Meet Baker Erinn Simon of Burlington’s That Cake Stand

Wedding cakes are not known for being exquisite culinary delights. Elaborately decorated, yes. Large and in charge, often. But lip-smackingly, plate-lickingly good? Not so much.

Baker Erinn Simon recalled that the cake celebrating her own union (to photographer Sam Simon) was the worst. “It was dry like a biscuit, and the frosting tasted like it was Crisco and sugar — it left that weird feeling on your tongue,” Simon said, laughing.

Twenty-two years, three kids and a thousand-plus cakes later, Erinn owns That Cake Stand, a custom cake bakery in Burlington, where she’s dedicated to making beautifully delicious cakes. “I’m pretty proud of my recipes. That part means just as much to me as that people love the design,” she said.

Simon waded into the wedding cake world after working her way up to running the food program at Burlington Children’s Space, an early education and childcare center, and writing a cooking-with-kids blog and article series for Seven Days‘ parenting magazine, Kids VT. She started baking as a side gig, refining her technique with cookbooks and online tutorials. Now, in her rented kitchen at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, she makes up to 25 cakes a week. Prices for standard cakes start at $30; for tiered cakes, $6 per serving.

Seven Days chatted with Simon about finding her niche, outlandish designs and the struggles of cake delivery.

What is your approach to the custom cake biz?

I will say yes to anything. It has to be pretty crazy for me to say, “I don’t think I can do that for you.” I’m much more prone to say, “I’ll figure it out.” Now that things are more serious and this is my whole entire job, I’m trying to remember that I don’t get paid to experiment!

Wedding cakes are where the revenue is, but I never want to just do them because I love making fun birthday cakes. Fun, kooky things — that’s more who I am. My dream is to somehow connect with folks getting married who want something a little more out of the box, which I have managed to do a couple of times. I like to do fancy or classy stuff, but my heart is the funkier side of things.

What is the most difficult cake you’ve made so far?

A couple wanted a Star Wars-themed wedding cake, and they sent a photo of an all-white cake. The tiers were square, which I had never done before, but I thought it looked awesome.

Once they booked, they started changing things up: They wanted all the figures to be gold and the draped fondant to be navy blue instead of white. That’s a little more complicated because getting the dark color is tougher. The night before, I was here until one o’clock in the morning, just stressing over every detail.

It had so many parts that could potentially fall off, so I tried to foresee any possible disaster and have something with me to fix it, just in case.

It’s, like, the most popular thing I’ve ever put on Instagram.

Best and worst parts of the job?

The long drives are tough. For summer deliveries, I have to drive with the air conditioner blasting and trying to keep the sun off the cake. It’s the most stressed I’ve ever been in my life, every time. No one in my family ever wants to come with me because I’m such a maniac.

The thing I love the most is probably when — particularly with weddings — someone says, “It was exactly what we wanted, and we love it. Thank you.” And I’m like, I got to be a part of that day! That’s amazing. It’s such a great feeling.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity and length.