Paint nights have become a popular activity among friends.
One local business is taking the same concept and applying it to something you can eat: cake.
On many Tuesday evenings, if you drive by Cakes Your Way in downtown Covington, you'll see Theresa McCoy inside her studio teaching a class on her passion, cake decorating.
“Being a baker myself, people kept asking me to teach them things, and a lot of them would want me to do it one on one, but time didn't allow for that so much,” McCoy said.
The bakery owner has been in business for six years and more recently decided to expand to workshops.
“I thought they do paint nights, let's do cake nights. So we did, and it's taken off,” she said.
So much so, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, her workshop room fills up with those looking to be creative in the kitchen.
Today's cake is adorned with polka dots and a cat. It’s perfect for third-grader Addi Stull.
“We saw an advertisement on social media and Addi loves cats, so I thought it was just something fun we could do together,” said Addi’s mother, DeAnn Stull.
It is the first class the two have taken, and they say it won't be the last.
“This is something for mother-daughter, she loves to cook, she loves to be in the kitchen. I can't teach her how to bake a cake and decorate cakes, but we were able to do that here together,” Stull said.
McCoy comes up with designs that are achievable, yet challenging.
“We wanted to keep the classes where they're doable but still challenging at the same time. It does teach people, ‘Hey, I can do this even though I think I can't,’” McCoy said.
With no experience, I tried my hand at it and seeing the finished product does build confidence.
Even with the fondant flaws McCoy says it's about fellowship.
“People love to get together. They like to have a good time. They like to hang out with friends, and it's good clean fun.”
Brandon Parker says the cake is delicious, but the whole concept adds flavor to the town.
“We've known Theresa for several years and it's just really cool, she's really passionate about our community and being an active member of our community and adding to Covington, which is really cool to see,” Parker said.
However, the coolest thing for class participants to see is their two-tier cake, topped with their new decorating techniques.