Ivey Cake in Franklin, Tennessee

I love seeing new cupcake bakeries opening anywhere, but especially in smaller towns, which proves that it's not just a "big city" thing, a silly criticism we here a lot. People love cupcakes all over the world (and have for more than just five or ten years), not just because they saw them on a TV show.



When I first saw this blog post I was wondering, "Ivey Cake?" Is that supposed to be "Ivy?" But no. The bakery is named after its owner, Ivey Baird.



Here's her story, straight from her website:

I am still caught by surprise when I think back on how I got into this business. It all started back in 1999 when I was fresh out of college and in what they call the "real world." The real world for me was going to an eight to five job and coming home to the same routine day in and day out. I looked over at my tiny little apartment kitchen and wondered for the first time if I would have anything at all to offer a kitchen. I took a stab at a couple of baking recipes as a first go round and discovered a mystery. In total confusion, I wondered how I could follow a published recipe perfectly and it not turn out. Since I didn't come from a family of bakers or even have the slightest drop of interest as a kid, it was easy to see why I would ask such a question. My determination grew and for the next two years, I spent almost every moment of my free time experimenting in the kitchen. I paid attention to the things that worked and I began to take risks with my own ideas which led to the development of my many cake flavors. The most amazing experience during this quest was when I was trying to figure out how to make a great strawberry cake. After several miserable attempts, I finally just went to bed frustrated. That night I dreamt step by step of how to do it and woke up knowing I had to run straight for the kitchen. To this day, my strawberry cake is made just as I dreamt it and is one of the most requested cakes on the menu.

Never once in those early years of experimenting did I imagine a business. The motivation came purely from a desire to follow my instincts of something I truly enjoyed. My hope is that each person would choose the journey of connecting with the things they really enjoy. I share a little of my journey with each of you through my cupcakes. Check out my many flavors and their many names. There is a story behind each one that I am sure we can all relate to.


These are the flavors (love the fun names!) they offer:

Goody Two Shoes - Vanilla with Buttercream Icing
The Apology - Vanilla with Chocolate Icing
Two Faced - Chocolate with Cream Cheese Icing
Bad Kisser - Chocolate with Chocolate Icing
The Rebel - German Chocolate
The Breakup - Red Velvet
Big Dreams - Strawberry
Lucky in Love - Lemon
Total Flake - Coconut
Out of the Funk - Caramel
Charmed - Pumpkin (seasonal)
People Pleaser - Carrot

• One (1) dozen cupcakes (include sprinkles and flower) $35.00
• Individual cupcake $3.00

*Cupcake orders placed in advance must be a minimum of one (1) dozen
*Specialty decorations are additional

Ivey Cake
100 4th Avenue North
Franklin, TN 37064

Phone: 615.595.4353
Fax: 615.595.4349
Email: ivey at iveycake.com

Comments

interesting thanks for posting! i haven't seen too many cupcake places here in chicago, although there are a handful of them around! yummy!!
The Wehrungs said…
How cool! I didn't even know this and I live in downtown Franklin, Tennessee! There is place opening on Main street here called curiousgourmetcupcakes too. I guess Ivey will have some competition! Thanks!
Anonymous said…
If you haven't been to Curious Gourmet you need to go! I did my research and hit up both places today with one of my girlfriends. Wes stopped by Ivey Cakes and picked up the Coconut cupcake ($3) in the cute little pink box. The shop is behind Franklin Mercantile DeliThen and they were pretty busy. Display wise it was your typical bakery in a case on cookie sheets. We walked around the corner to Curious Gourmet and bought a Strawberry Shortcake ($3.25). The cupcakes were arranged beautifully on tiered cake stands. I must say even though we paid a quarter more, the curious cupcake was more bang for my buck. Their cupcakes are bigger in size than Ivey's and I found the coconut to be a little dry. They say people eat with their eyes first and if we were going by looks I would have to say Curious takes the cupcake. They have these nice brown liners where as Ivey's has tin foil liners kind of reminded me of a tv dinner, the box is really cute though. To each his/her own but we have found our fave. I'm interested to see what anyone else thinks.
Anonymous said…
Does anyone remember (about 10 years ago or so) when it was discovered that many of Marth Stewart's recipes do not work? Your mention: "I wondered how I could follow a published recipe perfectly and it not turn out" reminded me of that. Too often merchandising, gimicks and drive for $$ trumps quality.

