Conjuring up all he had learned, remembered and had been taught by three generations of his family, this retired Air Force man now has the time to pursue his passion for baking, and has made a business of it. Marvin and Octavia Townsend own Generations Cakes. Knowing about baking successfully is in the family genes. He’s been interested since the age of seven. Marvin’s logo reads: “Over Three Generations of Love in Every Bite.”
Marvin, originally from Washington, D.C., has lived in Gloucester since 2000, moving here from Charlottesville. Four years ago he decided to turn his love of baking into a business, acting on the advice of friends. For many years he had been making cakes as Christmas gifts. “My wife is my right hand person. I do all the baking and most all of the cooking at home. I like my kitchen to myself, but she does all the extra jobs that go along with the business,” Marvin explained, as Olivia followed up with a smile saying, “There are couple dishes I can do better than Marvin.”
Generations Cakes gets its name from Marvin’s great-grandmother, grandmother, his mother and aunts. “These ladies were fabulous cooks. When I was growing up and even as an adult, good food was a very important part of our family. At least twice a month—these days it’s a couple times a year—on a Sunday following church we would all be together for dinner; and the dishes these ladies brought, especially my grandmother’s desserts, you just wouldn’t believe.
“Then, if it was something new, they would sit and judge each other’s cooking. If the finger went by the nose it meant too much lard. If the finger went by the mouth it meant well, it’s O.K. but keep trying. Took me a long time before I brought a dish and even then I was scared of how they would judge it. What I’m doing here is what I believe they would approve of. My family has always carried on the tradition of excellence. I’ve stood in the kitchen and watched them. My grandmother always kept a couple boxes of cake mix on the shelf—not for her use, but when she allowed me to make a cake, she brought out one of the box mixes and let me make the cake. When it was baked she told me “now that’s the way Betty Crocker does it. Let me show you how it should be done.”
“Great-grandmother Lucia Martin was personal cook from 1950-1964 to the Symington family who were board members of the St. Albans School in D.C. All were politicians and lawyers. Mamie Garnett was cook for Leonard
Mecker, ambassador to Romania from 1960-1973, and for Sarah Louise in the remaining ’70s. My mother Gwendolyn Townsend was always cooking for church functions, special events and community functions.”
All of Marvin’s cakes are small individual cakes and the many varieties that are available can be found on his website www.generationscakes.com. His product is shipped all over the country; he also sells at farmers’ markets and fills special private orders. “Each cake is sealed and will remain fresh up to three weeks; and if you wish they can be frozen up to three months. I bake Tuesday through Saturday. On busy days I can make 200 cakes but on lighter days it’s around 125 per day. I’m always experimenting with new cakes. I’ve made as many as 100 and just threw them away. They didn’t meet my requirements.”
This is not exactly the first time Marvin realized his cakes would sell. “While stationed in Japan I baked and designed cakes to make some extra money. I’ve always done it but didn’t know I wanted to do this. I really hope I can build this into a storefront business.”
Marvin has altered his family’s recipes by eliminating the lard. “They used lard in most everything. I use margarine or butter, mostly butter. You should be very picky about the type of extract you use. How about trying a fruit preserve or jam as a flavoring? Use silicone cooking pans. Much easier for removal of cakes. Once your batter is made, baking pans are filled and you still have some batter remaining, do not put it in the refrigerator if you plan on baking it within an hour or two. If you do put it in the refrigerator, the cold batter affects cooking time.”
Although baking cakes is Marvin’s passion, he’s well known for some other cooking. There are special dishes his family likes—two sons, the oldest is a student at the U.S. Naval Academy, and the youngest is a student at Averett University—and he’s sharing them with our readers.
“We have a family cookbook my aunt put together, but with the provision we did not give out the recipes except with special permission.”