Hello! My name is Ashley and I started Sugar Beats Bake Shop in 2010 simply to design cool birthday cakes for my friends and their kiddos. I was tired of attending birthday parties where the frosting gave me a toothache and the food coloring stained my teeth.
 
I am completely self-taught (other than a Wilton cake decorating class I took at JuCo in 2003) and I am a graphic designer by trade. I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Kansas, and for 15 years I designed greeting cards for Hallmark. ​

I learned how to value life's little celebrations - creating a more emotionally connected world through greeting cards. While sitting at my desk, using software and technology every day, I was simultaneously falling in love with baking, decorating, and designing cakes - getting messy in my kitchen and experimenting with new techniques and a medium that was soft, delicious, and unpredictable. Sometimes I compare it to sculpting - making dragons and birds out of fondant. Or painting - using edible gels and brushes to create Elsa's castle. It's all design - it's just more edible and temporary, which makes it sort of magical.

The payoff is immediate. I love watching children light up at the sight of their custom birthday cakes. I love hearing from brides that their wedding cake was everything they dreamed it would be and their guests were raving about how delicious it was! As an added bonus, I have been awarded the Best of Weddings by The Knot for 6 years in a row and I consider it an honor to be ranked among the top bakers in Kansas City. I moved in to my shop in the Windmill Square shopping center in July of 2022 and I am so happy to be hosting wedding cake tastings in person again!

My clients are fiercely loyal, so if you are interested in becoming one of them, please email me so we can begin designing your perfect cake!