Meet Nikita “Nikki” Jackson of Absolutely Edible Cakes & Catering in Rowlett

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikita “Nikki” Jackson.

Nikita, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started out in the kitchen before I was big enough to see the top of the stove. I got to where I’m at not because I ran out of places to work. Let me explain. I’ve always cooked and baked since I was a little girl. My dad was a Chef on the River Boats and being a daddy’s girl when he was home I was always under him.

I use to come home and cook dinner for my family of 5 sisters and 1 brother not because I had to but because I wanted to and dessert always accompanied the meal. I use to love to make the cake look pretty. The cake mix box use to tell you to use the back of a spoon to ice the cake to make the little swirls form and I thought I was hot stuff back then when I was able to do that. Then it was 1982 and I saw my very first Wilton Cake Decorating Magazine (which I still have) and I was in love. I was so fascinated. That same year I had my teacher make my mom a cake and I was blown away. It was an “over 40 and still foxy” cake. It’s been on and popping ever since.

I graduated in 1983 and my father ask what I was going to do with my life and I told him I was going to be a cake decorator and had a fit. He said I had to go to college and do more with my life. I moved to Dallas TX and decided to do cakes and decided I would do cakes anyway and my dad just wouldn’t know. My dad did a surprise visit on weekend and I had 2 large cake orders and there was nothing I could do to hide them. My day stepped in my home and saw cakes everywhere and he started fussing. He said I could not make a living making cakes. He asked me how much I had charged for those particular cakes and I told him and he looked shocked. He then asked if I could teach him how to do cakes. My dad is 89 years old and he is still my biggest cheerleader.

I came to Dallas TX to visit my sister in August 1984 and met this guy in September of 1984 and I thought he was so cute, nice and he had the curls for the girls. I decided I would just see what he was about. Guess what we will be celebrating our 31st wedding anniversary June 13, 2018. I does the cake sculpting and builds my cake stands and is still my best friend.

So now let talk about the cooking & cakes.

I love cooking so much I have been caught cooking on my desk. I remember once management left the building for a management and wasn’t supposed to return so I decided to fry. Well, the managers decided to return and there’s no way on earth to hide the smile of fried chicken so I just continue frying chicken and answering the phone in the call center where I was working and everyone was happy. I didn’t get fired that day but I did eventually get fired from this job too.

I never really had a cake class. I took a class to learn how to make a rose and missed the class, but never a cake decorating class. Every job I would have I would take a cake to every office party and then the co-workers would start ordering cakes. I never lasted very long on a job but the customers would follow me from job to job. I’ve had over 200 jobs (yep that’s not a typo) but that’s what but one heck of a clientele. I didn’t have a problem keeping a job, the job was the problem. They wanted me to be at work so early but I was up all night baking cake and I was tired. Most jobs I never made the probationary period. I was good at getting fired though. I never put photos on my desk. I never put any plants or personal items on my desk. I left my purse in my trunk and my key in my pocket. When my boss would tap me on my shoulder and say “we need to have a meeting”. I would say “less just kiss and say goodbye”. I knew I hadn’t done anything really good so I knew it was the end for me.

I have always been creative and considered myself God gifted. I’ve always said I can make any “sweet dream come true”. I can look at anything and make it a cake. Rather it’s your favorite shoe, favorite car, favorite building or anything. I can’t draw anything on paper but can draw anything on cake. It’s pretty weird to me sometimes all these years later.

After having 206 jobs (it could be a few more) with customer service being my back ground. I really did run out of places to work. I had a friend that found me a bakery and she called me to come take a look. I had no money, bad credit and no business experience. I was scared to death. That whole story is too long to type. I was originally turned down by the property manager due to credit issue. I asked the property manager to fax me the credit report and I prayed about it and I placed the credit report in my bible (it’s still there today) and the owner of the property owner contacted the property owner and told her that God told her she had to help me. I’ve been open 17 years in Rowlett TX and God is yet to leave me and that is how I ended up where I’m at today.

Has it been a smooth road?
Heck no. The struggles have been many and plenty. I started my business with no money… but God, bad credit… but God. I didn’t have any grants or loans but God. All I could do was pray and God would show up and show out every time. I know there are many that don’t want to hear about God and if that’s the case I’m not the story they need to read.

My lights have been off and I had to posted a sign on the door that I had a gas leak in the building and I had to leave just so people wouldn’t know my lights were off. The phone has been off several times, talk about embarrassing, but I made it through. I’ve cried so much I didn’t have to pee. (Just kidding), but I definitely should have been dehydrated. I had the worst looking delivery in the city but I would thank God any way. After all it did have the coldest air condition. I’m not kidding. It was so ugly that the inspection had expired and the neighbor called the police trying to get it towed.

My mom use to always say “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. Peter and Paul became my best friends. My struggles made me stronger and I still have struggles and I don’t regret any of them. I often tell people “if it wasn’t for April showers you wouldn’t have May flowers”.

Luke 12:48 “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required”

God knows much has been given unto me. I will bear the struggles any day.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Absolutely Edible Cakes & Catering – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
At Absolutely Edible Cakes & Catering we not only do cake we cater also. I always tell my customer “Your order is my specialty”. We make sweet dreams come true.

I’m most know for a few things. A few years ago I created a life sized bride cake for a bride that was created in the bride’s likeness. It was her dress, her hair style and jewelry and everything. I worked with Elizabeth Bonura out of Austin, She created the head out of polymer clay. The remaining part was created by me. It was such a challenge. It was more challenging working with another artist that was a few hundred miles away. I really didn’t want to do it but the bride wouldn’t take no for an answer. She drove me to drinking on my job.

The next thing that I’m known for is a dessert that I created that I trademarked “The Sweet Potato Thang”. It was created by accident because I didn’t know how to make a pie. After all I was “the cake lady” I had no interest in making a pie but listening to my daddy telling me he would come and bake all my pies I took the order. The day the order was supposed to go out my daddy was nowhere to be found and I was forced to make a pie. I didn’t have transportation to go get a pie crust and all I had at the bakery was a rectangular pan so I put together so ingredients and the “The Sweet Potato Thang” was born”.

My latest cake that I’m known for is my daughter’s wedding cake. The cake was about 7 feet tall and it hung from the ceiling. It had all glass stones on the cake. It went viral overnight. The cake trended for 17 days. It was on several news channels worldwide, Yahoo, Essence, Jet, Good House Keeping in the UK, The Daily Mail in the UK. To name a few. It was such an honor and quite an achievement to have my daughter’s wedding cake go viral and it was a cake that I totally designed all by my myself.

When Prince William and Kate Middleton were getting married I was contacted by Bournemouth News in the UK to create a Life size replica cake of the both of them for publicity reasons. That was a big deal to me for the little bakery in Rowlett, TX to be sought out for such a project. It was such an amazing opportunity.

I’m more proud to know that my dad is my #1 fan and cheerleader. I’m so proud to know that I made him proud while he was on this earth. He comes by the bakery almost daily because he still works full-time across the street from my bakery and I light up like a Christmas tree every time I see him pull up. He still bakes my dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls from scratch so on Thanksgiving and Christmas morning I get to come to the bakery and lock the door and enjoy the one on one time doing what we both love. Being raised with five sisters it was a rare moment to have that one on one time with daddy so I suck it all up and enjoy every minute of it.

What sets me apart from others is I can develop a recipe rather its food or cake. So if I have a client that have a crazy kind of request I can make it happen. I just recently had a bride want a crème brulee flavor and every recipe I tried was dry and horrible. I developed a recipe by using something I had never used in a cake before and never would have thought to add to a cake but the bride loved it and thought it was the best she had ever tasted. I do the same thing with cake designs. My husband and I are very creative when it comes to thinking of how to achieve a cake design/texture on a cake. Sometimes I amaze myself. I think the weirdest thing I ever thought to use was the florescent ceiling tile to imprint a tennis shoe texture design.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the City a lot. I love the opportunities and the room for growth. I love that I can drive an hour and feel like I’m on vacation. The think I like the least is the traffic and I hate driving downtown Dallas.

Contact Info:

• Address: 5213 Rowlett Rd
  Rowlett, TX 75089
• Website: absolutelyediblecakes.com
• Phone: 972 463-9199
• Email: absolutelyedible@cs.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/absolutelyediblecakes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=absolutely%20edible%20cakes%20home%20of%20the%20sweet%20potato%20thang
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cakecrazy4real
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/absolutely-edible-cakes-and-catering-rowlett

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