ThunderCloud’s carrot cake, handmade with love by Kimberley Joosten

Moist, dense, and flavorful — who doesn’t love carrot cake? Especially when it’s topped with rich cream cheese icing.

Kimberley Joosten owns Fourth Street Bakery in Lexington, Texas. She has been supplying ThunderCloud’s Austin-area locations with handmade, from-scratch carrot cake in small batches weekly since 1999. (She was married for many years to Toby Jones, a beloved longtime manager of ThunderCloud who died in 2013.)

Kimberley makes 600 to 900 slices of carrot cake a week for ThunderCloud, and drives 200 miles every Tuesday to 26 stores to hand deliver them. With 16 years of supplying our carrot cake, she’ll soon have delivered almost a million slices to ThunderCloud. That’s a LOT of carrot cake, folks!

Both of Kimberley’s grandparents are also excellent bakers, and her carrot cake recipe is a slight variation of one she used to make while growing up in Northern California. More than a pound of organic carrots are used in each batch, and Kimberley says the cream cheese icing on top is made with love.

Each batch is completely unique to her, and Kimberley treats every carrot cake like it’s special. This is a big part of what makes every bite so darn delectable, if you ask us!

Andrew Street, a longtime fan, says: “I eat at ThunderCloud Subs at least once a week for lunch, and I always get a slice of their delicious carrot cake to treat myself after the meal. It’s the perfect combination of everything that’s right in this world. My wife and I joke that carrot cake counts as a vegetable in our house.”

Kimberley describes herself as a big kid at heart and anyone who meets her would agree. She loves Dr. Seuss, has fun no matter what she’s doing, and is always making those around her laugh. She even has a hilarious nickname for her beloved kitchen mixer: “Big Black Sexy.”

Her award-winning Fourth Street Bakery in Lexington, Texas is open for breakfast on Friday mornings serving cinnamon rolls, pies, scones, cakes, cookies, pies, and other seasonal delights. Everything is handmade from scratch, and the bakery atmosphere is absolutely charming and welcoming (much like Kimberley herself)! She also takes special orders for any occasion and makes holiday baked goods.

Check out Fourth Street Bakery’s Facebook page to see more of Kimberley’s tasty creations.