Crisfield's Smith Island Sweet Shop bakes 4,660 cakes for Army-Navy Spirit Week

By Liz Holland • Staff Writer • The Daily Times
November 25, 2010

CRISFIELD -- A small bakery specializing in Smith Island cakes is getting ready to fill the biggest order yet in its five-year history --and it's one sweet deal.

The U.S. Naval Academy has ordered 4,660 miniature cakes, to be delivered to Annapolis on Dec. 6, and then served to midshipmen during Army-Navy Spirit Week leading up to the big football game Dec. 11.

"We've got about 800 more to do, but we'll get 'em done," said Gary Tull, who owns the Smith Island Sweet Shop with his wife, Cheryl.

On Wednesday, workers in the West Main Street shop were busy with the Naval Academy job as well as Thanksgiving orders for 120 cakes, 41 pies and countless dozens of sweet potato and pumpkin biscuits and yeast rolls.

"Oh boy, it's been nonstop," said Cheryl Tull. "But I'm not complaining -- it's what we've worked for."

The cakes ordered by the Naval Academy are tiny versions of the traditional 10-layer confections that became Maryland's official state dessert in 2008.

Midshipmen will each get a 3-inch, four-layer cake covered in cream cheese frosting, trimmed in blue and gold with a picture of the school's goat mascot and "Go Navy Beat Army" printed on each one.

The design on the top of each cake was made on a computer and printed on edible rice paper.

In addition to the special desserts, Army-Navy Spirit Week includes a pep rally in which an Army mule is burned in effigy, said Judy Campbell, a Naval Academy spokeswoman.

And as part of a long-standing tradition, midshipmen in the 13th Company will run the game ball up to Philadelphia starting Dec. 10, while West Point cadets will run a ball down from the north.

Meanwhile, the Naval Academy mascots, a pair of angora goats named Bill 33 and Bill 34, will sport fancy blankets and have their horns decorated for the occasion.

"It's always a big deal," Campbell said.

This is not the Tulls' first order from the Naval Academy. Last February, the Sweet Shop provided the school with 400 heart-shaped cakes for Valentine's Day.

Since opening the bakery in 2005, the Tulls -- who are both Smith Island natives -- have steadily been building up their business, mostly through their website, but also by attending trade shows.

The U.S. Naval Academy has ordered 4,660 miniature cakes, to be delivered to Annapolis on Dec. 6, and then served to midshipmen during Army-Navy Spirit Week leading up to the big football game Dec. 11.

"We've got about 800 more to do, but we'll get 'em done," said Gary Tull, who owns the Smith Island Sweet Shop with his wife, Cheryl.

On Wednesday, workers in the West Main Street shop were busy with the Naval Academy job as well as Thanksgiving orders for 120 cakes, 41 pies and countless dozens of sweet potato and pumpkin biscuits and yeast rolls.

"Oh boy, it's been nonstop," said Cheryl Tull. "But I'm not complaining -- it's what we've worked for."

The cakes ordered by the Naval Academy are tiny versions of the traditional 10-layer confections that became Maryland's official state dessert in 2008.

Midshipmen will each get a 3-inch, four-layer cake covered in cream cheese frosting, trimmed in blue and gold with a picture of the school's goat mascot and "Go Navy Beat Army" printed on each one.

The design on the top of each cake was made on a computer and printed on edible rice paper.

In addition to the special desserts, Army-Navy Spirit Week includes a pep rally in which an Army mule is burned in effigy, said Judy Campbell, a Naval Academy spokeswoman.

And as part of a long-standing tradition, midshipmen in the 13th Company will run the game ball up to Philadelphia starting Dec. 10, while West Point cadets will run a ball down from the north.

Meanwhile, the Naval Academy mascots, a pair of angora goats named Bill 33 and Bill 34, will sport fancy blankets and have their horns decorated for the occasion.

"It's always a big deal," Campbell said.

This is not the Tulls' first order from the Naval Academy. Last February, the Sweet Shop provided the school with 400 heart-shaped cakes for Valentine's Day.

Since opening the bakery in 2005, the Tulls -- who are both Smith Island natives -- have steadily been building up their business, mostly through their website, but also by attending trade shows.

"We're pretty much up and down," said Cheryl Tull.

They also have had large orders from a USA Today executive as well, as state Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus, who had 60 cakes, one for each senator, delivered on the final day of the Maryland General Assembly in April.

But the recent Naval Academy order was almost overwhelming.

"When we were first approached about it, I said, 'What did you say?' " she said.

Filling the order wasn't easy because the Tulls still have not been able to move into a larger building they own on Route 413 north of Crisfield.

Instead, all of the academy's cakes are being made in the small downtown space, then stored in freezers.

Gary Tull said he hopes to begin working again on the new building once the holidays are over.

In 2009, the Tulls purchased property with the help of a $500,000 loan from the Accohannock Indian Tribe. But they were recently sued by the tribe, which claimed they defaulted on the loan.

The case was recently dismissed after the two sides reached a settlement that allows the Tulls time to obtain additional financing.

"It's been a long haul," he said.