If you are looking for cake ideas for a birthday, wedding, graduation, baby shower, or any celebration, then I have the baker for you!! Julie McAllister is the owner of For Heaven Bakes and is such an amazing cake artist. I have always been drawn to all things art, but make it edible (and add in a celebration) and I am doubly all in!!! Julie's cakes are jaw-dropping and inspiring! Take a look! I feel like "Matt" had to be pretty impressed with this. What do you think?
It is hard to believe that the golf bag is made of all cake! The pouches and zippers- and those golf clubs- not to mention that it is 3-dimensional and standing up! Julie is cake baker, artist, and apparently a bit of an engineer, too! Here is Julie with the golf bag cake and a pineapple cake that she made...along with look-alike fruit that she created.
I was lucky enough to meet Julie when I was connected with her at The Southern Coterie (The Southern C) Summit and asked her to make my daughter's birthday cake. It was really hard to decide what to make because Julie is so talented. My daughter decided on a camera because that was her biggest wish for her birthday- a new camera. After having Julie's version of her camera, I bet my daughter has a new favorite camera! Here is Julie's camera masterpiece for Camille's 16th birthday!
Camera Cake by For Heaven Bakes/ Photo by Lydia Menzies
We had a family party to celebrate my daughter's birthday and this cake was the perfect size. Everyone loved how it had Camille on the camera in place of the brand Canon- and how her name was also on the camera strap. Blue is Camille's favorite color and so it was fun to add that little twist to her cake.
Julie created the back of the cake to be as realistic as the front of the cake! The cake was a show-stopper and was such a fun addition to the day. Even better, the cake and frosting inside were really delicious! Camille requested chocolate cake and chocolate frosting and it was a really great choice! Camille likes fondant, and so she was quite happy that she could have a cake with fondant and buttercream frosting all in one! The details that Julie put onto the camera cake made it hard to believe that there was actual cake inside there!
I am crazy for cakes and so I am excited to share more of For Heaven Bakes cakes with you below. Julie's talent will blow your mind! I have several favorites, and I would love to hear which ones are your favorites, too!
Look at this Lilly Pulitzer inspired paddle board cake...what a great idea for a Lilly Party! How cute is the fondant beach ball and paddle? The Lilly lobster print is one of my all-time favorite prints- and look how the name resembles the writing of Lilly Pulitzer's signature that you see on the clothing and merchandise. Allison doesn't miss a detail!
It takes a minute for it to sink in that this whole thing is a cake created by For Heaven Bakes. The tray, the eggs, the oranges, the juice glass, the flowers and the stack of pancakes- all made by hand by Allison! I just love it! I am amazed and I wish I had been at the party to see the reaction of the guest of honor!
And, then there's this little order Allison received to make a cake for Reese Witherspoon's birthday- I can only imagine how exciting this was to make! The cake is modeled after a handbag that was Reese's birthday gift from her Draper James family. Allison made it spot-on to look like the actual bag! I think it is gorgeous!
Fashion accessories seem to be right up Allison's alley - this cake is made to look like a wide-brimmed sun hat and, well, it does! It looks just like a hat! Notice the detail of each layer that resembles how a straw beach hat would look. And, topped off with a ribbon that literally ties together the look of the hat! For Heaven Bakes wows me!
While we are thinking sandy beaches, look at this Shrimp Boil cake! Allison lives in the low country of South Carolina which is all about a low country boil. This would be a fun birthday or groom's cake for the guys!
It looks so much like the real thing! It is all cake and fondant. It is like our eyes are playing tricks on us!
All of Julie's cakes deserve to be in glossy magazines- and I am thinking someone needs to sign her to a book deal right away! I could literally post photo after photo of Julie's cakes. I love each one! I wanted to find out more about the lady behind the incredible talent, and so I asked Julie a few questions to help us know more about her...and at the end I share another of her many amazing cakes!!
You are such a talented baker…what led you to focus on sculpted cakes?
I have been a hobby baker for as long as I can remember, and when I was in grad school, I started to teach myself cake sculpting for fun. I continued to bake and try different types of cake decorating over the years, took catering jobs on the side and even had a part time job at a bakery in DC for a period of time—all in an effort to gain as much experience in as many different types of baking as I could. In trying those different avenues, I learned that I loved novelty cake decorating above and beyond anything else, so when I was ready to start my own business here in Charleston, I knew exactly what I wanted my focus to be.
Do you have favorites that you bake other than cakes? Cookies or cupcakes or family recipes?
Even though I only make sculpted, novelty cakes for my business, I still do traditional baking all the time for myself and my family. I think, because I spend so much time making cakes, that when I have free time I tend to make cookies, bars, pies or pastries, just to give myself some variety! :) I usually try to bake my way through each issue of Bake From Scratch, and then I have some family recipe staples that I can pretty much make from muscle memory at this point, so those are my go-to’s when I just need a quick dessert.
Can you estimate how long it took to make the camera cake? I think it is important for all of us to understand the time it takes to create! :)
Sculpted cakes like these almost always take about 15 hours from absolute start (baking the cakes) to finish (the last decorative detail). This camera cake clocked in at 14 hours.
Do you have a long-term goal for your cake business?
My long-term goals are always evolving for me. I think when it’s all said and done, I’ll feel like I’ve succeeded if I’m creating cake art on a large scale. I have such a passion for novelty cake decorating and genuinely view it as a form of art, and my ultimate goal would be to share this love with others. :)
What is the biggest challenge of running For Heaven Bakes?
I think a lot of people who create products tend to create the same product or similar products over and over, until they become an absolute expert at those particular designs. Because these cakes are so unique, I rarely make the same cake twice, so sometimes there is a figure-it-out-as-you-go element, which can make it challenging. But the problem solving element is one of the things I love the most about these cakes.
What is the biggest perk?
Aside from the joy I get from owning my own business, there is never not cake or cake scraps in our house, which to me, is the ultimate job perk!
After having Julie's cake, I would definitely see that as a job perk! I am so happy to get to share Julie and her work at For Heaven Bakes with all of you! I am already excited to get on her schedule for another cake soon!!
And, I will leave us all with this little beauty to look at as we end. A mint julep sculpted cake! I would love to plan a party around this cake!! Cheers, y'all!
