Mountain State Cakes owner Teresa Mullen stacks layers of blueberry lemon cake and creates a reservoir with buttercream for the raspberry filling. Wedding cakes are one of the specialties Mullen offers. The bakery is also known for its delicious cookies, pepperoni rolls and other sweet and savory fare.
Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
When Teresa Mull-en moved to Pocahontas County 15 years ago to be the ProStart teacher at Pocahontas County High School, she planned to do more than teach. She also worked in kitchens at Snowshoe Mountain Resort, serving up dishes to locals and visitors.
A few years ago, she decided it was time to open her own place, with her own rules and recipes.
“I wanted to decide what I was going to make, and I wanted to make sure that things were made from scratch,” she said.
That was the beginning of Mountain State Cakes in Dunmore. It took time to get started. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the opening, but finally, in 2021, the bakery opened its doors and welcomed guests with the warm aroma of both savory and sweet dishes.
“We do wedding cakes, birthday cakes, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin rolls – all your seasonal items,” Mullen said. “We’ve got pepperoni rolls, tons of cookies, dinner rolls, spanakopita and other little filo dough cups, pies and cheesecakes. We do donuts on the weekends. It’s a little bit of everything.”
Mullen added that she also welcomes special orders of items, including items not featured on the regular menu.
The top sellers are cookies and, of course, pepperoni rolls – the West Virginia staple.
“Last month I looked, and we’ve made over 10,000 cookies this year,” Mullen said. “We’re right under 8,000 pepperoni rolls for the year.”
Out-of-state visitors always ask what exactly is a pepperoni roll, and when they find out that it’s basically a dinner roll with pepperoni and cheese baked into it, they’re sold. Plus, at Mountain State Cakes, they get to pick from six varieties, where the pepperoni is the same, but the cheese is different, and there could be banana peppers – or ramps in season.
With six varieties of pepperoni rolls to select from, Mountain State Cakes has a savory snack for every taste bud – from mild to wild – with just pepperoni and cheese or those with the added kick of banana peppers or jalepenos. A sweet treat isn’t too far away either. Next to the pepperoni rolls is a selection of freeze dried candy. At right, the bakery also has treats for your four-legged friends in the Barkery section.
Although she doesn’t cater full meals for events such as weddings and birthdays, Mullen does make fantastic cakes that could rival those of the Ace of Cakes Duff Goldman or Cake Boss Buddy Valastro.
Some of her designs from past events include superheroes, traditional wedding design with piping and even a half Lego wedding cake, and yes, she sculpted each individual Lego by hand.
Mullen also does cupcakes, or dessert bar items for weddings, such as dessert cups and mini cheesecakes.
“We do make sides,” she added. “I’ve had people order chicken salad or potato salad, things like that,” she said.
One thing that sets Mountain State Cakes apart is its Barkery – which features freshly baked dog biscuits and freeze dried dog food.
Mullen is a big dog lover and has the pack of beagles to prove it.
“We do little doggie bones – oatmeal doggie bones,” she said. “My dogs are the taste testers, so it’s all beagle approved. I have eight and they are house dogs. They are spoiled house dogs.
“They are rotten,” she added, laughing.
For some, raising a pack of beagles and running a bakery would seem like more than enough to keep one person busy, but not for Mullen. She continues to teach at PCHS, albeit part-time, helping students find their own love for cooking and baking.
“We haven’t done competitions since COVID, but we are still doing lots of catering,” she said. “We did the veterans lunch [at PCHS]. We catered for the presenters at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School’s Harvest Day. We went with Nature’s Mountain Classroom and taught all the kids how to make pepperoni rolls.
“If the kids want to get back into competitions, that’s great,” she continued. “I’m more interested in having them do things in their community.”
Mullen takes the students to conferences, including the Hospitality University at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs. The students get to stay at the resort for three days and learn about the hospitality industry.
“I think having those experiences are a little more important,” she said.
And who knows, they may be inspired to open their own restaurant or bakery in the county one day, too.
Mountain State Cakes is located at the intersection of Rts. 28 and 92 at Dunmore and is open Tuesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information, the bakery has a presence on Facebook and Instagram where updates are regularly posted.
