Laulie Cakes, St. Peters

Frustrated by bakeries that lacked imagination, Laulie Cakes' namesake Laura began steadfastly whipping up custom confections in her home kitchen before moving into the business's first storefront in 2011. Each day of the week, Laura artfully bakes batches of traditional and specialty cupcakes and helps party hosts to plot out their soiree's sweets. The shops cake artists work with event planners of weddings and birthdays, embellishing cakes in the flavors and design of the customer's choice, whether it be a dulce-de-leche cake adorned in lovely swirls of realistic flowers or a coconut cake topped in fondant figurines of a bride and her ostrich groom. Cupcake vase centerpieces and other elaborate confections are freshly baked each day, often with help from Laura's young daughters, who share their mother's passion for great-tasting icing.