Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Matthews.
Hi Ashley, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Northeast Georgia in a small town called Clarkesville. I learned to cook and bake from my mom and Nana. My mom owned a daycare and cooked all the meals. She also made a majority of the kids first birthday cakes with those awesome 90’s Wilton Cake molds. In highschool, I loved art. I took every art class I could and we got a new culinary program when they built a new highschool. It was complete with a state-of-the-art stainless steel kitchen. I fell in love with that place. Everything was brand new but the culinary program had very little money to use to cook and left us making lots of soup. Me (and my best friend to this day) competed in regional and state championships together. It was there where I met the Chefs from North Georgia Technical College. They were two brothers, the Bladowski’s, and they told me about their program they taught together at the technical school. My Nana actually taught the Nursing program at this same technical school when I was growing up. When I was younger I had two loves, animals and art. My family always thought I would be a veterinarian one day but I finally found my avenue for my art. I applied to the NGTC program and continued my education in culinary arts. At first, I kept my distance from baking because that’s what is expected of women in the culinary world.
Baking was the girly, finessed, art and I hated being pinned down to a lable in cooking. I was 18- I wanted to be a rebel. Baking also has requires a certain level of patience and focus I didn’t have at the time. I still loved the baking portion of culinary school but I lived for the fast pace. I continued to compete in college and placed 3rd in the state of Georgia two years in a row before graduating in 2015 with an associates degree in culinary arts. I moved to metro Atlanta shortly after graduating to find better jobs. I worked at a few restaurants before the environments really started to burn me out. But I eventually wanted something different. I decided to completely switch career fields and did a 180 and became a vet tech for a few years. My love for animals saved my sanity and allowed me to fall back in love with food other than cooking for someone else. During COVID, I was able to cook more being at home and went back to what I grew up with and knew best: cake. I found myself at a time in life where it was important for me to slow down and be present with myself and my art. Suddenly, I didn’t find the girly finessed art repetitive anymore. I found it relaxing to pipe buttercream for hours. I found solace in the precision of creating cakes. My kitchen became my office. This side hobby of baking cakes for friends, turned into me quitting my job and baking full time from home. I love being able to control my schedule and work load while being home with my family.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
COVID was rough for everyone. But with my animal hospitals limited hours, I was grateful it gave me time to be home and fall back in love with cooking for myself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in heart shaped cakes with vintage style buttercream piping. I handmake everything from the cakes, the fillings, to the hand piped buttercream. I do not use traditional American buttercream-my buttercream recipe is smooth, not too sweet and can be piped into the most luxurious designs. I am proud of myself for leaning into the “expected” and doing the “girly baker thing”. Because a women’s touch is not something easily translated but I put that into all of my cakes.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I use instagram to showcase all my finished cakes. I love to network and have my order form linked in the bio. @SacredHeartCakes
Pricing:
- Cakes are on a order by order bases.
Contact Info:
