BAKERY WORKERS UP LATE

It's time to make the donuts. Do you know what time that process really begins? The answer is 10 p.m.! Unlikely, you say. Well, first they must be proofed, ( allowed to rise) then they get fried and then it's time for them to dry. The whole process is completed at about 3 a.m.

At Country Mart in Jackson, donuts have been in great demand, especially with Wille's bakery closing. People have been lining up on Saturday mornings in front of the donut case for long johns, apple fritters, cake donuts, sour cream donuts, cinnamon twists, chocolate glazed, jelly donuts, doughboys and glazed donuts, just to name a few.

That's not all Country Mart has available at its bakery.

There are 15 to 20 varieties of baked goods, plus cookies, pies and cakes, and there's bread.

Barb Philipps, Country Mart's head baker, said the store bakes about 500 loaves of bread a week. There's white, wheat, English toasting, garlic, French, sourdough and rye breads. The newest variety is tomato bread.

It takes 10 to 12 people to staff Country Mart's bakery, which operates on a 24-hour basis.

The store's bakers make many of the products rather than resort to the thaw-and-serve approach.

Over at the monstrosity of an oven, Philipps reaches into the abyss to spray the bread with egg wash. This extra step makes it shiny and more appealing.

"We strive for homemade taste and appearance," Philipps said, who's often called "Ma."

Philipps worked as a legal secretary, raised her family and took a job at Country Mart in the deli section where she also did catering.

She worked there for two years, then the baker quit five years ago, and that's when she began her baking career.

Philipps said she feels best when customers say they enjoyed one of the bakery's products.

Ultimately, Philipps would like to have more kitchen space, but for now, she is satisfied with her freedom to make creative decisions.

It's a typical day at the cake-decorating counter when Carol Smith looks for her dumenflacher -- catchall name for whatever she can't find at the time.

Kitchen space is tight here, also, and makeshift counter space, respect for co-workers and a plain, old-fashioned sense of humor are essential.

Smith, a cake decorator at Country Mart, thinks customer service is of great concern at the store. With about 20 years of cake-decorating experience, Smith thinks her integrity is on the line whenever a cake goes out.

"We want to please the customer so they'll come back" she said, adding that she was raised with the work ethic of "do it right or don't do it at all." And come back they do.

Smith was honored when her old boss, now a local caterer, approached her at Country Mart with the tale of a direct order from his boss: "Get the cakes at Country Mart, exclusively."

A new cake available at Country Mart is confetti cake. The store also offers Easter basket cupcakes and other holiday cakes this week. People will need to give two to three days notice for custom cakes.

Smith said the store sells about 350 cakes a week. There are about 20 different cakes: red velvet, carrot, coconut, Italian creme, to name a few, and they're available in a multitude of sizes.

Smith, who said she works better under pressure, considers her favorite part of the job is being creative.

And she still gets nervous and hates going into the freezer. Once when the door to the freezer was broken, she got stuck in there for about 10 minutes. It was scary because nobody was around and she had to bang on the door until somebody heard her.

Country Mart fixed the door the next day.

Wedding cake season is here, and it makes Smith a little nervous but also presents a challenge. A necessity for creative people.

One of her best days was when she received a $20 tip in the mail for a wedding cake, from a satisfied customer. Another great day was when she did an eight-tiered wedding cake and it came out perfectly. That was a $547 cake! she said.

Bake goods can be ordered at Country Mart by calling 243-8171.