Sweet Cake Dreams
From the time Ivy Davis was 5, she has made baking a top priority.
As a child returning home from school, she preferred making dinner over studying. And it was that time measuring and sifting in the kitchen with her mom and grandmother that crafted her future.
And when Davis taught herself 30 years ago how to decorate cakes — starting only with a small cake decorating kit she purchased shortly after she married — she was certain she had found her passion.
Today, through her company — Icing Illusions by Ivy — Davis decorates cakes for celebrations at the Executive Mansion, including one for the 100th anniversary of the governor’s residence, an Alabama-shaped cake for Gov. Bob Riley’s birthday, as well as a cake for first lady Patsy Riley’s birthday.
And Davis has designed hundreds of cakes for weddings, birthdays and other special occasions.
“It was a lifetime dream,” she said.
It’s a dream that not just Davis has seen.
Cakes she has decorated have been displayed in Las Vegas, Washington, New Orleans, Texas and Tennessee, and featured in Alabama Weddings, I Do, as well as the International Cake Exploration Society’s Web site.
For years before she opened her business, Davis dedicated her life to her daughter, serving as a “room mom” and working on parent-teacher organizations. Then, in the late 1990s, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer that spread to her lungs. Treatments were intensive.
“When we knew everything was OK, and when this kitchen became available, we took the opportunity,” she said as she looked around the business she has owned since January 2004.
While the location of the business was familiar — more than two decades ago it was a bakery where Davis worked when she was pregnant — the cake decorating business itself was a hard market to break into because of other well-known and established businesses. But Davis has been successful because her creations are unique.
danakeith on May 16th, 2008 10:50 pm
Congratulations!
It’s good thing to create something new, or better said “unique” for people will love it, through that they’ll purchase one of it, and may spread the word to all her friends.. And I can say, that’s the pretty smooth move towards your success.
jaeda on August 25th, 2008 5:40 am
yes, even only one member of a circle of friends knows a certain thing, it can be spread all throughout.
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