36 | OCTOBER 3 • 2024 J
N

I 

will never forget the moment 
my neighbor’s 13-year-old 
son informed me that he 
makes homemade seven-layer 
cake. “Wait, wh, wh, what did 
you just say, Blake?” I said to 
him on that momentous day a 
couple of years ago, as I strug-
gled to find the right words to 
express my excite-
ment. 
I could barely 
contain myself. 
I was trying to 
process the fact, 
that while for 
many years I have 
frequented our 
community’s won-
derful Jewish bakeries, I quite 
possibly had a new source for 
my favorite dessert within only 
footsteps of my front door. 
Anyone who knows me knows 
that I’ve had a lifelong love affair 
with seven-layer cake. I went 
public with that passion in the 
June 7, 2018, edition of the JN. 
As a follow up to my column, 
the JN asked if I would be inter-
ested in traveling around to area 
bakeries being filmed doing a 
taste test. Would I? Duh. 
Within just a few days, my 
“Tour de Seven Layer Cake” 
video was posted on the JN 
Facebook page. It has close to 
8,000 views. Go to YouTube and 
search “Tour de Seven Layer 
Cake.” I just did and it was the 
first video to show up! 
Surprisingly, I wouldn’t taste 
Blake’s version of seven-layer 
until just a few days ago. Now 
15 and a 10th grader at Frankel 
Jewish Academy, he hand-de-
livered a lovely loaf of layers to 
yours truly. It was well worth the 
wait. Delicious. The real deal. I 
devoured it in less than a week. 
Blake’s been in full baking 
mode for the High Holidays, 
pumping out traditional Jewish 
breads and pastries. By the time 
the dust, or should I say flour, 
has settled, he will have mass 
produced rye and pumpernickel 
breads, an assortment of cakes, 
fruit and cheese Danishes, 
knishes, rugelach, schnecken, 

kolacky cookies and Blake’s 
favorite — kichel. 
 
BLAKE THE BAKER
Blake is the son of Lindsey 
and Greg Weitzman of West 
Bloomfield. It turns out he can’t 
recall a defining moment in 
his life that frosted, excuse me, 
fostered, his passion for pastry 
preparation. He doesn’t even 
watch any of the popular baking 
shows on television. 
“Baking is just something fun 
I started to do one day,” he said. 
“But I have been inspired by all 
the Jewish bakeries in our com-
munity.” 
Turns out that Diamond 
Bakery in West Bloomfield and 
Star Bakery in Oak Park have 
proven to be invaluable mentors 
to him over the last few years. 
More on that in a moment. 
Dad Greg claims that his son’s 
“love for baking comes from his 
huge sweet tooth. He was deco-
rating cupcakes in our kitchen 
when he was just 2. He loves to 
bake for the holidays, and his 
favorite is baking cakes for his 
younger cousins. And as much 
as he enjoys the process, he 
enjoys it that much more when 
he’s baking for someone’s birth-
day. In his eyes, it’s a unique gift 
to someone special.”
Mom Lindsey added, “I’m 
so happy that Blake has found 
something that he’s passionate 
about. Our house is constantly 
filled with both sweet and savory 
aromas. I especially love how his 
baking and cooking connects to 
Judaism.”

PREPPING WITH THE PROS
Over the years, the Detroit 
Jewish community has been 
home to numerous beloved 
Jewish bakeries. As Mike Smith 
wrote in researching Metro 
Detroit bakeries in the July 19, 
2023, edition of the JN: “I must 
admit until this search, I did not 
know there was a Jewish Master 
Bakers Association of Detroit, 
1920s-1970s. Its ad lists 22 
Jewish bakeries in the city.”
Blake has become quite the 

BY ALAN MUSKOVITZ

YOM KIPPUR
Rolling in dough: Blake 
Weitzman after a full 
day of baking in the 
family kitchen.

Blake’s homemade 
 
seven-layer cake.

Alan 
Muskovitz
Contributing 
Writer

Meet

the Baker
Blake

My 15-year-old neighbor makes a mean 

seven-layer cake for the holidays.

PHOTOS BY ALAN MUSKOVITZ

