Frances Barkley of Tennessee T-Cakes is our Featured Guest on 5/13/09

A self-taught baker and businesswoman, Frances Barkley knows all about doing whatever it takes to guide a business to success. After using half of her divorce settlement to launch Tennessee T-cakes in 1993, Barkley now sells over one million Tennessee T-cakes per year to customers around the world. She has gone from pawning her diamond earrings (multiple times!) in order to afford extra ingredients and employee wages and from driving a cargo van across the South for four months selling T-cakes at Christmas fairs to being featured on Oprah when Tennessee T-cakes were lauded as one of the four best cakes in the country.

The Legend of the T-Cake

It was an age like no other. From the Creole townhouses of New Orleans to the grand mansions of Virginia, every southern belle knew the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. Any young woman who did not possess a closely-guarded arsenal of secret recipes was at a distinct disadvantage.

In the polite society of ante-bellum Tennessee, one young woman was renowned for both her beauty and her culinary ability. Though only seventeen, she had perfected recipes that had been in her family for generations. Tea cakes were one of her most sought-after specialties.

The Civil War changed everything. Chronic food shortages meant crucial ingredients were rarely available, and the young lady packed away her recipes. Until her brother, a confederate major, returned home with a certain young captain in tow.

It was love at first sight. The captain’s birthday arrived, and the moonstruck belle longed to bake him a cake, but did not have enough ingredients. She decided to make a small batch of her tea cakes instead.

When her captain remained in Alabama with other officers after the war, the young lady sent along a batch of her delicious tea cakes. They must have made quite an impression, because the captain returned and married the young woman shortly thereafter.

Today, over 100 years later, we still follow her recipe to make Tennessee T-Cakes!!!

I have had the opportunity of enjoying these T-Cakes and they are delicious! I really like the Truffles and the Lime…they are my favorite.  But best of all is having the opportunity to talk with Frances and getting to know her.  She is such a delightful lady and I’m proud to call her a fellow Diva!

Be sure to tune in to DivaTalkRadio on Wednesday, May 13th at 2:00 p.m. EST to hear from this Truly Outstanding Woman!

You can listen live and interact with us by going to http://DivaTalkRadio.com/live.

Well, that’s it for now.  Until next time, wear your heels well and we’ll see YOU at the show!