“Cake Boss,” “Cake Wars,” “The Great British Baking Show,” and “Extreme Cake Makers” are just some television programs showcasing out-of-this-world cakes that are baked and constructed by talented bakers from across the country and the world.
Don’t let the world of television fool you; it’s no easy feat. Cake decorating is a unique art requiring patience, creativity, and attention to detail. Bakers work their culinary magic and turn an ordinary cake into a stunning masterpiece that looks too good to eat.
Local baker Brandi Dornon creates her own eye-popping and head-turning culinary works of art. Dornon owns Cake N’ Bake, a small culinary business she runs from her home in Tullahoma. She prepares eye-catching cakes, intricate cookies, and cupcakes that almost look too good to eat. From the first scoop of flour to the final line of frosting, Dornon takes extreme care with each bake as if it were a masterpiece that one would see hanging in a museum.
Dornon said she has a long love of baking. She has fond memories of cooking with her great-grandmother and helping her prepare a family favorite, buttermilk biscuits. However, she wouldn’t dive fully into baking until she received a request from her daughter for a specially decorated birthday cake.
“I used to bake biscuits and other things with my great-grandmother, and I really liked them, but I never really got into it until about six years ago,” she said. “My daughter wanted some cakes, and of course, custom cakes can be kind of expensive sometimes. So I wanted to see if I could do it myself. I started practicing with their birthday cakes. Once I was successful in making those, I thought this could be something I did on a business level.”
From there, Dornon worked diligently to hone her skills and self-taught herself how to create her baked masterpieces. Added to her skill set, Dornon is also a talented artist who loves to paint and be creative, which helped her bring something extra to her business.
“I love to paint and have taught paint classes in the past. Incorporating that into baking cakes was a plus,” she added.
To check out Dornon’s amazing culinary creations, check out her Facebook page, Cake N’ Bake.
A mother of three, Dornon keeps a busy schedule between kiddos and baking, but she makes it work. She said preparation and scheduling are crucial to running a successful business and household.
“Anytime I am scheduling a bake, I check my schedule,” she explained. “I don’t take a ton of orders because I have three kids. I take the ones that I can and go from there. A lot of times, I try to experiment to see how far I could push myself.”
Dornon said she loves working on 3D cakes. She credits her husband and father for helping make the cakes a success by adding their talents.
“I like 3D cakes; those are my favorite,” she said. “ I’ve learned how to make some intricate structures. My husband helps me a lot in making structures. If it’s going to be a heavy cake, it needs to be sturdy, so he helps me make the structure, and then I’ll take over from there and make all the rest of the cake decorations and other decorating aspects. My dad also has a cabinet shop and helps by cutting boards that I use as the base for all my cakes.”
Dornon added that some nerves are always involved when the delivery day rolls around.
“I want to make sure the cake is delivered safely and, of course, intact,” she said. “But I am a people pleaser, and I’m always nervous about what the customer will ultimately think of the final product. Even if it’s a beautiful cake, I’m not completely satisfied with my work until I know the customer loves it. I strive for perfection.”
At the end of the day, Dornon said she is grateful to the community and customers for their continued support.
“Facebook and TikTok have been my only ways of advertising to date,” she said. “All of my customers have been so great and supportive and allowed me to do something I truly enjoy. It’s fun to go into Walmart and different places and see people you know, and they tell you how much they love your work. It’s so uplifting and makes me thankful to live in this community.” GN
