The sweetest of changes

There’s something awfully familiar about those Ruddock’s Bakery donuts these days.
A blast from the past, really.
When Rhonda Simon Bussy. along with her husband Mike Bussy, took ownership of the long-standing bakery in Crowley, that was one of her first missions.
“I got the donuts back (to where I want them) Sunday,” she said. “The brownies are back now.”
Rhonda Bussy hit the ground running on her first day – April 8 – and has since gotten the donuts and the brownies back to her fondest of memories. But it isn’t just her memories that have been triggered, it’s seemingly all of Crowley and the surrounding area.
“We’ve gotten great feedback,” she said. “Everyone’s really enjoying the donuts and the chocolate-covered ones.
“That’s what I remember when I was young. I remember taking a bite of the donut and the crackly sugar underneath it. It was the best.
“When I started, I was like, ‘I want that crackly sugar back and the dark donut’.”
So, with the help of the staff, they’ve gotten it back
But it hasn’t just been a nostalgia run, either, as Bussy has looked into adding to the bakery’s repertoire. More cakes and more items have been added and are seemingly added by the day. Cakes like berry lace, strawberry dream, blueberry dream and cream cheese chocolate – all made with fresh fruit – have had mouths of customers watering. As added new bonuses, there’s also “cake-ups” – push up mini cakes – and cake by the slice for sale.
Bussy is no stranger to cakes. The idea that she was “born” to work with cakes is hardly a stretch as she and her sisters commonly helped their mother with cakes growing up and have carried on the family tradition.
“We’ve baked cakes all my life,” she said.
And now, she has her own place to “relax” and do cakes, all day if she chooses. Between that and meeting customers, Bussy seems to be having the time of her life with everyone at Ruddock’s.
All of it has come to be, according to Bussy, in large part, due to the staff.
“They’re amazing!” she said. “They’re willing to try anything I ask. I definitely couldn’t do it without them.”
Bussy and the staff took to each other quickly, she credits their love of the bakery for that most of all.
“You can tell their hearts are in it. That’s why it works.”
And, as you might imagine, the tradition of Ruddock’s Bakery lives strong in Bussy’s heart, something she’s ecstatic to be a part of now.
“It’s just so much fun,” she said. “It’s a tradition. I’m so honored to carry out that tradition.”