Easy As Pie: TC Bakery’s Rise to Success

As the daughter of restauranteurs, Jennifer Young has food and entrepreneurial drive in her blood. And, as the head baker and owner of TC Bakery on Crawfordville Highway, she also has the history of her parents’ restaurant blessing the endeavors in her location.

“My parents, Isaac and Tommie Williams, owned a popular restaurant in the ’80s and ’90s called Ma Mary’s Kitchen, located on the campus of FAMU,” Young says. “My mother died when I was ten, and my daddy continued to raise me as a single father. I began baking in 2016 after the birth of my twins, using a cookbook that was passed down to me and added my own twist the recipes. At the time, I was dealing with postpartum depression and needed an outlet to soothe the anxiety and sadness I felt.

I kept baking and started my own business from it, and when I decided to move from home to a storefront in 2019, I opened in my own soul food restaurant and bakery in the very location where my parents had their restaurant. My dad was there every step of the way, and I also felt that my mom was with us. I could feel her presence in the shop.”

A year after opening, COVID shut the world and many of its businesses down, and Young was faced with the need to pivot. “I did what came naturally to me: baking!” she says. “I shut down the food portion of the business and concentrated on the bakery. Although many restaurants were closing, sweets became a huge hit while people stayed home.”

Her confections were, indeed, a hit – so much so that she not only survived the pandemic, but continued to thrive. Over the past three years, TC Bakery has expanded from baking and selling only for the shop, into retail and commercial baking. “We recently moved to a bigger facility in Crawfordville, and there isn’t any direct competition except grocery stores.”

“Midtown Reader asked the Tallahassee Foodies community if they knew of a bakery selling great homemade pies, and we were the most recommended bakery in the area,” Young notes. “We met with them and provided samples, and the rest is history!” TC Bakery will also begin selling at Piggly Wiggly of Albany and Piggly Wiggly of Moultrie.

“People love that our pies are homemade, that we use local produce from Barnhart Farms, and that we bake with love!” Young says of what makes her pies so popular. “I pray as I stir each batter.”

Being a business owner is a challenge under the best of conditions, and Young is facing the pains that come with unexpected growth. “We need capital and space,” she says. “The bakery is growing at a fast rate, and we have already outgrown the new space.

Because I am in the hospitality industry, getting capital has been a huge issue. We are pretty much self-funded, and we don’t qualify for some of the programs out there. Minority-owned businesses lack resources, and the more we grow, the harder it has become to scale the way we need to. As a baker, the biggest challenge is the lack of supplies in the area. Because of the scarcity of cake supply stores and warehouses, we are at a disadvantage and at the mercy of the shipping companies.”

Young also recently lost her father, but still she bakes, with his spirit and the spirit of her late mother with her, pushing her forward through the challenges. Her customers are also a huge part of what keeps her going. “I love seeing people enjoy my product,” she says. “That’s the ultimate pay for me.”

A normal day for Young starts at 6:00 am and ends at 7:00 pm. “Taking kids to school, tending to the husband, prepping batter, meetings, complete chaos-but good chaos,” she laughs. “That’s my day.”

Future plans include opening up the TC Bakery Factory, a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen space, franchising, and continuing to grow the brand in more stores.

“I’m about to be hitting the gym hard after Easter weekend, and TC Bakery got me in my happy zone over here,” says Tallahassee Foodie Tisha Whitten in a recent review. “I had to go back to Fresh 4 Less and hit them up for everything that I saw. Please don’t judge me-just doing some reviews over here while enjoying these delicious desserts- I was able to snatch these slices: Banana Pudding Cheesecake, Butter Pecan Cheesecake, Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake, and Sweet Potato Cheesecake. I gave all these slices a 100/100.”

Agrees fellow Tallahassee Foodie Stephanie Marie: “I told my husband I’ve been wanting to try the cakes from TC Bakery, and since she is now in the Co Op on the parkway to please stop by whenever he was in that area – So, to my surprise he brought me all the cakes!! I’m so happy right now. They are so yummy! They definitely have a new customer.”