Roxanne Riley never thought of herself as much of a baker. That is, until she watched an online tutorial to bake a friend a cake for her 30th birthday a few years ago and found her creations in high demand.
“She posted a photo on social media, and pretty soon another friend reached out and asked if she could pay me to bake her a cake,” says Riley. “All of a sudden I thought, ‘Maybe I should make this a side hustle,’ and it just kind of snowballed from there.”
Riley, who is a Pilates instructor at Core Pilates, launched Foxy Cakes in 2019, crafting unique custom cakes and cupcakes for birthdays, weddings and special events. During the COVID-19 quarantine, she started making intricate, hand-painted cookies to order, shipping them allover for events during quarantine.
All self-taught, Riley has embraced the learn-as-you-go mentality, creating everything from floral-adorned, five-tiered wedding cakes to a recent pink and purple mermaid cake for a 5-year-old’s birthday, and complex cookie designs including anything from animal shapes to portraits, logos, and characters crafted out of royal icing. “I originally got into it because I love bright colors,” she says. “
I love doing big, colorful birthday cakes, and wedding cakes have definitely picked up, especially in the summer. I always love the ones that are a little different and unique.”Inside, Riley has nine different cake flavors on rotation, including classics like chocolate (her grandmother’s recipe!), vanilla, and strawberry, as well as graham cracker and funfetti. Nine different buttercream frostings allow for endless flavor combinations, with favorites like lemon cake and lavender frosting, or chocolate cake and salted caramel frosting.“
I definitely got into it because I like doing the outside of the cakes,” she says. “The flavors inside are a little more basic, but I’ve had great feedback. Nothing super crazy on the inside since there’s so much going on on the outside.”
While she never would have anticipated herself running a baking business, Riley has been amazed at the community’s support. “Jackson is one of the best towns to start a business in because everyone just seems to hop on board,” she says.“Despite being relatively isolated, there’s so much opportunity here if you want to start your own business, which is one of my favorite things about living here.”
You can order a custom cake, cupcakes or cookies for your next event through the Foxy Cakes website or through Riley’s Instagram(@foxycakesjh).
