“Nothing gives me more pleasure than when I see the smile on a person’s face when I hand them a cake I have baked,” says Kim Cortes. “I love to bake, and just in case they don’t like what I made, I worry about what I might have done wrong.”
Kim comes from the baking family that operated Crum’s Bakery in Newport News for 12 years. “Dad became sick so we had to give it up.” But it was there Kim learned, and it was her job to decorate cakes and making the buttercream icing.
“He taught me.”
With her knowledge of baking, Kim is now operating a small bakery at her home, Muddy Acres Farms, on Ridge Road (once known as Catch Penny Road) in Mathews. She previously operated the Baker’s Daughter in Gloucester for one and half years. “My grandmother lives in Mathews, so that’s why we made the move.”
Kim’s kitchen is well equipped for filling any size order. There is a 20-gallon mixer along with two standard KitchenAid mixers ready to spin. She uses basic recipes, ones she has altered, ones she ha...