Good    evening everyone:    

Just a quick jolt of good news about a local baker and her wondrous bakery.

April  Anderson founded Good Cakes and Bakes a decade ago out of her mother’s kitchen, baking all manner of vegan-friendly cakes, cookies, and other forms of artistry. She soon had enough success to move into her current shop on Livernois Avenue in Northwest Detroit:

I met April many years ago at a Clinton Global Initiative – U.S. convening in which we shared a conversation with the former president about the power of small businesses in helping drive Detroit’s recovery from    bankruptcy. In one of those if-you-put-this-in-a-movie-people-wouldn’t-believe-it  situations, the caterer for the Initiative’s reception the next evening had to back out, leaving President Clinton appetizer-less. It then occurred to a number of us to see if April could pull a carrot cake of the hat and actually produce desserts for 600 people. How she did it is completely beyond me, but she did. Fabulous baby cakes within 24 hours. We were all quite certain that had Hillary won in 2016, April would have been somewhere in her cabinet.

And we’ve called on April and her crew to help us with Kresge events.

Anyway, it is accordingly only fitting that last week the highly coveted and prestigious annual James Beard Culinary Awards announced that Good Cakes and Bakes is a    semi-finalist in the “Outstanding Bakery” category. This is a huge deal. Winners in multiple categories will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on Monday, June 5^th, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Good luck April!!

Rip

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