Hartville Cake Decorators Are Seasoned Bakery Pros

At age 16, Sandy Jarvis began decorating bakery cakes for a local grocer after being recruited by her brother, a store employee at the time. That was 1992. Since then, thousands of people in and around Hartville, Ohio, have enjoyed her beautiful cakes, including the seasonal favorites—the summertime "hamburger cake" and the many winter snowman and snow scene cakes—she loves to create as part of the Hartville Bakery decorating team.

Sandy also loves to set herself and her co-workers, sisters Julie Jellison and Joan Rastetter, up for success each day.

"Bakery hours are early, of course, and my schedule has given me a great deal of flexibility, which was especially important when my kids were younger," Sandy says. "Now I'm the one who gets out everyone's aprons, hairnets, and supplies when I arrive so we can all start decorating first thing."

For Julie and Joan, the talent for cake decorating runs in their family. Their grandmother also baked and decorated cakes—first in her home and then in a commercial bakery setting.

"We marvel at the fact Grandma never batted an eye about having us around while she worked on cake orders, including lots of wedding cakes," says Julie. "As kids, we would entertain ourselves by playing with her piping bags, 'drawing' with icing, and practicing designs on a card table she would set up in her dining room. As adults, we got to work with her at a commercial bakery before we came to Hartville Kitchen."

All three women take the challenge of filling up the bakery display case seriously. Joan uses her creative eye to make the bakery's ever-popular decorated cookie sandwiches, many of which she dreams up to fulfill special requests. Julie is known for the delicate, artistic flowers that grace many standard and custom cakes orders. Sandy appreciates the efficiency of producing the dessert cakes, as well as giving bakery shoppers lots of choices.

Stop by the Hartville Kitchen Bakery to see what our experienced cake decorators have made today! Plus, guests who request a custom cake order can trust Sandy, Joan, and Julie to craft the perfect personalized design.