Brothers mix it up

Newport Beach resident Daniel Byers use to work in commercial real estate, but always dreamed of going into business with his half-brother.

“I always thought we would make something manly, like tools or car parts — but pancakes?”

Now Byers and half-brother, Levi Silva, of Telluride, Co., have found success selling their own line of pancake mixes called Daddy Cakes.

With flavors like “Sinful Cinnamon” and “Witty Whole Wheat,” the two brothers are bucking the bad economy and say their line of batter mixes is selling like hot cakes.

The task of making breakfast typically falls to Silva and Byers in their respective households. Silva has two young daughters; Byers, two sons.

The brothers would swap tips and recipes via phone and sometimes get competitive over who could serve up the best pancakes to their kids.

“There’s definitely a competitive streak between the two of us,” Silva said.

“My dad was better looking,” Byers quips.

“But mom loved me more,” Silva retorts.

Byers would make frog-shaped pancakes for his two, grade-school age sons, who started calling their dad’s creations “Daddy Cakes.”

The names stuck, and the Daddy Cakes line has grown to include nine different flavors of pancakes mix since the brothers founded the company in 2007.

“This was a way to try and bring our family together across 800 miles of distance,” Byers said. “Now it can bring other families together as well — pancakes are such a communal food.”

Byers has ditched the real estate business and turned Daddy Cakes into his full-time job, overseeing the manufacturing of the product and running a warehouse in Newport Beach.

The two brothers just got back from a trade show for the National Assn. for the Specialty Food Trade in San Francisco are optimistic about how the product was received.

“We didn’t know what to expect, but we were just mobbed,” Byers said.

Several Orange County supermarkets already carry the pancake mixes, and the brothers are hopeful more will follow suit.

Local markets include all Mother’s Markets in Orange County; Hershey’s Market on Balboa Island; Promelis Market in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach and the Irvine Ranch Market in Newport Beach.

The mixes also can be ordered at the brothers’ website, www.daddycakesbakery.com.

The brothers say the line of mixes includes three mixes that use 100% organic ingredients and that six of the mixes are vegan.

Each tin of pancake mix comes with a sticker or toy inside.

The toys include a green plastic frog, a tribute to Byer’s son, Grant, who coined the “Daddy Cakes” name.

“We just wanted to keep it fun and bring people together,” Byers said.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].