Carousel Cakes Marks Decades of Sweet Success in Nanuet

For more than four decades, Carousel Cakes has been a staple in Rockland County’s dessert scene, crafting cakes, cupcakes, and other sweet treats that have reached customers across the country.

The family-run bakery, owned by Nancy Finkelstein, David Finkelstein and Howy Lefkowitz, has grown from a small wholesale operation into a staple in the Nanuet community and a business that ships nationwide, even earning a spot in Oprah’s Magazine for their delectable desserts.

Founded in 1981 in Nanuet, Carousel Cakes began as a strictly wholesale business, supplying its cakes to restaurants, hotels, country clubs…anywhere that wanted to buy their delectable treats. “Our dream was, ‘If we could sell 100 cakes a week, we’d be the happiest people in the world,’” shared Nancy as she recalled the early days of the business. 45 years later, the bakery sells thousands of cakes, operates two retail outlets – one at its Nanuet headquarters and another in Englewood, New Jersey – and continues to operate as a successful wholesale business.

The Nanuet store has expanded over the years from around 2,000 to 6,500 square feet, with renovations from the last couple of years transforming its retail space. Despite the bakery’s growth and national success over the years, Carousel Cakes continues to handcraft each cake on-site.

While its reach has grown, Carousel Cakes has held firm to its core values. “We really try to provide the best product with all-natural ingredients, and care about the end user, whether it be a retail customer who buys one cake or a hotel customer that buys 100 cakes,” Nancy commented. “We treat everybody the same.”

Still, running a bakery in today’s economy comes with challenges.  The owners shared how over the years, prices of good an merchandise have skyrocketed, forcing them to raise prices as well as absorbing  those extra costs. Howy added, “Ever since Covid, the prices of everything went up, and nothing’s come down. So we have to try to accommodate that.”

Despite the increase in prices from food suppliers, Carousel Cakes has refused to sacrifice the quality of its sweet treats. The bakery’s reputation in Rockland County has helped the bakery remain successful. Locals know the store well, and the Oprah’s Magazine feature continues to excite customers seeking its famous red velvet cake. “We base ourselves on our name and our customer service,” Nancy said. “Having a quality product and good customer service are the two most important things that we have going for us.”

Looking ahead, Carousel Cakes plans to increase its number of distributors, allowing it to reach new customers without expanding its number of storefronts or compromising on the quality they’ve maintained since day one.