Our Story
About Lump of Sugar
Hi, I'm Torrence Wheeler — most folks call me Chef T. This is the story of a kid who hovered over the beaters, rewrote every recipe he touched, and built a bakery on faith, a Maple French Toast Bacon Cupcake, and zero rules.
The Baker Behind the Sugar
Torrence Wheeler.
aka Chef T.
Torrence Wheeler — aka Chef T — grew up watching family bake, and it turned into a lifelong obsession. Cupcakes came first (he was The Cupcake King before culinary school even started), then a name that means everything: Lump of Sugar — what his aunt always called him, because his kisses were sweet.
Now that same sweetness lives in everything we create — made with real technique and zero rules.
"I still measure the cinnamon by hand. Some things a machine just shouldn't do."
— Chef T, Founder
When you walk into Lump of Sugar, you're not walking into a business — you're walking into my kitchen. I'll probably be the one behind the counter, flour on my apron, asking how your day's going. That's not a sales pitch. That's just how my grandmother taught me to treat people who show up for dessert. So come in. Sit a while. Let me make you something sweet.
— Chef T
Torrence Wheeler · Founder & Head Baker · Lump of Sugar Baking Co.
The Face You'll See
Meet Lump
That's Lump — our mascot, our cheerleader, and the face you'll spot on our packaging, our signage, and the occasional apron. He's here to remind us that dessert should be taken seriously — but never too seriously. Think of him as the friend who always knows what you're craving before you do.
What We Believe
Our Core Values
The Tangzhong Method
Our cinnamon roll dough uses a Japanese milk-bread technique, slow-proofed for 24 hours. We take the time it takes — because that's where the pillowy soft texture comes from.
Real Ingredients, Sourced With Care
Culinary lavender from a farm down the road. Piedmont hazelnuts. Madagascar vanilla. No shortcuts, no fillers, nothing we wouldn't eat ourselves.
Made by Hand, Every Day
Small-batch churns. Hand-rolled truffles. Cupcakes piped one swirl at a time. The hands you see behind the counter are the same ones that made it.
Our Family, Your Table
Family-owned, Houston-rooted. We hire our neighbors, support local farms, and treat every order like it's headed to our own family table.
Our Journey
From the Beaters to the Bakery
The real story of how Chef T got here — faith, a Maple French Toast Bacon Cupcake, and a refusal to follow the recipe.
Kid
Hovering Over the Beaters
I grew up surrounded by bakers — always the kid hovering over the beaters, waiting for a taste. But I didn't want to just recreate my family's recipes; I wanted to rewrite them. Even at home, a vanilla cake was never just vanilla — it was a canvas for cinnamon, chocolate, and whatever else sparked a new idea.
2010
The Cupcake King
I founded The Cupcake King by faith, with zero business experience, a few tools, and a single rule: every creation had to push boundaries. The first proof of concept — a Maple French Toast Bacon Cupcake. I tested, iterated, and hustled my way from apartment-complex tastings and sales to baking for two local coffee shops and corporate catering.
Silicon Valley
The Googleplex
That drive carried me to the pastry department at the Googleplex in Silicon Valley — an operation on the scale of a massive commercial facility serving 40,000 people a day. Three years at the top of the corporate culinary world taught me scale, precision, and that the learning never stops.
Austin
Culinary Degree
True creators never stop sharpening their knives. I left the corporate world to pursue my Culinary Degree in Austin, Texas — going back to school to build the technical foundation behind every recipe that followed.
2019
Lump of Sugar Baking
Lump of Sugar Baking was created — the name my aunt always called me, because my kisses were sweet. Everything I'd learned, from the family kitchen to the Googleplex to culinary school, came home to one bakery built on real technique and zero rules.
Today
Houston Strong
Rooted in Houston with nationwide truffle shipping, the journey keeps going. The creations are still limitless — and the beaters are still worth hovering over.
Compliance & Safety
About Our Kitchen
Lump of Sugar Baking Company operates as a licensed Texas Cottage Food Production Operation. Our cinnamon rolls, croissants, cupcakes, and cookie dough truffles are handmade in a home kitchen in accordance with Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 437.
THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION.
Items containing cream cheese icing or other refrigerated components are prepared under our Texas DSHS Cottage Food Production Operation (CFPO) registration and must be kept refrigerated until ready to serve.
More Than Dessert
You're Not Buying a Dessert.
You're Stepping Into a Story.
Every cupcake we swirl, every roll we glaze, every truffle we hand-roll carries a piece of this story — a grandmother's kitchen, a Sunday tradition, a stubborn belief that the best things are made by hand. When you choose Lump of Sugar, you're not just a customer. You're part of the table.
