Autumn Stone: pastry chef at The Front Porch Café

The Murfreesboro jewel that is The Front Porch Café, a haven of southern charm and rib-sticking vitals, recently opened a second location in Brentwood. In the kitchen of the cozy, unassuming café is Autumn Stone whipping up an impressive array of utterly sinful confections.

She makes every one of her pies and cakes — Snickers bar cake, banana hummingbird cake, strawberry amaretto cake, fudge pie, caramel pie, Reese’s pie, just to name a few — individually from scratch.

With each cake, Stone hopes to make a star out of someone.

"I like to say that I make desserts that you can take right out of the box and call them your own and no one will know the difference," Stone said. "I make my cakes one at a time, and I think that comes through in a cake. There's a special taste to it. When you make them 40 at a time, they don't taste as good. But it's not for me to hog. If you want to say it's yours, go for it. It's our secret."

What kinds of food were you raised on?

My mom is a big cooker. She is meat and potatoes all the way. Steak. Pot roast. Good home cooking. Her marble cheesecake is my favorite. Even with as much as I bake here, I still can't make my marble cheesecake look like hers does. She cooks all kinds of things — whatever she is in the mood for, she'll just make. She's always experimenting; always growing fresh herbs and incorporating that into her meals.

The first thing she taught me to make was a dump cake. Dump all the ingredients into a 9 by 11 [inch] pan and that's how I learned to bake. I'd ask her how to make things and progressively we did harder and harder things. Then it got really crazy when I went to college — I'd call her every single day to ask 'How do you make potatoes?' 'How do you make roast beef?' I wanted to make it as good as hers.

What are your earliest memories in the kitchen?

My grandmother, when I was tiny tiny, she'd can tomatoes and I'd always have to be the one in the hot tomatoes peeling the skins off. It wasn't the easiest or most fun job, but I appreciated the outcome when you saw those beautiful canned tomatoes that you could use in anything.

When did you decide to make baking your profession?

It just kind of happened. I was serving at a restaurant in Murfreesboro during college called Sports Planet. I went on vacation for a three-day weekend, came back, went to work and the next day it was closed. I needed a job, so I went into the Front Porch Café, which was nearby, and [the owner] was only hiring for a bakery position. She asked if I had an experience, and I said, 'Yes, I've baked at home, I know the basics.' She gave me a shot, and it was to the moon. I got really into the baking, and it turns out I loved it. People would always say, 'You love to cook, you should do it for a job.' And I'd say, 'I don't want to burn out on it, not enjoy it,' but that's not the case. I love it more and more every day and it's what I decided to do. Turns out food is my life. I am a foodie. I love to bake, and it seems I have a knack for it.

What is your creative process?

I came in and learned how to make them, and now on a blind taste test I can tell you what everything is. You taste the same thing every day and you automatically start thinking of ways to make it better — What if I added chocolate chips? What if I melted this? You either fail or you get this whole new thing that is awesome. A lot of trial and error. Eventually you come out with something that is really fantastic, and that's what I keep doing and they keep getting better and better.

Is there a dessert you are particularly proud of?

The Black and White. It is a simple chocolate cake with a cream cheese frosting and chocolate chips on top. It is so incredibly simple yet so amazingly good. It is similar to the Snickers cake because it is really chocolate-y and really gooey, but there’s not so much going on in the cake. If you are a chocolate lover, it is great. It is a simple chocolate cake and you can’t get any better than a simple chocolate cake.

What is in your refrigerator right now?

Lots of leftovers. I love to freeze stuff and then pull it out later, like a gigantic pot of soup. I have pork chops marinating right now, and steaks I am thawing. Condiments. I love to make different marinades, vinaigrettes. I grow a lot of my own herbs, too.

What is in your CD player?

Todd Snider. I love him, love him, love him. The Avett Brothers. The Beatles. Janis Joplin, The Doors. Oldies but then some folk stuff in there, too.

What do you eat on a normal day?

I love salads. Basically because I eat all this stuff (her desserts) I have to eat a little bit healthy. Pork chops and bacon. I think the world would be a very sad world without bacon. All kinds of vegetables.

What is a food you’d never eat?

Earthworms. There is this big fad of cooking bugs and that creeps me out. I don’t think I am quite there yet.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

A sharp knife. I actually use them for some of the cake prep, like for chopping nuts.

What is your favorite ingredient?

Peanut butter. I love working with it. I think lots of people like peanut butter so I feel like I can get away with being a little crazy with it. You can use it in sweet and savory, so it’s a really universal item.

Where do you go out to eat?

I love Jackson’s, South Street, Tayst, Rumba.

What would your last meal be?

My mom’s pot roast and my grandmother’s macaroni and cheese on the side.

What is your guilty food pleasure?

Sunflower seeds.

If you were not a pastry chef what would be your dream job?

I’d work in an art museum as a curator or even just as a volunteer. I love all art museums.

What is a little known fact about yourself?

I am extremely OCD [obsessive compulsive disorder] where things have to be placed at work and at home, but I am also completely messy. I can have everything on the floor as long as the remote is in the right spot, or as long as my spatulas are in the bucket in the back.

The Front Porch Café

214 Ward Circle Ste 1200

661-6171