Piece of Cake

Before real estate, I wore many hats in the food & hospitality industry. I was a wine expert, owned a french restaurant, and catered large events. I much prefer cooking to baking, but ironically the hat I wore the longest was cake baker & decorator for 20+ years.

My cake career started by accident. I was 26 years old and had been home with my first baby for a year. I was desperate for activity! A girlfriend found us a “Mothers Morning Out” at a local church that provided daycare. We signed up for a six-week Cake Decorating class. Each week, we made an 8 inch layer cake, brought it to the church and learned decorating techniques. I was hooked!

What began as a simple desire to get out of the house became a small business for me. I made birthday cakes for my family, then my friends, and began to charge when the requests grew. I would sculpt the cakes into various shapes: cartoon characters, trains, swimming pools and even a medical building. Many of our family's proudest moments were commemorated with my cakes, like when my nephew Robert became an Eagle Scout. 

One day I was challenged to make a tiered cake and my wedding cake business was born. I became the unofficial "wedding cake lady" of Savannah. I kept it simple and never veered from my original recipe: a sour cream pound cake with real ingredients that was moist and delicious. I used a buttercream icing made with real butter and cream. My kids grew up licking the cake batter from the mixer.

I learned to assemble tiers and grew from 3 to 5 to 7 (which I only did once). I made all types of decorations, often icing rosettes, but my favorite was fresh flowers. My father had a garden with 50 rose bushes, so I had free access to gorgeous fresh cut roses. I augmented with other seasonal flowers to make bouquets and cascades.

I retired when we moved to Charleston and made the kids promise not to tell anyone their mother made wedding cakes. I came out of retirement for their weddings and their best friends. Luckily everyone is married now, and I've given away my supplies, so I couldn't make another one even if I wanted to! I found it highly rewarding to be involved in weddings.  There was so much joy in a young couple celebrating their marriage, and I still treasure the experience.