Danielle Cubis at Spongedrop Cakery. Photo / John Borren
Danielle Cubis at Spongedrop Cakery. Photo / John Borren
When Danielle Cubis heard her mother was getting married she was more than happy to return to New Zealand from London but mum Lois also had another invitation – would Danielle make and decorate her two-tier wedding cake and cater a dessert table?
"My mum is my best and first customer," says Cubis, the powerhouse baker and businesswoman who owns Spongedrop Cakery in Mt Maunganui. "Her confidence in me gave me confidence in me."
Cubis had always had a passion for baking and the move to London was the chance to leave her advertising career and follow her dream. Working in a store that sold cake decorating supplies and ran classes, she took full advantage of the opportunities on offer.
Back home in Tauranga Cubis – whose smile lights up the room – began using a café kitchen after-hours to produce baking for a stall at Little Big Markets, and occasionally Tauranga Farmers' Market, debuting Spongedrop in 2012. After 18 months she realised she had enough of a following to go into bricks and mortar and opened Spongedrop Cakery in the old Mount Maunganui Information Centre at the end of 2014.
"The markets were a good sounding board to see if a business could be viable," Cubis says, "but it was also getting hard to meet demand without having a dedicated commercial kitchen.
"I've had to learn how to run a business as I've gone along but when I opened I had the most amazing support from local café owners and professional chefs."
Danielle Cubis. Photo / John Borren
Despite being a speciality business a little off the main drag, Spongedrop continues to grow, even in the face of healthy-eating fads. "There was some push back on sugar a while ago but that seems to have disappeared," Cubis says. "I think if you eat a little bit of everything, not too much of anything, you'll be okay. My Nana who's 98 has something sweet every day – it's a little bit of bliss in a busy life."
She ensures the cabinet has an entire shelf of gluten-free baking and there are also vegan options, including vegan ice-blocks created by Cubis and her partner Elric James. "People are used to us now and what we do. No one comes in asking for sandwiches or pies anymore. We're a speciality café and that's worked in our favour."
Cubis admits to plenty of baking disasters as she trials recipes but quickly touches wood when she mentions she's never dropped a wedding cake!
Photo / John Borren
There's a firm 'no' when asked if she does traditional fruit cakes. "I have no interest in big, heavy cakes that take all day to bake," Cubis says. "Often, wedding cake is served as part of the meal so people like a lighter dessert-style cake and our most popular flavours are salted caramel, chocolate fudge and coconut, lime and passionfruit.
"Some of the people we've met as wedding cake clients are still our customers years later – there's even one who orders a replica of their wedding cake every year."
Her recipes come from many sources, including original combinations, and there's always at least a "Spongedrop tweak" to them. "Our products have to look beautiful and taste delicious," Cubis says, "but if it's a battle between looks and taste, flavour wins every time."
Spongedrop Cakery. Photo / John Borren
As well as Spongedrop (a six-day-a-week business with four fulltime staff and three part-time), Cubis also manages catering, keeps up social media posts on Facebook and Instagram, develops and tests recipes, is keeping an eye out for new premises after Tauranga City Council signalled her lease will end late in 2019, is considering an expansion into a second location … and the 37-year-old would love to start a family.
"I have a lot of challenges in my life," she laughs, "but Jacinda [Adern] is so inspiring. If she can do it and run a country, I can do it. It's only cake."
La Belle Vie:
Spongedrop Cakery is catering a French-theme morning tea hosted by Allyson Gofton at the Escape! Festival on Monday, June 4 at Baycourt. Tickets are $55 each from Baycourt or www.ticketek.co.nz See the full Escape! programme at www.taurangafestival.co.nz
"I love Allyson's common-sense approach to family food," says Danielle Cubis, owner of Spongedrop. "She nurtures and encourages people to try things made with love.
"Being asked to do an event like this is fun, especially when there's a theme to research. I'm delighted to be using some of Allyson's own recipes for the event
