Jus Cakin'
Meet Kimberly Elise... A Pastry Chef from Mississippi who has been converted to a Georgia Peach. Kimberly started baking with her mom and grandmother at the age of eight. Since then, baking has become her passion as it gives her peace and unthinkable joy. Kim is a single mother and her daughter, Kamiya is her inspiration and motivation to be great. Kim started baking cupcakes for her daughter's elementary school class in order to celebrate certain life events, e.g birthdays.
One day while sitting at her desk at her full time Corporate job, Kim had a vision. That vision was to go into businss for herself and follow her passion for baking.
In 2013, Kim lost her job which was the motivation she needed to give the passion for baking her undivided attention. She started selling her cupcakes in hair salons, barbershops, farmer's markets, corporate events and other places around Atlanta, eventually opening a Kiosk to sell her cupcakes. As her business grew, in addition to cupcakes she added celebration cakes (anniversary, birthday, bridal cakes etc.) sugar jars and wedding cakes.
Adding wedding cakes was no easy task for Kim as potential clients would always ask if she would bake a wedding cake and her response would be "No." Kim's reason for not baking wedding cakes was out of fear of not meeting the needs of a couple during one of the most important and memorable moments in a couple's lives. As the years passed and her skills grew, Kim also wanted her business to grow so she decided to add wedding cakes to her repertoire and has become a successful wedding cake designer.
Kim contributes her success as a baker to her late mother and her surviving grandmother. At the age of eight she baked a cake for her mother's birthday and although it was not level or "whop-sided," according to Kim, her mother praised her efforts and said the cake was beautiful. It's that moment in her life that drives Kim's success.
Kim prides herself and her company on making their desserts from scratch, using real butter, eggs from a local farmer in Georgia and making their own vanilla extract. Kim says when she is making a cake, she has no idea how the design will turn out but through the process and passion for baking, the cakes start taking a form and personality of their own.
Kim and Jus Cakin' use Kitchen Aid Professional mixers. Her 88 year young grandmother just recently gave her a Kitchen Aid Mixer (Model K45SS) which she used as well. In fact, its one of the mixers that Kim used when she was a child. This mixer has been in Kim's family for over 40 years. Kim did mention that it was like "pulling teeth" and she had to really plead her case as to why she needed this momentous appliance in her arsenal of baking equipment.
Other products used by Kim and Jus Cakin' include her Chef's jacket made by Chef Works, cake scrapers made by GIR, Nordic Ware bundt pans, Pyrex measuring cups, Anchor Hocking measuring cups, Wilton piping bags, cake boards and decorating turntables, Carlo's Bakery decorating turntables, Home Goods cake stands, Ball Canning mason jars, Chef David Burke's cake pans and a host of other baking appliances and products.
You can visit Kim and Jus Cakin' at www.juscakin.com. It is her goal to be one of the leading bakers in the Atlanta area and eventually expanding her services in the future. You can also follow Jus Cakin' on Facebook and Instagram @jus_cakin
