SMITH ISLAND, MD - One of the few bakeries making Smith Island cakes is for sale on the Island community of Ewell.
Darren and Kathey Jones opened the Smith Island Bakery in 2018, but bakers have been whipping up these iconic thin-layered confections on the property since before the cake was declared Maryland’s state dessert in 2008.
Darren grew up visiting. Smith Island, later bringing his wife Kathey and their kids to try the namesake dessert before moving to the island.
Kathey, who dreamed of opening a bakery, said she fell in love with the unique proportion of cake to icing and the chocolate fudge coating instead of buttercream.
The Joneses tell WBOC they are selling the property to be closer to their aging parents and spend more time with their grandchildren. It is currently listed for $354,900.
"We would like them to continue doing the cakes," Darren said of the property's future owner. "That's very important to Smith Island."
Bakeries and companies throughout Maryland sell Smith Island-style cake, but many say it is not a true Smith Island cake if it is not made in the Chesapeake Bay.
"There are so many companies out there that are trying to represent Smith Island by making Smith Island cakes, but most of those cakes are not Smith Island Cakes," Darren said.
Darren Jones said that if the future buyer does not want to continue operating the bakery, they will consider taking the business elsewhere.
"You can't get it anywhere else," Tyler Graff, who visits Smith Island with his family from Oakton, Virginia, said.
Graff has celiac disease. He said the Smith Island Bakery is the only place he can find a version of the novelty dessert that is safe for him to enjoy.
"I'm truly grateful for it, because I don't really have a lot of options, especially out here," Graff said.
Many people on Smith Island have their first taste of the local delicacy made by a neighbor or relative.
"Smith Island cake is something you grow up eating at all the events over here," native Islander Angeline Marsh said. "Everyone always brings at least one Smith Island cake out."
Marsh learned how to bake her first Smith Island cake at 14. She said the tradition will always endure generationally but that home bakers could follow in the footsteps of local crab pickers, who formed a co-op on the Tylerton community years ago.
"I'm interested to see if maybe some of the women on the island would do that again with the Smith Island Cake," Marsh said.
The Joneses said they have heard from many people interested in buying the bakery since listing the property less than a week ago.