Jessie-Pearl Hairston sold her first pound cake when she was thirteen years old, baking cakes inspired by the way her grandma made them. Now nearly 68, the self-proclaimed CEO of Sugar and Butter for Jessie-Pearl's Poundcakes Etc. intends to provide customers with nostalgic bliss in every bite of her retro-style treats.
"The old-fashioned way of doing things appeals to me. Maybe it's just in my head, but things were so much more flavorful back then," she says. "My grandmother would put a bowl in the crook of her arm and whip it 350 strokes to produce a pound cake so good that it would make a bulldog break its chain.…