Nashville’s specialty cake scene runs a wide span, from a half-century home-grown studio that incorporated in 1991 to a from-scratch wedding decorator working out of Middle Tennessee and a women-owned 8th Avenue South shop turning out custom tiers next to Belmont University. Specialty cake work sits apart from bread-and-pastry bakery work: the decorator builds a structured, often tiered or sculpted cake, finishes it in fondant or buttercream, and ships or delivers it to a venue on a fixed date. The International Cake Exploration Societé, known as ICES, sets one of the standard educational tracks for the craft, and its annual show certifies advanced sugar artists. PME and Wilton run shorter instructor tracks that many shop decorators carry. Buttercream finishes split into three common styles: American buttercream (powdered sugar plus butter), Swiss meringue buttercream (egg-white meringue cooked over a water bath), and Italian meringue buttercream, or IMBC, which uses a hot sugar syrup folded into whipped whites for a silky, stable surface. Fondant gives the smooth sculpted look, while gum paste lets decorators build sugar flowers that hold their shape for weeks. Wedding wire Couples Choice and The Knot Best of Weddings recognitions are review-driven awards rather than juried craft awards, but they track customer service consistency across a wedding season. Allergen-aware cake protocols are a separate discipline: a gluten-free or vegan cake formula needs its own mixing bowls, parchment, and ideally a dedicated workbench to avoid cross-contact, and Tennessee retail bakeries follow FDA Food Code labeling on common allergens.
Quick Comparison #
| Firm | Credentials | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Dessert Designs by Leland | Les Dames d'Escoffier Nashville membership, more than five decades of continuous operation since 1971, incorporated 1991, ICES craft tradition alignment | Wedding cakes and tiered fondant work on a five-business-day custom lead with signature caramel and hallelujah bundt program |
| Katelin Hayes Desserts | Sullivan University Baking and Pastry Arts degree, Wedding Wire Couples Choice recognition with five-star average, 100-plus wedding cake portfolio | From-scratch custom wedding cakes, grooms cakes, dessert bars, and decorated sugar cookies across Middle Tennessee venues |
| Baked on 8th | Women-owned 8th Avenue South storefront, FDA Food Code allergen labeling page, walk-in slice retail and advance-order custom build options | Custom wedding and celebration cakes starting at $6 per serving alongside daily gourmet cookies, pies, and southern treats |
1. Dessert Designs by Leland (West Nashville) #
Dessert Designs by Leland is the long-running Nashville cake studio founded by Leland Riggan, who began selling cakes, breads, and desserts out of her home in 1971 by word of mouth. Leland and her late husband Steve incorporated the business in 1991, with Steve handling business operations and contributing artistic design to the decoration side. The studio has been in operation for more than five decades and is now run with her sons Paul and Kelly. Leland is also a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier Nashville, the women-in-food professional society, and her storefront on Hillwood Boulevard has been a regular stop for Nashville wedding planners, charity galas, and Belle Meade households for two generations.
Wedding Cakes and the Signature Bundt Line #
The studio takes wedding cake orders alongside daily walk-in storefront sales. Custom cakes run on a five-business-day lead for the full menu, which gives the decorators room to schedule fondant work, gum paste flowers, and tiered assembly without rushing structural sets. The kitchen also produces a signature caramel bundt and a hallelujah bundt that sell at the storefront daily and ship Tuesday and Wednesday for out-of-state customers. The cakery is not a nut-free facility, and products may come into contact with tree nuts or peanuts, which the studio discloses on its allergen page so couples with severe allergies can plan accordingly.
Address and Phone #
The Dessert Designs by Leland storefront sits at 850 Hillwood Boulevard, Suite 1, Nashville, TN 37209. Call the cakery at (615) 354-9555 for wedding consultations, the full custom menu with a five-business-day notice, bundt orders, and shipping arrangements.
https://dessertdesignsnashville.com/
2. Katelin Hayes Desserts (Middle Tennessee) #
Katelin Hayes Desserts is a from-scratch custom dessert studio led by Katelin N. Hayes, who earned her Baking and Pastry Arts degree from Sullivan University in Louisville, Kentucky in 2012 and moved to the Nashville area to start the business. The studio has produced cakes for more than 100 weddings and has earned Couples Choice recognition on Wedding Wire alongside a five-star review average. Katelin’s work has been featured by Ruffled Blog, The Big Fake Wedding, and StudioWed Nashville’s vendor spotlight series. The studio operates as an appointment-based shop covering Nashville and the Middle Tennessee wedding market, with delivery into venues across Davidson, Wilson, and Williamson Counties.
