These artistic talents were honed at Sam Houston State University where Kimberly studied graphic design. She then returned to Ennis with her husband to be closer to her family, including her mother, Pam Stokes. “Mom is the baker, and I am the designer,” Kimberly explained.
she messes up on one, she can start over on a new one. She usually makes between two and three dozen per design. “We just do it on the side for fun,” she said of her time spent designing.
Kimberly gains inspiration for her designs from several different sources. She enjoys watching a variety of different cooking television shows and often browses the Internet and books on cookie designs for ideas. One book-inspired design features cupcakes arranged in the shape of an alligator. In addition to green icing, Kimberly uses marshmallows and candy to create scales, claws and eyes.
animal shaped cupcakes. By arranging cookies on top of the cupcakes, Kimberly was able to build faces for the animals, including using Oreo cookies for monkey ears. “I like creating things, and making them realistic,” she said of her efforts.
For cakes, Kimberly often uses novelty cake pans in a variety of shapes that she purchases online or at a Dallas-area cake design store. For one occasion, she used a tractor shaped cake pan to create a John Deere themed cake to go along with tractor shaped cookies.
Kimberly continues to try new decorating techniques. Up next for her is decorating a birthday cake with fondant icing. This often challenging craft requires rolling the icing onto the cake leaving the cake with an almost satin like finish.