The cakes from Eat Cakes are more than simple desserts. Not only are they delicious, they are so creative and realistic you might not believe that they are edible. But they are. And Liz does it all from her small Iowa kitchen, with her husband and daughters by her side.
Growing up
SheKnows:Liz, share with us a little bit of background. Tell us about your husband and kids.
Liz: I met my husband Allen online in 2001. After a few months of knowing each other, I took a risk and moved from Buffalo, New York to Iowa where he lived. We got married two years later and now we have two little girls, Evelyn who is 7 and Aubrey who is 4.
SK: Where did you grow up, how many siblings did you have?
Liz: I grew up right outside of Buffalo, New York in a little town called Depew, and I have one older sister named Shannon.
SK: What was your life like as a child?
Liz: Not very good, to be honest. I was made fun of a lot, mostly for my weight. I was also a smart kid and liked helping out, so I got the whole "brown-noser" thing a lot when the truth was that I didn't ever feel like I fit in with any of the people my age. My parents had a very difficult marriage which made home life less than ideal, they ended up separating and eventually divorcing when I was 13.
Sowing the seeds for baking
SK: Did your parents do a lot of baking when you were small?
Liz: Not at all. My mom baked a little, but more than that we would make chocolate candies together for holidays, the kind you melt and pour into molds. That was something I remember doing from the time I was really young and I actually have the same molds to use with my own kids now.
SK: When did you start learning how to cook, and what sorts of thing did you make when you first started out?
Liz: I can't ever remember not cooking, to be honest. I'd guess around 6 or 7. I started out
with eggs, because they are easy to cook! My sister and I used to make all kinds of scrambled egg concoctions. She's four years older than me and I remember learning a lot about basic cooking from her.
Eat Cakes
SK:When did you start making cakes?
Liz: I started making cakes probably around the time I was 10 or so. I loved baking, and cake has just always made me feel good, it's always felt right.
SK:How did you go from “regular” cakes to the amazingly detailed specialty cakes you create today?
Liz: Well, when I was younger, making cakes "pretty" wasn't a concern at all. As long as they weren't burnt and didn't fall apart, that was totally good enough for me. Then in high school I was in French Club, and we had a bake sale. I made a Black Forest Cake — chocolate cake filled with cherry pie filling, smothered in whipped cream and chocolate curls [on top]. It looked super delicious and I felt pretty proud, but even more so when I found out that two older girls had pooled their money together to buy it because it looked so good. That was the first time I ever really thought about taking cake to the next level.
After that it was years before I thought about it again — after high school I went to college for art and then moved to Iowa and became vegan, so I barely baked for a few years. Then we had Evelyn, and as her first birthday started approaching I couldn't imagine anyone else making her first cake. I had this doll cake for my first birthday and I wanted to recreate it for hers, so I did. Once I did that cake I didn't stop making cakes; everything just seemed to fall into place.
SK:How did you decide to make a business out of your creative love for cake baking and decorating?
Liz: At first it was just something I liked to do, but once people saw what I did they wanted to buy my cakes. It was pretty shocking to me but I figured, why not get paid for something I enjoyed doing.
SK:How did you decide on the name, “Eat Cakes?”
Liz: Well like I said, I was teased a lot when I was little for being fat. Part of what I was teased about was my name. More specifically, my initials, which were E.A.T. Growing up as a fat little girl, I'm sure you can imagine that having E A T as your initials is just fuel to bully fire, and I was tormented constantly for it. So a couple years ago, when we were in the process of ordering new business cards, my husband asked if I was in love with the name we had previously chosen. I wasn't stuck on it, and asked what he thought I should name it instead, and he suggested Eat Cakes, as a way to turn something so negative into something positive.
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SK:Do you come up with your ideas, or do your customers? Or is it a bit of both?
Liz: It's a little of both. More often than not my customers will at least have a general idea of what they're looking for. Whether it's a theme or a character or what have you. I take their ideas and draw up a couple sketches based on them — usually I'll draw up a simple idea and a more complex one, to give them multiple cakes to choose from at different price points.
On the rare occasion that my customer has no clue what they want, I will draw up a couple different designs to choose from. Everything is customized, from colors to flavors of the cake, to specially personalized details like private jokes. I've even turned tattoos into wedding cake toppers!
Cake baking and parenting
SK:Do your kids and husband get involved in your work?
Liz: Yes, because I make them! Haha! My husband actually helps me out with a lot of the baking, and will dye fondant for me and roll it out if I have a lot to do. I've started teaching him simple decorating skills so he can eventually be my right-hand when I'm working to let me take on more orders. He's also amazing at looking at what I've done and suggesting little touches that finish my cakes perfectly.
More than anything though, he helps ground me. I get completely wrapped up in my work, and frequently I stress myself out trying to achieve perfection. He's always there to encourage me, and help me to relax.
My kids love what I do. They love watching, they love taste-testing, and they love that they get whatever cake they want for their birthdays. They tell me I'm the best cake baker ever, which I have to admit feels pretty good! They also help with designing the cakes — I can show them a drawing and since they are kids, they give me honest feedback. A large majority of my work is actually cakes for kids, so to have my own kids at home telling me "Mom that's awesome!" makes me feel more confident that the recipient of my cake will love it too.
SK:How have you had the time to build up your business while being a stay-at-home mom?
Liz: I do most of my work while the girls are in school or asleep. Being at home allows me time during the day to promote my business on Facebook and return calls and emails to customers, which is really nice.
SK:What is the biggest challenge you’ve dealt with in juggling home, family and career?
Liz: Not having enough hands or space! We have a fairly small kitchen, and since I work in my kitchen and dining room, I'm right in the middle of everything. So when my kids are home, I can't just shut the door and work, I have to keep stopping to help them and get them stuff and do things for them. That makes my time spent working stretch out a lot longer!
SK:And what is the biggest reward?
Liz: I am very grateful that this is something I can do from home, even though we don't have a ton of space. It was always very important to me to stay home with my kids until they were in school full time. As much as it drives me nuts to be interrupted a billion times, at the same time it makes me happy that I'm not missing out on my kids — I'm right there with them every day.
Looking to the future
SK:As your kids grow, you’ll probably want to expand your business. What are your plans for Eat Cakes in the future?
Liz: We are planning on opening a storefront in the next couple of years, which will be a full service bakery and custom cake shop all in one.
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Find out more
Find out moreCheck out Liz's amazing work at www.eatcakesiowa.com and facebook.com/eatcakesiowa.
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