Tasting, Design Consults, and the Wedding Menu #
The studio runs private tastings and design consultations as the front end of every wedding contract, then walks couples through cake flavor pairings, filling choices, and exterior design. Service items include wedding cakes, grooms cakes, dessert bars, cupcakes, cake pops, mini pies, decorated sugar cookies, and an assorted cookie program for welcome bags. Cake stand rental is available for couples who want to match the dessert table aesthetic without buying. The decorator builds in fondant and buttercream finishes and styles tiered cakes with sugar flowers and custom toppers per the design brief.
Phone and Booking #
Reach Katelin Hayes Desserts at (731) 446-2050 or email [email protected] to book a private tasting, design consultation, or delivery to a Middle Tennessee wedding venue. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the studio asks for advance lead time on full wedding cake builds so the design and structural work can be properly scheduled.
3. Baked on 8th (8th Avenue South) #
Baked on 8th is a women-owned bakery and custom cake studio on the 8th Avenue South corridor a few blocks from Belmont University. The shop produces custom cakes for birthdays, baby showers, engagements, and weddings alongside a daily counter program of gourmet cookies, pies, and southern treats. Wedding cakes start at $6 per serving for the base design tier and step up with sculpted work, fondant detail, and sugar flower add-ons. Delivery starts at $75 and scales by location and cake size across the Nashville metro. The bakery publishes an allergen information page and accommodates dietary-restriction requests through advance ordering.
Custom Cake Process and Wedding Consultations #
Wedding and event consultations are handled by phone or email Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., which the shop uses to gather design briefs, flavor selections, guest counts, and venue logistics. Walk-in slices are sold by the cut daily, which gives couples a way to sample flavor profiles outside of formal tasting appointments. Birthday and celebration cakes can be ordered through the online same-day system with cutoffs at 6 p.m. weekdays and Saturday or 3 p.m. on Sunday for same-day pickup, while custom builds and wedding tiers go through the standard advance-order route.
Address and Phone #
The Baked on 8th storefront and order pickup point is at 1512 8th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203. Storefront hours run Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call (615) 933-1100 for wedding cake consultations, custom celebration cakes, large-event orders, and delivery scheduling across Nashville.
Selection Methodology #
The three shops above were selected from the broader Nashville specialty cake field using these filters: minimum documented years in continuous Nashville-area business, verifiable editorial recognition or trade-body credential on file (Les Dames d’Escoffier Nashville membership, Sullivan University accredited Baking and Pastry Arts degree, ICES craft tradition alignment, Wedding Wire Couples Choice, The Knot Best of Weddings, FDA Food Code labeling on common allergens), brand-name anchor with verifiable address visible on the shop’s own website, and a published custom-cake program that maps to customer expectation. National rollups without local lineage and pop-up operations without verifiable street address were excluded.
Frequently Asked Questions #
Q: How far in advance should a wedding cake be ordered?
A: Peak-season weddings (April through October) routinely fill custom cake calendars three to six months out, and decorators producing sugar-flower or sculpted work prefer six to nine months of notice. Dessert Designs by Leland holds a five-business-day standard for non-wedding custom work, and Katelin Hayes builds wedding contracts around tasting visits that book weeks ahead. Reach out as soon as the venue is locked.
Q: What does a private tasting consultation typically cover?
A: A tasting walks through three to six flavor combinations of cake and filling, discusses buttercream versus fondant exterior, reviews structural needs for tiered or sculpted designs, and produces a written quote against the design brief. Some studios charge a tasting fee that credits toward the final order. Ask whether the consultation is in-person or via shipped tasting kit.
Q: Are any of the three shops paid placements?
A: No. The three profiles above are editorial selections drawn from publicly verifiable sources. No firm sponsored placement.
Q: How do these shops handle allergen requests for guests with gluten or nut sensitivities?
A: Dessert Designs by Leland is not a nut-free facility and discloses cross-contact risk on its allergen page. Baked on 8th publishes an allergen information page and accommodates dietary-restriction requests through advance ordering. Katelin Hayes Desserts builds allergen-specific orders into the wedding contract on request. Cross-contact in a shared decorator kitchen is hard to eliminate fully, so call the studio for celiac-grade preparation.
Editorial Note #
This guide was published on 2026-05-11 and reflects research current as of that date. Verify licenses, phone numbers, and current business status before engaging any firm.