Annie Creech of Annie Bakes shares the joys of cookie and cake decorating at Christmas and all through the year.
What started as a hobby quickly turned into a business for confectioner Annie Creech. With backgrounds in apparel design and graphic design, the artist turned her ingenuity towards baking so she could work from home—something that is especially important now that she’s a mom to 6-month-old Josie. “It’s a good naptime job,” Annie says. “I like to sit at the dining room table, halfway watch my favorite show on my iPad (Gilmore Girls), and decorate. If I mess up or it’s ugly, I eat it.”
So how did she get started? A family friend passed along her recipe, along with 300 cookie cutters, and Annie’s imagination took off. Sorting through the themed cutters, she identified shapes that would suit any event. A scroll through her Instagram account shows just how creative she can be with her designs. There are pink and blue teacups, as well as monograms for bridal showers, SEC game day cookies, cowboy boot cookies for the bachelorette party, sparkly green uniforms for the Mountain Brook Dorians, zoo animals for a birthday party, and of course, Christmas. “If you can think of a theme, I probably have a cookie cutter that fits,” Annie says. Designs are elegant and playful. And they taste delicious. “A lot of people forget that cookies are meant to be eaten. They need to taste as good as they look,” Annie says. Fortunately her husband, Ransom, volunteers to be her professional taster and tester. “I take my job very seriously!” he says.
“Many times, cookies are prettier than they taste. I’ve perfected this recipe, so they are both pretty and yummy.”
–Annie Creech
Tools of the Trade:
Annie decorates her cookies by first piping them in icing. She then uses a paintbrush for a watercolor effect. Other designs are made with a simple metal pick.
To order: Visit IG Annie_bakes_bham
