Greensboro's Cake Boss

So I was sitting around earlier today, and it hit me, I promote a lot of things on Greensboring, but rarely do I promote family. Perhaps it's because I'd be a bit biased, and want to maintain credibility, but you knew that already. The thing is, a lot of you already know about Shannon, our local Cake Boss. (She likely would kill me for posting this, but I'm going to boast, and flatter her anyways.) She's a former west-coast cake rock-star, classically trained in European pastries and cakes, editor of The NOSH Cookbook, and who has been working part-time these last few years at our neighborhood Forest Oaks Food Lion. She used to decorate cakes for Hollywood's elite in California, but she's sacrificed it all to raise our children for minimum-wage pay her in North Carolina. The thing is, she's gotten quite a reputation for being an amazing cake decorator in Greensboro, and people drive from all over to get cakes from her. While many of the local grocery stores have gone to pre-decorated, frozen cakes- Shannon's unique clientele, and her unique skill-set has allowed her to maintain the opportunity to produce hand made cakes.

Now I should disclose, Food Lion doesn't necessarily offer all of these cakes, but to give you an idea of what she does (these are some of her previous creations):

While Shannon doesn't get to do wedding cakes for the stars anymore (like above [F.L. doesn't allow it, and she's contracted to not do them privately]), she still gets to do creative stuff, especially for friends and family. For instance check out these way-cool BBC Doctor Who Dalek Robot Cup Cakes:

Exterminate!

Almost every year I pick out a new Cake Boss challenge for her on my birthday. I've asked for everything from an Egyptian Pyramid with a Stargate, to a Cardiff Wales Millenium Centre, to my Life on Mars/Doctor Who/Wizard of Oz+ combination cake:

Ok, so can you name all the references?
There's the Quattro from Ashes's to Ashes. 
The Tardis from Doctor Who. 
The Flux Capacitor from Back To The Future.
The door from Being Erica.
A Belgian waffle, a French baguette, and croissant.
 (from our trip abroad to Belgium & Paris), 
"Bad Wolf" from Doctor Who & Torchwood,
A Welsh Daffodil from Cardiff Wales, (A little Gavin & Stacey?)
the "Eat Me" cake from Alice in Wonderland,
The Celtic spiral used in almost every meta-physic sci-fi show ever. 
(Including a spec script I wrote)
Oh and there I am with my big ugly Uggs. LOL.


Do I win for the most Sci-Fi themes on one birthday cake yet? 


What you've got to remember, is she's doing cakes every weekend, and since she doesn't work during the week- people are actually moving their parties to coincide with ordering a Shannon cake. For instance check out this cool Dolphin-Ocean cake.

For our daughter's birthday Shan managed a full-sheet butterfly cake for her Pre-School swim party:

Ren's birthday ended "deliciously ever after."

I of course, could go on and on, but you get the point. Shannon is lucky enough not only to decorate cakes, but to be a part of her customer's life-memories, the happy joyous (Kodak) moments of people's lives through their cake. While she is restricted by Food Lion to certain aspects of decorating, if you're in the need for a good cake, drop by the Woodymill (Forest Oaks) Food Lion and ask for Shannon in the bakery.