What is Jenny-cakes.com?  Jenny-cakes.com provides the non-professional cake maker inspiration and instruction for making professional looking cakes.  It is a one-stop-shop where you can find how to make amazing cakes by using pictures to inspire ideas, easy recipes to inspire baking, and detailed directions to inspire cutting, carving and decorating cakes. All information is geared towards the person who thinks “I can’t do that” and uses basic skills & tools, as well as a ’learn-as-you-go’ approach.  Jenny-cakes.com also provides a fun array of ’cake etceteras’ such as famous cake quotes, cake facts, opinion polls, and merchandise! 

Who am I?  My name is Jen and I love cake.  How do I know I’m in the middle of full-fledged love affair versus a simple fleeting flirtation? Well here’s the scoop.  I’m currently a stay-at-home Mom with three kids.  I’m crazy about my family, working hard and trying new things.  After I quit my job to be home with the kids, I tried consulting for my old company, but doing business analyses ‘til 2am & then ‘rising & shining’ for early morning feedings just didn’t work. I tried painting, but never got past my Rothko phase. I tried writing children’s stories, but never actually got pen to paper as I’d put myself to sleep along with the kids at story-time.  I tried running & even completed a marathon, but now, after Baby #3, it’s going to be a while before I’m hitting the pavement again.  And then, I tried cakes...not just eating them (I’m quite a pro at that already), but baking, carving and decorating them...and in cakes, I found my passion.   
 

Why am I writing about cakes?  As I said, I love cake.  For me, having the perfect cake is an indulgence and a joy, and I wanted to give my family & friends the same experience.  So I embarked on a cake adventure and dragged everyone else along.  I started making cakes for every one who would ask and any kind they wanted, from goofy, child-rific designs (a slime cake anyone?) to the more proper fancy cakes (a birthday at Chicago’s famed Drake hotel?).   And while I was doing my cakes, I was shocked and thrilled to find that people were wowed...they loved them!  I realized that even though I had no formal training, used no fancy cake tools and never have enough time to fully expirement with recipes, I could amaze people with cake and make them really happy in the process.  So, I decided to share all of my learning's with you, because I think everyone’s family & friends should be wow, so go for it...Bake On!  Find pictures & how-to’s for all the cakes I've done this year (over 100 cakes) in the Photo Gallery section of this site!

What is the name Jennycakes?  Jennycakes is the name of the bakery I always think about opening (if I had the capital I’d run & and start it...watch out Chicago), but my family also now uses the name to describe any fun cake!  Jennycakes are fun, homemade, custom cakes as unique as you, your child or your occasion.  They can be designed based on your inspiration (a favorite toy, special theme, a recipe from a magazine or an idea from here) and are always made out of the home and decorated by hand. Jennycakes are amazing cakes that makes everyone oooh & ahhh, all while saying Yum!  Now, just put your name in front of cakes (Katiecakes, anyone?) and now you’re at it!  Find pictures & how-to’s for all the cakes I've done this year (over 100 cakes) in the Photo Gallery section of this site!

Who is the team behind Jennycakes?  Jennycakes is run by none other than the brilliant team in my very own home.  They continually inspire such fun cakes, encourage me to ‘just do my best” and make me feel like the luckiest person in the world!  Thank you ‘team’ for always happily going on cake adventures with me. You are the loves of my life!

What is the Jennycakes ‘baking philosophy’? As I have three small kids and an active life outside of cakes (What? A life outside of cake...for shame!), I believe strongly in the concept of semi-homemade (thank you Sandra Lee & Food Network for legitimizing this concept!). So Jennycakes are almost always a mix of from-scratch & store-bought ingredients.  For the cakes, if I do not have time to make a from-scratch recipe, I have always gotten the most rave reviews using Betty Crocker mixes!  I tend to stick with the simple flavors (yellow, chocolate, white) but have done some embellished carrot, lemon & banana cakes as well. My frostings on the goofy cakes come mostly from a tub (the Pillsbury spreads so nicely and colors so beautifully, and does not require the hours cleaning that me mixing powdered sugar with butter requires), but my family always prefers the homemade buttercreams for the simple cakes (gotta love butter, sugar & milk combined with vanilla, chocolate, fruit or whatever!).  And I love fruit, so any time I can put it on a cake, you’ll find it there (I have an awesomely simply cake idea that is filled with tons of any kind of fruit you like….Yum!).   Basically, if you stick with simple, fresh & good quality ingredients,  your cake will be awesome every time. Find out more in the Recipes section of this site!