Great story! Glad your dreams brought you to tried and true recipes!
Anonymous said…
My daughter and I visited on Saturday. We tried the strawberry, red velvet, vanilla with chocolate icing and chocolate / chocolate (we got them to go and the family shared). The strawberry was everyone's favorite. All of them were tasty and they would be even better with more icing! We haven't tried the Curious Gourmet cupcakes, but have had GiGi's cupcakes in Nashville which we find yummy as well. Even though everyone may have their favorites, can you really go wrong with a cupcake?
Sweet Michelle said…
Well, I have been to the popular cupcake places in New York and L.A. and I have to say that IveyCake takes the cupcake! Every flavor that I have had is amazingly moist and taste like a cupcake should taste. I highly recommend "The Two Face" which is chocolate with white icing and "Big Dreams" which is the strawberry. Out of this world!
Kelsie said…
Love the part about the dream!

Anyway, her business seems really awesome and it's great that she can follow her dreams and goals in life. Oh, and the cupcake names *are* fun! :)
Anonymous said…
a friend and i stopped here today and tried the bad kisser (chocolate chocolate ) and it was the most amazing cupcake i have ever eaten. very rich dense cupcake and the frosting was creamy and sooo chocolatey without being too "sugary".
we also tried the "out of the funk"
(caramel) cupucake and it was equally as amazing! the caramel frosting was sooooo buttery, yummy!
the cake itself was so moist and fresh.
we got to meet ivey, and she is such a fantastic person, very friendly and just soo sweet!
i will be a regular!! you must go try these cupcakes!!!!!!!!!!!! it made my day!!
Anonymous said…
Remember...the old saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?" Well...that still is a classic cliche we should all try to follow especially when someone is stepping "out of the box" and doing something GREAT- like following her dreams! You shouldn't "judge a book by its cover", either is another old saying to follow. You can make anything look fancy on the outside, but it is what is in the inside that truly matters! So...to all you dreamers out there-don't let a little critism squash your dreams-keep on a dreaming!
Anonymous said…
crazy! i read this blog often and wouldn't you know you'd blog about someone i know. i went to college with ivey! i knew she was doing lots of baking but didn't know she had opened up a shop. i love this girl and i'm sure her stuff is awesome. i wish i lived closer to try it out (i'm in california).

ivey...if you read this, HI!!!! i'm so excited for you!

