No secret among bakers. Warner Robins store known for cake decorating supplies & more

For 30 years, AJ’s Cake & Candy Supply in Warner Robins has been the go-to, one-stop shop for many professional and everyday bakers.

The family-owned business at 2195 Watson Blvd., Suite B, offers a wide variety of products for cake baking and decorating and candy making, said owner Juli Sledge.

Shoppers can find cake boxes and boards, food coloring, cake and cupcake toppings, edible glitter and dust, flavorings, baking utensils, cookie cutters, pans, candy molds and more.

“This is the only place I get anything from,” said Candyce Bradford of Perry. “They usually have exactly what I need.”

An everyday baker, Bradford was in the store picking up cake boards and boxes.

She enjoys creating birthday cakes for her niece and nephew and baking cakes for the holidays for family and for potluck at work.

For her niece Jayda McCray’s 5th birthday, Bradford made a three-tier chocolate Barbie cake with fondant icing, and for her nephew Kailen McCray’s 3rd birthday, she made a “big boy” Madagascar cake that was vegan and gluten free to accommodate his allergies.

“They’ve never had a birthday cake that wasn’t made by their Aunt TT,” Bradford said.

How it started

Originally known as AJ’s Confection and Confetti, the store was started by Sledge’s mom, Alma Jinks in a small space off Elberta Road in 1994. “AJ’s” comes from the first initials of her mom’s first and last name.

Although her mom worked at a factory, her passion was cake baking and decorating. She often had trouble finding the supplies she needed, which led her to open AJ’s Confection and Confetti. In addition to supplies, she offered cakes for sale.

A year after opening, the business moved to a larger building that once stood on property where the new Dutch Bros Coffee is to be built at 2695 Watson Blvd.

Sledge’s stepdad Jack Jinks worked alongside her mom at the store until his death. Her sister, Amy Brown, also worked in the family business for 16 years. Sledge joined the business in 2011.

“Mamma needed help, and I thought it would be fun to work with them and keep it in the family,” Sledge said.

The store moved to its current location in March 2012. Sledge took over the business in 2021 when her mom retired.

Sledge renamed the business to best reflect its nature as solely a supply store with her mom no longer baking and offering cakes for sale.

What’s offered

Today, Sledge runs AJ’s Cake & Candy Supply by herself.

In addition to its wide variety of supplies, the store offers edible images that Sledge custom makes.

Edible images are printed designs or pictures on edible paper such as wafer paper, rice paper or frosting sheets with ink made from edible ingredients and food color. For example, a photo of a couple may be used to create an edible image for an anniversary cake.

Sledge also offers more than 200 cake pans that may be rented, which saves a professional or everyday baker money by not having to buy a pan that they might be used only once such as a dinosaur shaped pan for a child’s birthday, she said.

The pans are in “every shape and size you can think of,” she said.

Sledge also offers cookie decorating classes at the store in a partnership with Charisse Bruce, owner of CookieFest, a cottage bakery and online business.

Bruce supplies kits for participants who sign up online for the classes that she teaches at the store. Flyers on the classes are posted on Facebook pages of both businesses.

Check out these finds at the store:

• More than 200 cookie cutters.
• Edible sugar soft black roses and other edible toppings.
• Sanding sugar and sugar crystals for cakes and cupcakes.
• MagicLine butter vanilla flavoring, a best seller, Sledge said.
• Chefmaster Candy Color, an oil-based food dye that can be used to color fat-based products like chocolate, according to Sledge.
• LorAnn dram flavoring which is concentrated and favored by candy apple makers, Sledge said.
• Watkins flavors which are popular with the older generation, according to Sledge.
• Gumpaste flowers that aren’t edible but are gorgeous on top of cakes, she said.
• A large selection of candy molds.

Sledge also offers gift certificates. Additionally, she can help a customer create a starter decorating or baking kit, which makes a great gift for the cake maker in the family.

While business is sweet for Sledge, she’s currently facing a challenge with the closing of Indiana-based CK Products, which was the main supplier for the business since it opened.

She’s looking for a new main supplier, finding it hard to duplicate the value and selection that CK Products offered.

Unique to the store is a small play area for children with tables and chairs, toys and children’s books.

A thumb’s up

KeKe McGhee, owner of home-based Granny’s Sweet Treats, is a longtime customer. She said Sledge can be counted on to go the extra mile to meet a need.

“I get everything from here,” said McGhee, who previoiusly operated two Granny’s Sweet Treats storefronts in Macon. “I highly recommend her.”

AJ’s Cake & Candy Supply hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m Saturday. The business is closed Sunday and Monday The number is 478-922-9042.

This story was originally published December 24, 2024 at 6:00 AM.