U-Bake from scratch — or just pretend u did

November 30th, 2007 at 12:44pm Deborah Austin

U-Bake has opened its first store in the Rock River Valley, at 4162 N. Perryville Rd., Loves Park, in front of the Carlson Arctic Ice Arena.

The store carries raw baked goods in frozen form, which can then be taken home and baked in one’s own oven. It also stocks bulk flours and raw spices for people who want to bake from scratch.  The 1,850-square-foot Loves Park store opened Nov. 5, and held its official ribbon-cutting today (Nov. 30).

U-Bake is a franchise based in Wausau, Wis.  Franchise owners at the Loves Park store — Machesney Park residents Shane and Angie Huber — have owned another U-Bake store in Janesville, Wis. for the past three years.  That store now will be managed by Shane’s brother Chad Huber. 

When the Hubers first found out about U-Bake they wanted to open a store in the Rock River Valley but couldn’t find a good location at the time, said Angie Huber. A potential landlord in Janesville heard they were in the market, and asked them to open a store in Janesville. Still, they always had wanted to open another store here.

The frozen raw baked goods include pies, cookie dough and bread dough. U-Bake also stocks gluten-free doughs and sugar-free products. Of course many of its customers are people who are too busy to bake. But it also caters to people with arthritis who may have trouble baking from scratch, said Angie Huber, as well as people who live alone. “If you bake from scratch, you have to bake a whole batch,” she said. But with the frozen doughs, “you have portion control.” 

Some U-Bake stores, including the Hubers’ store in Janesville, carry frozen entrees as well, but the Loves Park store does not. Incidentally, Shane Huber also is manager at the Kohl’s store at 6125 E. State St. in Rockford.

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