~charis
Anonymous said…
OH MY GOD! I went to Iveycake's two days ago after lunch thinking I would love to have something sweet to top off my meal. Boy, did I hit the jackpot! I couldn't help myself so i tried three of the cupcakes (yes, i ate all three before going back to work, so sue me!): the chocolate on chocolate, the strawberry and the most unbelievably, outrageously delicious red velvet cupcake I've ever eaten. I have sampled well known cupcakes in New York and Los Angeles (as well as several of the local bakeries) and have to say Ivey's creations take the cake!!! Now I don't have to go to LA or NY for my fix. (used to bring them with me on the plane) THANK YOU IVEY!
Anonymous said…
a girlfriend and i, along with my 4yr old daughter, went out for a girls day today. we decided to make our round of the cupcake shops that have opened here in town...iveycakes, curious gourment, and gigi's. unfortunately, our first stop was gigi's, but it hasn't opened yet...shucks! on we went to iveys. we walked into this tiny little front area with walls so obnoxiously pink that i felt like i was swimming in a bottle of pepto...a bit overwhelming for an area the size of a walk in closet. we decided to each get a different flavor, and then share. i got the goody two shoes (vanilla with a mint green shaded vanilla buttercream, my daughter chose the two faced, a chocolate cupcake with cream cheese icing and drizzled chocolate, and my friend got the lucky in love, a lemon cake with lemon icing. there is absolutely no space to sit in there, so we walked on into the mercantile...we also had to ask for plates, since the cupcakes were automatically put into a box. final verdict on flavor: my daughter, who doesn't turn anything chocolate down, didn't finish her chocolate cupcake...way too dry. i cut into my white cake and took a bite...only to spit it out into a napkin a few seconds later...it tasted exactly like a sugar cookie that had had too much baking soda dumped into the recipe, and it was extremely dry. my friend was more polite than i and actually swallowed, but had the weirdest look on her face the entire time she was chewing. when we were discussing how dry it was, she tried to smash up the crumbs onto her fork and couldn't even get them to mash together..that's how dry it was. the oddly colored icing seemed to be a old time kroger mix of crisco and powdered sugar and was quite horrid in it's own right. on a positive note, the lemon cupcake was very good, and the icing was exremely yummy...wish we'd all just stuck with that one!!

after exiting iveycakes, we literally walked around the corner to curiousgourmet, and walked into a spacious, beautifully decorated dining area. the cuppies were beautifully decorated and presented. once again, i ordered a vanilla cupcake with a true meringue buttercream, my friend ordered a devils food with pastry cream and mini chocolate chips, and my daughter insisted on a vanilla cupcake colored hot pink, with meringue buttercream in a matching shade and sanding sugar. they were all very yummy, but the devils food one was out of this world!! after patronizing this shop, i truthfully feel somewhat sorry for the owner of iveycakes...i actually will give them a second chance, because every business can have an off day, but honestly, i will only do that out of fairness...my money is on curious gourmet, and we've already decided we're going to be having a girls day again soon.
Anonymous said…
I can't say I'm a fan of Curious Gourmet. The whole "experience" was rather anti-climatic given the initial hype. And its glitzy marketing did nothing to distract from a very average product. The cupcakes taste like anything you can buy at Kroger or Publix. Not to mention Curious Gourmet's flavor selection is weak. Like many have commented, it's all opinion, but I expect my cupcakes to be thick with rich icing. These were way too frou-frou. At Curious Gourmet, you are paying for packaging and not product.

I recently purchased a cupcake birthday cake at Ivey's for my husband's surprise birthday party and have not stopped receiving comments on how good the cupcakes were. I have brought out of town guests to the store, ordered cupcakes for holiday dinners and given them as corporate Christmas gifts. Thanks Ivey for providing top quality, creativity and a personal touch that does not go unnoticed or unappreciated!
Colby said…
While in town celebrating Christmas with my hubby's extended family, we dropped in Iveycake to check out the cupcakes. O.M.G...they were delish. I had The Apology and The Breakup, and both were to die for. The cupcakes were so moist and the icing was so yummy. I was most certainly not disappointed! The cupcakes were so cute, and Ivey was a doll. She greeted us when we came into the store and chit-chatted with us while we were there and couldn't have been nicer. Very cute shop, which has not been the case for some cupcake shops I've visited. Iveycake is right on the mark and I can't wait to return!!!
Anonymous said…
My husband and I went to Franklin, Tenn., last month to check out the annual "Dickens of a Christmas" festival, and stopped in at IveyCake before heading home. We took a long time before finally deciding on "The Bad Kisser" and "The Two-Face." We got them in a to-go box, intending to eat them when we got home after the two-hour trip. But when we stopped for gasoline just outside of town, I couldn't resist popping the lid open for "just a taste." Right. By the time my husband got back to the car, I told him that he had better eat his cupcake right then and there or else put it in the trunk, because I could not guarantee its continued safety in my possession. Yes, they are that good. Next time, I'm in it for at least a dozen. Heaven!