Frosted Decadence: Cake Pop Business Catching On

It’s confectionary heaven on a stick. 

Resident Marissa Harper has developed the perfect albeit decadent bliss in the form of cake bites and cake pops.  The mixture of cake and frosting rolled into balls and dipped into candy coating has attracted an enthusiastic following based on taste and texture alone.  Add the fun shapes and colors that Harper has developed and the result is an exciting business venture that Harper is currently launching called MY Cake Bite Delights.

Harper said that she first started creating cake bites and cake balls five years ago after having sampled one that a friend made.  

She loved the flavor and consistency of her friend’s treat, but was unimpressed with the appearance of what was just a “blob of cake with candy coating. It didn’t look pretty or cute or anything,” she said.  Harper gradually began experimenting with flavors, shapes and designs, and creating her own cake bites to bring to family and friends’ functions and parties.  

“I started doing fun things. I decorated them like apples and gave them to teachers, things like that,” she said.  “People were just were going crazy saying how good they were and how much they loved them. They were asking me if they could order them from me, pay me for them.” 

Harper, who had been a manager of salons and spas for many years, had just left the work force to be an at-home mother. 

“I started thinking, maybe I could make these from home and sell them,” she said.  “I started to look into what it would take to start an official business.  I’m in the process of learning all of the regulations and sorting through the red tape to make sure I do things right.  I became incorporated in August.”  Harper has also started talking to area restaurants and grocery stores about possibly carrying her items.

Harper said while she enjoys baking, it’s the creative aspect of the business that she really enjoys.  She said she loves to develop new flavors along with fun and innovative designs.  MY Cake Bite Delights, she notes, is a bit of an extension of a family business.  Her grandmother was a wedding cake caterer for many years until she recently retired due to arthritis. 

“She did beautiful wedding cakes with pillars and doves.  So it’s fun talking with her.  I feel like she’s passed along a family tradition. I’m using some of her old recipes,” said Harper.

Harper started to use Twitter and Facebook pages to get the word out about her budding business several months ago.  Proving the power of social media, her tweets and posts were picked up by the publisher of a wedding magazine. They ultimately did a photo shoot for a spread that was published in July.

Harper said that cake bites are extremely popular in the south, and are gradually catching on in other parts of the country.  To the best of her knowledge, she said, there are not any large specialty cake bite bakers in the area.

“My dream is to become a major cake bites company in the Midwest,” she said.

Harper denies claims that cake bites are the 'new cupcakes.' 

“They’re more of a specialty dessert. They’re hand dipped and there’s a hand decorating process,” she said. Furthermore, she can completely customize cake bites for the specific recipient and/or event.  She has designed cake bites to look like fruits, animals, flowers, wedding dresses, tuxedos and more.

Harper said that she’s having a great time figuring out new flavors for her cake bites. “Every day I think of a new one I want to try,” she said.  Some of her favorites to date include pink lemonade, chocolate peanut butter and coconut delight.

Harper said that there are lots of benefits to cake bites over other competing confectionaries. Compared to cakes or cupcakes, she believes that there’s less waste.

“People take one or two bites or lick the frosting and leave the cake. This is the perfect-sized portion.  One can fill you up,” she said, adding that they’re more convenient to eat. “You don’t need a plate or fork, so they’re easily edible.”  Harper said that people don’t feel as guilty eating these, as other desserts.

“They’re the size of two bites of cake, so there’s less, calories, less guilt,” she said.  Best of all, she added, “They’re so pretty. That’s the fun part.  It’s my favorite part.  So many times you see pretty desserts like cakes, and they’re maybe a little dry.  My favorite part of the whole process is to see someone take a bite and watch their expression. They’re so cute, and then they taste even better than they look.  These are desserts that look good and taste great.”

[Editor's note: since Harper doesn't have a commercial business space, MY Cake Bite Delights is not currently included in our Places directory. For contact information, the Facebook and Twitter links above direct you to her pages.]