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Theresa Mullins bakes cupcakes for a friend's 50th wedding anniversary Friday evening. (Sabrina Robertson, The Natchez Democrat)

Theresa Mullins bakes cupcakes for a friend's 50th wedding anniversary Friday evening. (Sabrina Robertson, The Natchez Democrat)

Theresa Mullins bakes items for family, friends and friends of friends. (Submitted Photo)

Cupcakes baked by Theresa Mullins of Natchez. (Submitted Photo)

A cake baked by Theresa Mullins of Natchez. (Submitted Photo)

Theresa Mullins bakes items for family, friends and friends of friends. (Submitted Photo)

NATCHEZ — Theresa Mullins, a Natchez baker, said a cake to her is just a cake. However, to the people Mullins makes her cakes for, they are so much more important — that is what makes baking worth it, Mullins said.

When The Dart landed near Mullins’ home on Ashburn Street Friday evening, Mullins said she just ended a two-month break from baking to make four birthday cakes and a pan of cupcakes for her friends’ 50th wedding anniversary.

“Starting out it was just for fun, but now has evolved into a little home-business of mine,” she said.

Mullins said she and her sister-in-law, Gracie, first started baking as a hobby while Mullins was pregnant with her daughter — who is 35 years old today.

“We just thought it would be fun to teach ourselves how to bake and decorate,” Mullins said. “We did some things from scratch and other things from a box depending on what the occasion is, but I do have a secret ingredient that I add — only about two people know what it is.”

Mullins said she and Gracie started out baking mostly for family birthdays, and Mullins said their decorated cakes weren’t always picture perfect.

“It was very primitive at first,” Mullins said. “Then we thought it looked great, but looking back at what we accomplished over the years it wasn’t our best work.”

Over time, Mullins’ hobby evolved into an artform as she crafted decorated masterpieces for friends and friends of friends for special occasions.

It wasn’t until her children started having children of their own that Mullins said she decided it was time to take a brief pause from baking so she could spend time with her new grandchildren.

Mullins said her favorite part of baking isn’t the baking itself, but the enjoyment others get from it when she finishes an order for a wedding, birthday, anniversary, gender reveal or just because.

“The biggest part is knowing how excited someone gets over a cake,” she said. “For me, it’s no big deal. It’s just a cake. But when someone texts me or calls me the day after the party … it just warms my heart knowing that it made somebody smile.”

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