Chez Moi Bakery

Name: Chez Moi Bakery
Address: Durham, Durham, NC, 27701, US

Desserts, Bakeries in Durham, NC

Address: Durham, NC 27701, Durham, NC, 27701
Website: ILoveRumCake.com

About Chez Moi Bakery

Chez Moi Bakery is a specialty bakery based in Durham, North Carolina, best known for its signature Brown Sugar Vanilla Rum Cake, which has been featured on PBS. The bakery's rum cake line also includes Banana Rum Cake, Black Cherry Rum Cake, and Coconut Rum Cake (each from $30.00), plus a Black Cherry Bourbon Cake (from $32.50). Beyond cakes, Chez Moi sells a three-ingredient Blueberry Syrup made from blueberries, sugar, and lemon ($10.99), along with lemon curd and lime curd. The shop also offers branded merchandise, including #EatDessertFirst, #ILoveRumCake, and DessertLife #NoSharingRequired T-shirts ($18.00), an artisan apron ($20.00), a baby bib ($9.00), an insulated stainless steel water bottle ($20.00), and gift cards. Cakes are available by the slice at select local partner locations, including Cocoa Cinnamon coffee shops and Namu restaurant, and the bakery ships nationwide via FedEx year-round, with free local delivery on orders of $25 or more and scheduled pickup in Durham Tuesday through Friday. The business began in November 2005 as a home-based operation inspected by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, after the founder was inspired by a rum-tasting and bakery visit during a Caribbean cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. She later ran a dessert food truck starting March 2013, left her corporate job in June 2015 to run the bakery full-time, and retired the truck in January 2021 while continuing wholesale partnerships. The name "Chez Moi" (French for "my place") reflects her love of the French language. Her approach favors real rum flavor over heavy alcohol content or spice, aiming for cake "you be able to enjoy each bite without being overwhelmed by the alcohol." Her baking roots trace to childhood with an Easy-Bake Oven and a mother known for apple pies and peach cobbler.

The bakery began when its founder was invited last-minute on a Caribbean cruise, where a rum-tasting and visit to a local rum cake bakery in Grand Cayman inspired her to develop her own recipe using memories of her grandmother's baking and her mother's pies and cobblers. She launched the home-based bakery in November 2005, later adding a dessert food truck in 2013, and left her corporate career in June 2015 to run Chez Moi full-time, calling it a transformative decision. The food truck ceased operating in January 2021, but the bakery continues through wholesale partnerships with local shops like Cocoa Cinnamon and Namu. The name "Chez Moi," meaning "my place" in French, reflects a lifelong love of the French language sparked by her father's travels in Canada and a high school exchange year abroad. Her rum cake philosophy emphasizes real rum flavor rather than maximum alcohol content, producing a golden cake with a mild rum soak meant to be enjoyed bite by bite without feeling tipsy.

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