Published: August 31, 2007 12:14 am            

Richelle Bivins ... master cake maker and decorator for former First Lady

AMERICUS, Ga. — Richelle Bivins, 36, moved to Americus from Missouri and was taught, at a very young age, by her mother to cook.

“We lived in Independence, Mo., where my dad worked as a Secret Service man with President Truman. His Truman detail was transferred to President Jimmy Carter detail and that is why we are here,” said Bivins with a smile.

Bivins said her skills for cooking derived from the day to day activities of observing her mother in the kitchen. But, cooking became a necessity once her mother was diagnosed with cancer.

“My mom started teaching me at age 12 to cook. She was diagnosed with cancer when I was three-years old, and I believe she was preparing me for the future,” Bivins said, adding she has well-prepared her own children as well with cooking skills.

After Bivins’ mother died in 1983, her dad would be left with the cooking duties, and she continued to cook along side her daddy.

“He saved her recipes such as scalloped potatoes, tuna noodle casseroles, meat loaf and all of the simple recipes. He would cook and I would help,” said Bivins.

Bivins said although she learned a great deal of her cooking skills from her mother, she developed her passion for baking by watching her grandmother, Flora, bake and decorate cakes.

“I watched her decorate cakes. She would bake for the family monthly. She baked cakes for birthdays and special occasions. She would bake cakes with characters.

“I remember wanting a Barbie cake with the real pretty dress flowing down the middle of cake,” she said, describing the beginnings of her passion for decorating.

Bivins presently bakes cakes as a hobby. The first cake she decorated was her own wedding cake.

“It was my first official cake, which other people ate,” she said laughing.

Recently, because Bivins is so well-known for her creative baking, she was called on to bake a cake for Rosalynn Carter’s 80th birthday.

“Rosalynn Carter was my Sunday School teacher for five years, and she gave me a copy of one of her books for my graduation present, ‘First Lady From Plains,’ ” she said, explaining her inspiration for the cake she would prepare for Carter.

Bivins created a cake in the shape of the First Lady’s book and a second cake shaped as a basket. Roses were placed inside the basket.

“Everything I create is edible. The roses were real,” she said, pointing to a photo of a cake shaped like a basket with butterflies shaped from fondant, a sugary paste which has a marshmallow flavor.

“The cakes looked so real; one person tried to open the book and it cracked. That was, to me, a compliment,” she said as she opened a portfolio of multiple photos of cakes wrapped like gifts waiting to be opened.

From chocolate cakes with cascades of strawberries to whimsical tiered cakes.

“I hand paint my cakes with food coloring, and I sculpt and mold shapes out of the fondant, which is similar to play dough in consistency,” she said.

Bivins also has taken her hobby to another level. She has joined the International Cake Exploration Society. Recently, she made a trip Washington D.C. to attend cake decorating classes taught by instructors such as Collette Peters, an author of a variety of cake decorating books, and often featured on Food Network.

“Being a member of this society is about helping each other and sharing. You are taught by people who have been doing this for 20 years and you say, ‘Why haven’t I thought of that yet, that was so neat.’

“The society is for anyone who wishes to become a member,” she said with excitement as she explained the society consisting of home bakers, husbands, etc.

Bivins’ plans for the future is entering cake competitions offered by various venues. She will enter her latest creation in the Perry state fair in October. Although Bivins is presently owner of a children’s boutique and ice-cream parlor called Lollipop Kids, she hopes to open her own bakery one day.

Bivins resides in Americus with her husband Tye and four children, Cody, Zack, Luke, and Grace.



Lisa Law writes for the Americus (Ga.) Times-Recorder.

        

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