Hi! My name is Lana, and cake is my jam! I have been baking since I was a kid. I think my first “fancy cake” was made in elementary school! I grew up in Austin and started to take cakes seriously as a hobby when I started college. Shortly after that I was making cakes for weddings, and eventually I started Haute Cakes & Couture Desserts, sometime in 2002. I operate as a cottage food baker working from my home kitchen (pet free, smoke-free), with help and assistance from my family. I am a completely self-taught baker and designer, although I have always had an artistic side. My formal education includes
undergraduate and graduate degrees from Texas State University in San Marcos (Eat Em’ Up…Cats!!). I have worked in high tech, hospitality, as a nanny, and real estate, and most notably, as a college professor at three different Austin-area colleges and universities–I’m one smart cookie! My current “day job” is in pharmaceutical research working in corporate learning and training. Operating a cottage food business allows me the best of both worlds…creative and business. I get to meet people during some of the happiest times of their lives and play with the little ones at their birthday parties!
Awards, Accolades, & Accomplishments
Our flair for creating unique, yet affordable, cakes over and recipes has also earned us recognition and awards and awards over the years!
Media & News
Featured in:
“Wedding Chicks“
“Rock and Roll Bride“
“When Geeks Wed“
“She Just Got Married”
Austin Business Journal – 2009
Rare Weddings Magazine – 2008 (out of publication)
Austin Monthly Food Issue – 2010
Cakes featured on We Are Austin Live (KEYE TV – Austin)
Cake Competitions & Awards
“That Takes the Cake”
Sugar Art Show & Cake Competition – Austin, TX
2006
2nd Place – Best Wedding Cake Design “Heiress”
2007
2nd Place – Best Tasting White Wedding Cake “The Original Champagne Cake”
2008
2nd Place – Best Tasting White Wedding Cake “Cuatro Leches”
Me, with Bronwen Weber, Food Network Star and Cake Artist
Me, with Norman Davis, Food Network Star and Cake Artist
Getting Down to Business
Selected as an official vendor to provide desserts for the bakery case at The Meat House – Avery Ranch and Westlake (now closed). That’s me with my first paycheck!
