LizzieCakes: Serving Up Sweets
In 2015, Laura Reiley of the Tampa Bay Times reported that the number of food trucks in the Tampa Bay area rose from 13 to over 150 in the span of four years. Liz McComas, a native of New York now based in New Port Richey, is the operator and head baker for one of those trucks, LizzieCakes. Despite the name, McComas makes more than just cakes.
“Nobody does what I do,” McComas said. “I’m primarily known for my cheesecakes, my cakes, my pies, my cookies.”
Remarkably, she does not have any formal education in baking. She graduated from Parsons School of Design in Greenwich Village, New York in 1986 with a degree in communication (graphic) design.
She took professional cake decorating classes because of a personal interest in baking, and was shortly approached by someone to work as a baker in a traditional brick-and-mortar bakery.
When that offer fell through, McComas took it as a sign to follow her dream and open a mobile bakery. LizzieCakes debuted in April 2013.
“I’m happy with the mobile (shop) because I get to travel around and share my stuff with people in all different areas,” McComas said. “I’m based out of New Port Richey. Most of the people here (USF) would never try our stuff there.”
She went on to say that almost all of her work occurs in Hillsborough and that she visits USF two to three times a month. LizzieCakes has developed its own fan base, with devout supporters following the truck to its various locations.
The mobile bakery is particularly known for its banana pudding cheesecake. It won the 2013 Food Truck Wars Tampa Delectable Dessert Award.
LizzieCakes, as well as other Tampa Bay food trucks, books its events through a promoter, Tampa Bay Food Truck Rally. The schedule for many of the food trucks in the area, as well as each of their menus, can be found on their website. They also hold a food truck seminar every other month for prospective food truck owners.
McComas had some cautionary words of advice to dispense to anyone planning to start their own food truck business.
“If you own a food truck — as hard as you think it’s going to be — it’s even more work than you think,” she said.
On the other hand, she did mention that if she had help, she would consider opening a second baking truck or even an entrée truck.
“There’s a lot more to it than people realize, but it’s a lot of fun,” McComas said. “I love seeing people’s reactions when they first have something that I make.”
https://www.tampabayfoodtruckrally.com/
SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE
More Stories
USF football head coach Alex Golesh: The man behind the process
Football coach Alex Golesh said USF has been on his mind since his own days as a college student when the program was top five in the country. “I distinctly remember sitting there watching it and thinking ‘What is S Florida and what are they doing in the top five in the country?’” Golesh said. […]
Amplifying alumni: From Lightning fan to production manager
Growing up just outside of Tampa in Brandon, Florida, USF alumna Felicia Sablan said she’d always had a desire to work in sports. After graduating from USF in 2017 with a mass communications degree, Sablan was able to live out her dream. She’s now the manager of production operations for Amalie Arena’s Vinik Sports Group […]
Anthropology professor mixes activism with science
When anthropology professor Erin Kimmerle was approached by Hillsborough officials to research unmarked burial grounds in the county, she saw an opportunity to reconnect Tampa with its forgotten history. “There’s a lot of towns today that are either ghost towns or absorbed into Tampa and don’t exist anymore,” she said. “But those places used to […]
Fortified Bulls: Inside USF’s self defense club
What would you do if someone was trying to attack you on campus? If you’re a member of the Bullfighters club, you might feel more prepared to answer. Bullfighters of Florida (BUFF) at USF is a club that focuses on self-defense and martial arts that meets every Wednesday. The club’s president Julia Hoover, a biology […]
‘It’s a family away from home’: USF’s number one fan, the Herd of Thunder
In December, USF football made its first bowl game appearance in five years. Traveling to Boca Raton with the Bulls was USF’s marching band, Herd of Thunder – or better known as ‘HOT.’ Just like some seniors on the football team, senior biology major Luis Hernandez didn’t expect to experience a bowl game during his […]
‘There’s almost no boundaries’: USF Library dean finds ways to combine passion and work
As Dean of USF Library Todd Chavez and his wife embarked into the Gulf of Mexico on his kayak, he could not have imagined how a seemingly insignificant summer morning was going to change his life. “I get a text that says I have to be on a phone call in 30 minutes,” he said. […]