A Florida mother and daughter duo's baking business is taking off, but the display cases aren't filled with croissants or cookies. They're serving up something that looks like cake but tastes like chicken, since their clientele is on the furry side.
Pawkery Miami, a dog-only bakery in Miami, started with Cindy Perez's oldest shih tzu. Perez said shih tzus have trouble with their kidneys, and her mother, Rosibel Perez, got "paranoid," and completely switched the dog's diet.
She cooked and made treats for Cindy's dogs, then one day, Cindy told her mother that she should see if other pet owners wanted to spoil their pups.
The pair started at farmers markets with treats before building up to cakes. What started as a few orders expanded once Cindy started posting
Rosibel—who still fights it—on TikTok with their latest creations. They're already talking about expanding out of the house, but neither of them started out as a baker.
Cindy said the business really picked up in March, and after taking a class, it was all "trial and error."
While their cakes come with fancy designs like a piped border or a fondant-looking dog on top of a cake, their creations are 100% edible for pups. Inside, the ingredients aren't all that crazy.
What goes into a dog's cake
When making a dog cake, the ingredients are fairly simple. Everything in these cakes are part of a dog's natural diet. There isn't any sugar, salt or seasoning in them, since dogs shouldn't eat added sugar.
Pawkery Miami uses water, eggs, gluten free oat flour and a dog-friendly protein or fruit to make the body of the cake. The cakes take about an hour to cook, then comes the hard part: icing. The bakery uses plant-based food coloring, tapioca starch, egg whites, powdered egg shells and yogurt powder for the icing.
Cindy said people should keep food safety in mind when it comes to baking for your pet.
"I would just be very careful on making sure, if it's protein based, making sure you cook the meat well, and just to be safe with the ingredients, like if you're using oat flour, make sure its gluten free, the eggs are organic," said Cindy.
Cindy said the icing process is time consuming, especially since the egg shells need to be crushed and dehydrated. Dog-friendly icing can be bought online, but it can be expensive. As for their frosting, the main ingredient is lactose-free milk, along with a few secret ingredients.
While these ingredients are generally safe for dogs, every pup is different.
"We always recommend, if it's something new they're going to eat, just give it to them little by little, see how they feel," said Cindy.
All of these ingredients are safe for dogs. Cindy said Rosibel also tries every item before giving it to their shih tzus, who test out the products before they go on sale. Some people have tried their dog cakes, and said the fruit cakes taste like banana bread.
If you're not in the mood to spend hours dressing up a cake for your dog's birthday, Pawkery Miami ships nationwide.
Right now, the Miami bakers are making their cakes at home, but Cindy said she hopes to open up a brick-and-mortar bakery that welcomes humans and dogs. Even though their dog cakes are edible, Cindy said she plans on making human-exclusive treats as well.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Baking a cake for your dog? One family turned it into a business
