Today we’d like to introduce you to John and Aurora Flanagan.
Hi John and Aurora, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Raleigh Cakes is a custom cake studio with our commercial kitchen space based in South Raleigh. Not a retail bakery or storefront, our main focus is on scratch made to order custom cakes for celebrations on any occassion, weddings and catered events. It is owned and operated by Aurora and John Flanagan with a small but passionate staff.
Aurora trained at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, and worked in the yacht catering industry previously designing menus and placing chefs and cooks aboard numerous illustrious vessels harbored out of Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Much of her cake decorating skills and culinary instincts came from years of self practice and experimentation that were all influenced by her love and practice for other arts such as painting and sculpting. John’s background has been in the software industry focused on leading global customer and technical support teams for many prominent tech companies in different markets. His passion as a problem solver and process builder was only ever matched by his desire to help people, which was always his motivating factor and how he derived joy from his work.
Raleigh Cakes began long before we ever crossed the North Carolina state line. Our journey started in Ridgewood, New Jersey, in a cottage kitchen just at the start of COVID where Aurora baked a birthday cheesecake. It was meant to be simple and heartfelt. Instead it became the spark that ultimately shaped our future. One cake led to another, new recipes followed, and a humble hobby quickly grew into a steady stream of orders from friends, neighbors, and eventually complete strangers. People started reaching out because they had heard about “the cakes from Ridgewood” that looked as good as they tasted. That early support planted the foundation for what would become our family business.
During that time we were raising our daughter, balancing our professional careers, and dreaming about creating something of our own. New Jersey will always hold a special place in our story, yet we found ourselves wanting a fresh start and to be closer to John’s side of the family who are settled across North Carolina. Once we arrived, the idea of re-launching our brand became more than a possibility. It became our mission.
After many tireless days and nights, we opened our doors in Raleigh in July of this year and the response has been amazing. Within a couple of months we had already doubled our production space and equipment. We also brought on full-time staff to support our growing volume of custom cakes, wedding cakes, 3D sculpted cakes, and signature designs. The growth has been fast but incredibly fulfilling.
Today Aurora leads the kitchen and creative team. Her artistry drives the visual personality as well as the taste of Raleigh Cakes and her leadership shapes the entire baking and decorating process. John oversees operations and customer experience and focuses on growing the business. Together we balance creativity and logistics in a way that allows us to grow while maintaining the quality and care that customers trust us for.
Raleigh Cakes is still young in this city, but it carries years of passion and experience behind it. Our goal is simple. We want to create cakes that become part of people’s lives and memories, and make them accessible to every budget. We truly believe that every cake should taste as good as it looks, if not better, and so we live that rule daily by creating everything we do from scratch with premium, real ingredients. We want to contribute to Raleigh’s incredible food community. We want to keep growing, keep learning, and keep showing that a cake can be both art and comfort food at the same time.
We are grateful every day that Raleigh welcomed us with open arms. This is our home now and we are excited for what comes next.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like most small businesses, especially in the food industry, our road has had its share of bumps, although every challenge has pushed us to grow in the right direction. Relocating from Ridgewood to Raleigh was exciting, yet it came with the practical realities of rebuilding a customer base in an entirely new market. We arrived with a strong vision and proven experience, but we still had to introduce ourselves to a community that had never heard of us. That meant long hours of networking, marketing, and showing up with the level of quality we wanted Raleigh to associate with our name.
Launching the business in July also meant growing faster than expected. Within months we needed more space, more equipment, and more hands in the kitchen. Doubling our footprint and hiring full-time staff so early in our journey was both exciting and stressful, but we are so elated with our team and their contribution so far. Scaling production while maintaining the level of artistry and high touch customer service we are known for requires a lot of discipline behind the scenes.
Another challenge was balancing creativity with logistics. Our cakes often involve sculpted elements, custom engineering, and time-sensitive processes. Getting all of that to run smoothly did not happen overnight. We invested significant energy into building workflows, setting expectations, and creating an order process that protects both our quality and our sanity.
Despite these challenges, we would describe our journey as overwhelmingly positive. The Raleigh community welcomed us warmly and that most certainly helps. Customers have trusted us with their celebrations. Word of mouth has grown incredibly quickly. Each struggle simply shapes us into a stronger and more organized studio. We look back at every obstacle as a reminder of our opportunities to improve Raleigh Cakes as it exists today, and we are grateful for those lessons when the come up.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
At Raleigh Cakes we create cakes that are equal parts culinary craft, artistic expression, and technical innovation. Aurora brings the passion for design, sculpture, color theory, and fine detail. John brings the problem solving mindset and desire to find innovative solutions, while blending in technologies in new ways. Together we blend artistry with engineering to turn imaginative ideas into edible reality.
We specialize in custom cakes that go far beyond the traditional format. Our portfolio includes everything from classic and vintage styles to sculpted, hyper realistic designs, We love projects that push boundaries and challenge us to figure out how to make something seemingly impossible actually work. Whether it is building custom internal structures, designing a gravity defying silhouette, or using 3D printed molds and supports, we treat each cake like its own creative puzzle.
A major part of what sets us apart is our willingness to incorporate technology into the process. Many of our custom structural pieces are designed in software and printed in our own studio. We create food safe molds, custom armatures, guides for sculpted elements, and decorative pieces that allow us to achieve precision and repeatability while still keeping everything handmade and edible wherever possible. Technology supports the artistry rather than replacing it. It gives us freedom to experiment, improve safety and stability, and bring to life concepts that would not have been possible with traditional methods alone.
And with that we are integrating other elements into the designs such as motion, sound, light, and other effects which is definitely something we want to keep challenging ourselves with. We are currently working on proof of concepts for adding smoke effects. Not every cake of course warrants this, but we definitely find these sort of design elements to be incredibly fun and it really brings us closer to adding truth to our desire to bring people’s dream cake vision “to life”.
We are probably most proud of the fact that our cakes do not just look impressive. They taste exceptional. Everything is baked from scratch, made with real ingredients, and tailored to the customer’s preferences. The inside of the cake receives as much attention as the outside. Our customers often tell us that guests expect the cake to be “too pretty to taste good” and then are pleasantly surprised when the flavor becomes their favorite part.
We love creating art that becomes part of someone’s milestone or memory, and we love proving that a cake can be more than dessert. It can be an experience.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What we love most about Raleigh is the sense of possibility here. The city has this perfect blend of creativity, diversity, and genuine friendliness that makes it easy to feel at home, even as newcomers. There is an incredible food culture, a strong appreciation for small businesses, and a real spirit of collaboration. People here support each other, cheer each other on, and truly want local businesses to succeed. As a family and as business owners, we felt welcomed from our very first week in town. Raleigh has a way of making you feel both inspired and grounded at the same time.
If we had to choose something we like least, it would probably be likened to the same thing we would find in any fast growing area. The growth is exciting, but it also brings challenges with traffic, construction, and the occasional feeling that the city is expanding faster than the infrastructure can keep up. Even so, we see this as a natural part of a thriving city. Growth means opportunity, and it means that Raleigh is becoming a place people want to be. We would much rather be part of a city that is growing than one that is standing still.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.raleighcakes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raleighcakesnc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raleighcakes
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/raleigh-cakes-raleigh
- Other: https://share.google/5yiVPvTGaAKmiGgRx
