Cake News

Fort Worth bakery makes amazing blackout cake for George Floyd justice

Gorgeous "blackout" cake.

Courtesy photo

Since the tragic death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died on May 25 in Minneapolis following an encounter with four police officers, many have come together to protest racism.

But few have done it as sweetly as Loft22 Cakes, a Fort Worth bakery known for its amazing artisanal cakes.

Owner Tareka Lofton has created a one-of-a-kind "blackout" cake, with dark chocolate cake, dark chocolate filling, and dark chocolate icing.

Tempting enough, but what really makes it stand out is that that the icing has been tinted black. Its glossy black surface is broken only by random white speckles, which Lofton says she added for a little contrast, to make the black look even blacker.

The cake is $55 and slices are $7. She'll donate half of the proceeds to blacklivesmatter.org.

"It's been a rough past two weeks, and we've been pondering what we could do," Lofton says. "I wanted to give back and be a part of the fight. We're known for our artistic cakes. Since we already make delicious sweets, I had an 'a-ha' moment where I thought we could make a donation and do something that's delicious and makes people happy."

Loft22 Cakes previously earned a few minutes of fame in April when they introduced a series of "quarantine" cakes, including one that looked exactly like a roll of toilet paper.

It helped get them through the tough days after the coronavirus shut down most businesses. "There's been so much going on, you don't know which pandemic from day to day," Lofton says.

She's never made this blackout cake before, but the recipe is similar to one she did at Halloween.

"It's for special occasions, but not anything we carry on a regular basis," she says. "It just seemed befitting for the time and this movement, especially as a black-owned business. We recognize what it's like to be directly affected and live this daily."

You can order the cake by calling 682-841-1771; they prefer 24 hours notice although they can sometimes get it for you on the same day.

desserts inspiration

Spongebob News

10 restaurants near Fort Worth join Spongebob burger promotion

Starship Bagel

Krabby Patty entry from Starship Bagel

A national promotion to hype the anniversary of cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants kicks off on October 8, with the participation of 10 restaurants near Fort Worth.

In this case, "near Fort Worth" means Dallas.

Called the Krabby Patty Kollab, it's a program in which restaurants were invited to do their version of the Krabby Patty, the signature dish of Spongebob Squarepants, a cartoon that debuted on the Nickelodeon channel in 1999.

Orchestrated by a secretive company called Off the Menu, the promotion is in play in 12 cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Las Vegas, Toronto, London, and Mexico City.

If you notice, they targeted Dallas only, not Fort Worth. But since the promotion is in only 12 cities, Fort Worth can at least enjoy it by its proximity to Dallas.

There are some options in Tarrant County: Wendy's is doing their Krabby Patty at all locations, although it's a nothing-special quarter pounder with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, and secret sauce, but it comes with an intriguing pineapple-mango Frosty shake. Fort Worth diners can also visit the Tarrant County locations of Hat Creek Burger Co. — Keller and Roanoke — as the Austin chain is serving their Krabby Patty offering at all 11 locations in DFW.

More than 250 participating restaurants are doing dumplings, falafel, burgers, doughnuts, ice cream renditions. The promotion will end on October 27.

Participating restaurants in Dallas and their Krabby Patty offerings include:

Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer - Dallas location of this New York-based burger & beer chain is doing a fried cheeseburger on a stick: a burger with American cheese, sauce, pickles, wrapped in dough and fried, served on a stick, with a side of potato salad. (Other participating Black Tap restaurants include New York, Miami, and Las Vegas at The Venetian.)
Brooklyn Dumpling Shop - Dallas location of this New York-based dumpling chain is doing bacon cheeseburger dumplings — dumplings filled with ground beef and cheese — and "choice of side."
Cris and John - Vietnamese street food shop in Richardson is doing an Asian-inspired take, featuring two smash patties with American cheese, seaweed aioli, and pickled Asian cucumbers, served with fries drizzled with spicy mayo and seaweed flakes.
Hat Creek Burgers - This Austin burger chain with 11 Dallas-area locations is serving a dialed-in offering similar to an item already on their menu, with two patties, white cheese, onions, and a "happy" sauce on a pretzel bun.
Le Reve Gelato & Patisserie - North Dallas shop is the most TikTokky by using sweet ingredients to mimic burger components: vanilla sponge cake bun, pineapple patty, crêpe lettuce, tomato made of strawberry mousse, puff pastry sticks for fries, and strawberry ketchup. It's reminiscent of shokuhin sampuru, the Japanese tradition of creating plastic replicas of dishes.
Lubbies Bagels - East Dallas bagel shop is doing a vegetarian burger featuring housemade seitan on a sesame kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, onion, B&B pickles, miso mayo sauce, and a side of twice-fried fingerlings with kimchi mayo.
Oomi Kitchen - Digital kitchen is doing a smashed beef patty, with cheddar cheese, grilled onions, tropical slaw, and pineapple aioli on a Hawaiian King roll, served with crinkle-cut bacon cheese fries. (They also have transformed themselves into a Spongebob pop-up with festive decorations.)
Pacheco Taco N Burger - Burger pop-up inside Four Corners Brewery is doing a standard burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, cheese on a sesame seed bun with a secret sauce featuring horseradish and srirarcha.
Serious Eats - Grand Prairie food hall is doing a slider with beef patty, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, and Boom Boom sauce, served with sea salt fries. Also offering a pineapple milkshake.
Starship Bagel - Award-winning bagel shop with three locations in Dallas is doing vegetarian version featuring an Impossible patty on a sesame bagel with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickle, schmear, ketchup, hot sauce, sweet pickle relish, and vinegar. (Remove the schmear and it magically becomes vegan.) Their side is pretzel bites with cheese sauce, and they're doing a "Jellyfish" Strawberry Milk Matcha drink — both available only with the Krabby Patty combo.

(While there are 10 names, some restaurants have more than one location.)

Spongebob Squarepants Krabby patty at Oomi Kitchen. Oomi Kitchen in downtown Dallas has transformed itself into a Spongebob pop-up. Oomi Kitchen