Publix has created many special cakes for important events through the years, but few were as eye-catching as these. 

Dixieland’s Fourth Anniversary 
In 1952, the Dixieland community in Lakeland, Florida, held a fourth anniversary celebration. Publix founder George Jenkins decided the event needed a cake, so plans began for the creation of a 4-foot-tall confection. 

Individual sections of the cake were baked at Lundy’s Bakery because Publix Bakery departments didn’t yet exist in the early 1950s. 

The cake sections were transported to a Publix warehouse where a team assembled the four tiers. The finished cake weighed 5,000 pounds and had to be transported on a trailer like a float in a parade. People filled the street for the celebration, and the Florida Citrus Queen attended the event.  

Publix’s 88th Anniversary 
On Sept. 6, 2018, Publix’s 88th anniversary, a historical marker was unveiled at the site of the first Publix in Winter Haven, Florida. After unveiling the marker, ceremony attendees were invited inside for cake. 

One cake was designed as a replica of the first Publix Food Store, complete with windows, doors and streetlights. Baskets of food, produce boxes, pictures on the wall and Mr. George’s green jacket were visible in the windows. Consisting of four full sheet cakes, fondant, frosting and colored sugar, it was almost entirely edible. 

The second was a cake made to look like a grocery bag filled with bread, bananas, carrots and apples. The “grocery bag” was made of puffed rice crisps, fondant and buttercream icing, and set on a revolving base, rotating on a decorated sheet cake. The whole cake, including a “cellophane” bag with carrots, was edible. 

Making the store and grocery bag cakes 
These works of art were the result of a team effort by Publix Bakery Manager Brittany Lavallee and Bakery Retail Improvement Specialists Don Lovering and Chris Moore. 

The first step was to sketch out the ideas. Since the event celebrated the first Publix, the original 1930 store and a full-size grocery bag seemed like the perfect designs to represent Publix. The next step was to create 3D cardboard models to see how everything would look. Making the cakes and edible pieces took 12 hours, and it took another 12 hours to put together. 

“I’ve created quite a few other unique cakes, but these were the most meaningful because they represent our Publix history. And I love perpetuating our culture,” Lavallee said.