Exploring Life & Business with Chef Nevia Giles of Platinum Cake Designs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chef Nevia Giles.

Hi Chef Nevia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always enjoyed baking and decorating. My mom involved my siblings and I with both cooking and baking; we were like little sous chefs. And like many kids, I had an Easy-Bake Oven and burned a lot of little cakes in that thing. I suppose the decorating bug sparked when my mom came home with a royal icing clown she made at a Wilton Cake decorating class. I was fascinated. After that, we decorated cakes like those found in the Family Circle magazine. You know the ones with the Teddy Grahams’ bears on them, remember those? I knew I liked baking and played with the idea of pursuing a baking career, so I took some hospitality classes while I was at Boston University studying business. I also did some catering gigs. But it wasn’t a great fit, the work was too rushed and buttoned up for me. After graduating, I put my baking ideas to the side and I worked in the utility space for about 13 years. I didn’t give up my dream completely, I continued baking for friends, family, and coworkers.

My baking dreams reignited after I made my sister’s wedding cake, which she loved. At the time, I enjoyed my work in the utility consulting industry, but I knew my passion was in baking and cake decorating. Burnt from the road warrior lifestyle, I resigned a few years later and enrolled in the Pastry and Baking Program at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). There I learned a lot of different techniques, met a lot of great people and had a great externship with Kate Sullivan the owner and cake artist of Cake Power. The first project I worked on was a giant 4-foot bento box topped with large sushi made out of rice cereal treats. It was some real Is That Cake? kinda stuff. I had seen cakes like this on tv, but never in person. I was blown away.

After graduating from ICE, I returned to Decatur and opened Platinum Cake Designs. Platinum Cake Designs has evolved over the years. I’ve refined my decorating skills through practice and classes, and I’m even more passionate about decorating and sharing that joy with others. I’m excited about what lays ahead.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Navigating COVID-19, the BLM movement and subsequent attack of DEI, and the never ending tariff battle that has been challenging. But my biggest struggle has been staying flexible throughout the challenges. When I started Platinum Cake Designs, I was rigid in my thinking and I didn’t realize that I hadn’t stretched myself. That is until I was on the Food Network. I mean who in the world makes a giant, 3-foot plus cake in 8 hours? I’m pretty competitive and I like to show my best work, so I put a lot of pressure on myself to win. Our initial plan was very ambitious, and I struggled under the pressure to come up with creative solutions when our initial plan broke down. Even though the cake didn’t come out as planned my teammates rallied, editing was kind, and it turned out well. Looking back, I realize I missed an opportunity to stretch my creative limits.

Now, I look for opportunities to grow and I take on more challenging projects. I love a good quote and this one by Lao Tzu captures the philosophy I try to remember, “Men are born soft and supple; dead they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.” Life is going to have a lot of challenges, pausing to listen to that still small voice gives you a chance to let the creative juices flow so you can regroup, pivot, and keep going.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Platinum Cake Designs?
Great questions. At Platinum Cake Designs, we specialize in creating custom, uniquely-designed and delicious cakes at our private cake studio in Decatur. We enjoy being a part of all types of celebrations from birthdays to weddings to corporate launches, and we’ve been doing a lot more sculpted cakes. We’ve also taken on more challenging projects by adding dynamic elements like the spinning record to a DJ’s turntable birthday cake. In addition to custom cakes, we make custom sugar cookies, custom cupcakes, and gourmet cookies. And we offer group and private cake and cookie decorating classes. In September, we’ll be offering cookie decorating classes with fun themes in mind (one theme may or may not be based on a popular British show). We’d love to see you there. Head to platinumcakedesigns.com to sign up for our newsletter to be the first notified of our classes and exclusive deals.

There are 4 characteristics that set Platinum Cake Designs apart: our professionalism, our flavors, our designs, and our eco-consciousness. “Making memories sweeter” is more than our tag line, the idea is infused in the way we do business. We want our clients to remember us for our beautiful and delicious desserts, and the professional and friendly customer service we provide, which is referenced as a throughline in our reviews. We take the time to get to know our clients’ style to make their vision come to life.

Flavor is paramount. In the early days, we were using complicated recipes that yielded inconsistent results. We listened and did extensive recipe testing to create yummy cakes, fillings, and buttercreams. We make all our cakes from scratch with high quality ingredients. And we use locally sourced and organic ingredients where we can. For example, this year we collaborated with Chef Lori Bean from Georgia Jams in Savannah. She has a superior Strawberry Sunrise jam that is the perfect compliment to our Strawberry Love, a fragrant strawberry cake with a Strawberry Sunrise jam striping layer and filled with silky vanilla buttercream. Our recommended flavor pairings are a combination of Southern charm and Caribbean flair as a nod to my life in the South and Caribbean roots. Recently, we updated our menu to include mango and passion fruit curds along with new flavor pairings like: Nevia’s Praline–a delicious vanilla cake paired with a striping layer of Nevia’s rich salted caramel and hazelnut crunch, and filled with Nevia’s salted caramel buttercream.

Since you eat with your eyes first, design is an important ingredient. We listen to our clients and pull out the principal elements from our conversation. We enjoy incorporating a variety of decorating techniques and textures to our cakes, so we use fondant, rice paper, wafer paper, royal icing and a variety of other mediums to create visual interest in our cakes. We spend time on the details to ensure each dessert is unique and beyond our client’s expectations.

The last difference is our concern for the environment. While I don’t have any kids, I think about my niece and nephews and the world I’m leaving them. We have reduced our footprint by using home compostable bags for our custom sugar cookies and source other eco-conscious materials where possible. We work to have zero waste, so we’re part of a composting collaboration, and we recycle.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
This is an interesting question. Life is full of risk. I think it just depends on your perspective. I mean crossing the street in Atlanta is definitely a risk, right?! Seriously though, in order to grow you need to take some risks. One of the biggest risks I’ve taken was leaving my previous career and starting Platinum Cake Designs. I was making good money with a steady paycheck, my coworkers and clients respected my knowledge, and I had a promising career path ahead of me. It was a difficult decision to leave it behind, but I knew I should be doing something different. And I figured I could always go back to that career if this sweetpreneur life didn’t work out.

We recently had a client that was a Fast and Furious fan. During the consultation, she told me she wanted a birthday cake sculpted like a car and she wanted it to move. She said she had seen our work and believed we could do it. I knew the project would be challenging, but I really underestimated the complexity. I persevered because I sought help from my family and friends, consulted many vendors for their expertise, did a ton of research, and really tapped into my creativity. It came down to the wire, but it all came together. I was able to deliver the project on time with all the elements including smoke from the tailpipe, headlights, a growling engine sound, and movement. Most importantly, my client was absolutely ecstatic about the cake and it tasted great. While there are definitely things I would do differently, I’m glad I took on the project. It stretched my creative skills, and I’m excited about taking on more challenging projects.

This has been great. Thank you for this opportunity.

Pricing:

• Cakes start at $200.00 for a 6″ cake with 13 servings.​​​
• Sculpted cakes, gravity-defying cakes and cakes with dynamic elements (ie-movement) start at $360.00 with a minimum of 30 servings.
• Sugar Cookies start at $5.00/cookie with a minimum of 24 cookies and up to 2 designs.​​
• Cupcakes start at $5.00/cupcakes with a minimum of 24 cupcakes and up to 2 designs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.platinumcakedesigns.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_platinumcakedesigns/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlatinumCakeDesigns/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/platinumcakedesigns/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBzh68Wat_qDHCParIk7JgQ
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/Platinumcakedes/