1 of 2
Photos by Sarah Finnegan.
Alice Rouse of Alice’s Buttercream Designs creates iced cupcakes and specialty cakes from her home in Trussville.
2 of 2
Photos by Sarah Finnegan.
Rouse, who started her home business in 2014, plans to sell her cupcakes at The Market at Pepper Place in downtown Birmingham twice a month this summer.
When Alice Rouse became interested in baking as a teenager, she never imagined that one day she would have her own business.
At age 15, she asked her mother to take her to a cake decorating class. She loved it, and after six weeks, she continued with a second class. While she doesn’t remember exactly what sparked her interest, she knew she just loved to bake and thought the cakes were pretty.
“When I first started baking cookies and cakes at home with my mom, it was not unusual for us to have two or three desserts at night after dinner,” she said. “I come from a large family of all girls who like to bake, and I’ve always been surrounded by very good cooks.”
When Rouse began making cakes, they were just for her immediate family. Once she had children of her own, she would always make their birthday cakes. However, she was focused on raising them and only occasionally made cakes for baby showers or other family birthdays.
“I was so busy raising my family, I realized quickly this wasn’t the time for me to have a baking business,” she said. “I have six children, so staying up late at night trying to do it was crazy.”
Rouse homeschooled the last of her four children, and when her youngest turned 13, she began thinking that it wouldn’t be long until she would be looking for something to fill her time. It was then she told her husband she wanted to pursue this as more than a hobby.
“Every time there’s been something where someone needed a cake, my kids would volunteer me to make it,” Rouse said.
She did not want to go outside her home to have a cake business. When the cottage food law went into effect in June 2014, allowing bakers to make homemade food in their homes without having a storefront, she decided it was time.
“I went through the required training and got certified,” Rouse said. “I was excited to be able to do this and try it. I went to the classes got my license, and here we are!”
Once she created a Facebook page for her creations, that’s when she began to gain a following and grow her business (Rouse currently has more than 1,100 followers). Last year, she did her first few shows, including a bridal show and Christmas craft show in Trussville along with the Cottontails Village at the BJCC. At those events, she only took individually packaged cupcakes to sell, but told customers about her specialty cakes.
Her most requested items are specialty birthday cakes, and her most popular flavors are white wedding cake and strawberry.
“Children’s birthday cakes are just booming,” she said. “People aren’t just wanting a plain birthday cake anymore. They want one that’s personal, something their child likes.”
Rouse recently applied to have a space at Pepper Place and was accepted. She went once to the indoor market in February and will be at the outdoor market twice per month selling her cupcakes, until the weather gets too hot.
“I love what I do, and when someone calls me and wants me to do a cake for them, it’s rewarding,” Rouse said. “I like the presentation of my cakes, but what is most rewarding is when I get a call back and the customer tells me it was amazing,” she said. “I want them to remember what it tasted like. That’s very important to me.”
