While Main Street in Mathews slumbers in the pre-dawn winter darkness, the lights are glowing and the ovens are on at The Cake Man.

The new bakery opened Thursday, Dec. 1, in the space formerly occupied by Stewart’s Tile and Carpet, which has moved. Owners Daniel and Liz Hogge have relocated their baking operations from their home near Mathews Court House. When the lights are on and the license plate CAKE VAN is parked nearby, fresh baked goods and freshly-brewed all-day coffee await customers.

The opening date is important, said Daniel Hogge, because it is one year to the day that he was laid off from his construction job and entered an entirely new field of work.

Searching for new income, the Hogges started taking cake orders. They had made them for years for family and friends, and found a niche designing specialty baked goods. These included a replica of Rappahannock General Hospital in Kilmarnock that served 350 people.

With an enterprising spirit, they served cook...