson.
“I found this place and signed a lease back in November and thought it was going to be relatively easy,” Bennett says with a smile. “Opening a business in the middle of pandemic wasn’t really the plan, but because we’re a restaurant, a bakery, we’re technically an essential business so there aren’t any restrictions on what we can do.”
The Pound Cake Man Bakery offers whole pound cakes in more than 40 flavors and will even customize with a little Bailey’s Irish Cream, rum or a specialty brew, upon request. There are even gluten-free varieties.
A daily menu board at the bakery carries whole cake and cake-by-the-slice specials and something new for The Pound Cake Man – cupcakes.
“We’ve never really done cupcakes before, but I had a lot of Moms tell me that I really need to offer cupcakes for kids birthday parties,” Bennett said. “We played around with it and figured out how long to bake. Now we have cupcakes and it seems to be going over really well.”
Whole cakes are $30 and whole cakes with alcohol are $35. Cake by the slice with a complimentary cream cheese flavored icing is $4, and cupcakes are $3.
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- Alex and Jeff Bennett in front of The Pound Cake Man Bakery.
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- The Pound Cake Man Bakery has more than 40 pound cake flavors.
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- Cake by the slice with cream cheese flavored icing is a signature item.
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- Chloe Prosser of Clemson tries several cake by the slice flavors.
About 20 years ago, using his grandmother’s basic pound cake recipe, Bennett began baking cakes for coworkers and clients. He then started taking requests for various flavored cakes. His biggest seller is banana pudding pound cake, followed by chocolate chocolate chip, key lime and cookies and cream. You can find a complete cake list at lbcakes.com.
With The Pound Cake Man Bakery off to a savory start, you’ll still find The Pound Cake Man food truck at events around the Upstate, Bennett says.
“The COVID pandemic killed all the festivals that we would be going to the spring, but requests from people wanting food trucks in their neighborhoods have come on really strong,” Bennett said. “The truck will definitely be out because it’s like a giant billboard.”
Want to visit?
The Pound Cake Man Bakery, 530 Old Greenville Highway, #2, Clemson SC 29631, (864) 723-3890. Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 10 am – 6 pm.
