Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Vaught
Hi Erica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Where do I begin…. 🫶🏼 in 2015 I had to begin staying home to homeschool one of my sons, my oldest is autistic and the school system was failing him. I had to take action! I went from working more than full time outside of the home to being home 24-7. This was a big change and I needed something to do with my time to stay active! Now watching more tv than before, I love the food network channel, I began seeing these cake shows it really caught my interest! I thought how amazing! I sought out a local home baker for a custom Lego Star Wars cake for my son that Feb! When I got the cake it was a lot different than what I had imagined. Honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting either!
Being raised primarily by my grandmother, I had the skills to not only cook and bake, but we’ve always been creative and she has tried to teach me everything she knows! My grandmother is a master with crochet and a phenomenal quilter! We have always done crafts, I’ve grown up making things so I figured that I could take these skills and do custom cakes! My youngest son’s birthday is in August, I had six months to figure out what I was gonna do and how I was going to do it! 🤔
August finally came around and I tried to make a number cake out of cupcakes! OOOOOOOOH NO! 😂 it was not pretty but something inside me was so intrigued by this entire process, even though it looked horrible, I still had so much fun making it and of course he loved it! 🫶🏼 From that point on my life has revolved around cake as a hobby! So for several years for friends and family, I kept practicing and they were all supportive of my earlier creations! 🫣🫶🏼
Moving forward- as I continued this process, my sons got older, they are now ages 18 and 20, both graduated- one from Loveland high school the other from yours truly, I knew this was something that I wanted to continue to do! I wanted to make this my full-time passion, career, and business & due to a chronic health condition I was no longer able to work outside of the home.
In 2018 my health took a turn for the worst. I’ve always had some issues but I had no idea why until July 18, 2024. I found out I was born with a rare genetic bone disease called X-Linked Hypophosphatemia! Isn’t that a mouthful! ☺️ we called is XLH for short! Only 400,000 people have been diagnosed to this day. October 2022 I was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome or CRPS type 1 & 2 at the time they didn’t know why I have so many fracture, pseudo-fractures, nerve pain, bone pain, swelling, DDD in my entire spine with multiple herniated discs (this is merely a nutshell of my condition’s). I could barely walk but I was still creating orders every week! I found Dr Nashi with TriHealth and by Jan 24, 2023 I had a permanent nerve stimulator implant done and now able to walk, with a little limp but, IM WALKING and I can still continue my passion!
Honestly, my family and baking is my therapy that’s one reason why I kept taking orders! This is my passion and I am going to do it as long as I can even going through treatment and all the hiccups that I have on the road I will still continue, but I will never take on anything that I can’t handle! I have had to cut back significantly on the number of orders that I take a week. I’ve gone from 10 to 20 orders that I was taking in the beginning down to one to three orders it really depends on the size and detail. ☺️
I’m hoping that this number can increase in the future and get back to where I was several years ago!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have loved my journey so far and I would not change a single thing! It’s had lots of ups and downs! Inflation also my health almost made me hang up the baking mitts! But in the words of Dory, we got to “JUST KEEP SWIMMING”!
It was very hard in the beginning, homeschooling with one in public, raising a family, battling the healthcare system for my health, while also trying to take on a new hobby/skill and create a business but here I am! 🤗
I am now a SUGAR ANGEL for a non profit organization called Icing smiles! When I found out about my lifelong chronic condition, it was something that I had to do! I create free custom dream Cakes for children and their singling if requested, that have been diagnosed with a chronic illness under the age of 18 whether it’s lifelong or short term! This is so fulfilling to me and makes me very happy!
I’m also involved in any kind of charity or nonprofit that I can get my hands on! I work NEST learning centers, Envision, & for the first time, this year, I am donating three cakes for a cake auction for the A Ray Of Hope foundation here in Loveland, Ohio FEB 21! I am very excited to be a part of this! I would also like to get involved with the fostering system for any child that maybe an awesome custom cake might just change the course of their view of their future! They may see the cake and be just as intrigued as I was! 🫶🏼
I feel that my journey has only beginning! 🤗
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
When I first started this, I wasn’t really sure which direction to go in because I thought all custom cakes were made out of fondant! The very first time that I tried to work with fondant, I knew that I didn’t like it & it did not taste very good and I certainly did not want to cover my work in fondant.
I made it my mission to work with buttercream and chocolate only! I went to culinary school, got certified as a pastry chef and learned how to create my own recipes! My vanilla cake is unlike any vanilla cake that you have ever had! It’s my signature recipe and one of my most popular, next to my strawberry and Lemon cake 😉
I now specialize in luxury hand-piped, buttercream flowers and custom 3-D hyper realistic cakes! The last two years I have been slowly transitioning and focusing on mainly weddings, but I do complete any order request as long as my availability allows! I do not only create cakes and cupcakes. I also provide full dessert spreads with a variety of different handmade luxury treats!
I think what sets me apart from other home bakers is the way that I create/conduct my business & my customer service!
I use the highest quality ingredients! I was getting fresh farm eggs from Wooster Farms in Batavia, and using mine, but I now own 14 chickens and all of the eggs now come from my backyard! I use milk from happy cows creamery, I do not Dr premade cake mixes, or any kind of premade product, I try to stay away from processed products as much as possible! In the spring, my greenhouse goes up, so all of the fruit will come from me as well! In the past, I have used local farmers markets and not anything from the stores.
I have also transitioned out of any kind of artificial dyes in my product! At the beginning 2025, I started using unbleached non-enriched flours- I’m not providing any product with niacin. I offer gluten-free and dairy free, but those flavors are currently limited to chocolate and vanilla while I’m still working out recipes for other flavors! I look at this as an art form and not necessarily of food! I pay attention to detail with every single order, large or small!
I strive on customer service. I think it’s very important. I feel like that’s getting lost today so it’s very important to me to provide the best customer service experience possible!
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I feel like I take risks all the time with this profession! As I mentioned earlier, I have had health issues my entire life, but they’ve gotten chronically worse over the past 10 years or so. With the bone disease, it has affected my face and teeth my entire life. Now at the age of 43 it is clearly visible that I have some oral issues. My mouth is embarrassing. I don’t like it and I have been trying to get it fixed for years. I was recently informed that due to the bone disease. I have significant bone loss and not only my face, but my jaw. So I’m being referred to a prosthodontist in order to try and get my mouth fixed in some fashion- the dx is the rest pulled and a full set of dentures.
Despite all of this, I still put myself out there! I still sign up for wedding expos, vendor events, markets! I still go out there and promote my products and my business with a smile of my face and as happy as I really am hoping people look past that and don’t pass judgement!
Pricing:
- My floral Bouq-Cakes are $11/cupcake and come in a variety of quantities!
- My floral cakes start at $10.50/serving
- My custom cakes start at $9/ serving 3D cakes start at $250
- Bakery style cakes start at $8/serving Hyper-realistic cakes start at $200
- Bakery style cupcakes $42/dz Custom cupcakes $54/dz
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reignbowbitesbespokecakesandconfections.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reignbow_bites_cakery_llc
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/1HDC5U_2hK
- Other: Find more about Reignbow Bites Custom Cakery, LLC on Restaurantji: https://www.restaurantji.com/
