The Commercial Appeal - Go Memphis
Mama Pug’s
bake when I was 11, and I turn 50 this year,” said Marshall, who is originally from Jackson, Tennessee. “My pie recipes are from my grandmother Mama Pug and my aunts were the cake makers.”
What to expect
To start, Marshall will serve his signature bundt cakes. Each of the flavors of the nine featured cakes will be available in his signature “single-serving” size, as well as in a traditional largersized cake.
Expect cake flavors like the Pink Pantha (a strawberry cake with fresh lemon juice and pink lemonade vodka in the icing), Sock It To Me (a golden cake studded with pecans and cinnamon) along with a super moist Red Velvet.
“Tennessee Whiskey is my signature flavor,” said Marshall of the bundt cake that includes pecans and Tennessee whiskey as ingredients. “It’s a taste you have never experienced before. If your eyes don’t roll back it’s so good, you get your money back.”
Some flavors have alcohol in the mix, while others don’t. Marshall even has sugar-free options in his offerings.
The individual-size bundt cakes quickly became customer favorites at retail shops across Memphis. Marshall thinks it’s because the packaging allows people to eat half, and then save half for later.
They can be found on the shelves of shops such as Cordelia’s Market, Buster’s Liquors and Wines as well as Wine Cellar.
“It’s a following,” said Cordelia’s Market general manager Erica Humphreys. “During the holiday season, we bring in the large bundt cakes and even put on our holiday per-order. For Easter weekend, we put out close to 150 on Thursday, and by Sunday we only had like 25 left.”
As the bakery business grows, Marshall plans to add items like pies (in flavors such as chess, pecan and sweet potato), apple dumplings and peach cobblers.
Coffee service and items for a light lunch will also be added.
He will continue to sell his bundt cakes at Memphis-area stores.
The recipe for success
“If you find your gift, you can do anything you put your mind to,” Marshall said. “I started with $500 and a dream.” Marshall is eager to share his story. While in rehab 10 years ago for cocaine and alcohol addiction, he had a vision that cooking would be his future.
“My dream to eventually own my own bakery started when I was in the treatment center,” Marshall said. “The food truck van and delivery services were stepping stones.”
He explained that during the past year or so, his retail business had grown so much, he barely had any time to run the food truck.
“My uncle told me that when people came looking for you, it was time to open a bakery,” he said of opening the retail location. “This past year I could hardly keep up with the orders for stores. I knew it was time.”
When asked about the use of alcohol in some of his recipes, Marshall said it was not an issue. He explained that over the years he has attended meetings to equip himself with enough tools to avoid temptation.
“I have too much to lose. It’s not worth it to me.”
He hopes his story can be an example to others.
“I want to show all these young guys that it’s cool to cook and use it as a way to make an honest living,” Marshall said. “God gives the glory, and I tell the story.”
Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining Reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer.
Online: facebook.com/mama.pugs.sweets