Chapel Hill junior owns her own cake-decorating business

Two years ago, junior Veronica Jurrius took an ambitious step and baked her first two-tier cake for her sister’s birthday. Now, a year later, she owns a cake-decorating business.

Jurrius started her business, named Honey and Grey, a little over a year ago, when her friends and family recommended she open her own cake-decorating service.

“I bake all the time,” she said. “I started baking so much, and I couldn’t eat everything I was making, so I brought cookies or cupcakes into school and gave out what I baked to my teachers and classmates.”

Jurrius has never had a professional baking job, but has learned a lot from reading blogs, watching YouTube videos and studying cake recipes until she could make batter from memory.

“Everything I make is from scratch. Sometimes, I use other people’s recipes that I find online or in books that I know work well, but I’ve been trying to perfect a few recipes of my own. I just keep making and changing my recipes until they’re perfect,” Jurrius said.

Starting her own business in high school has been rewarding and exciting, Jurris said, but it has also come with many obstacles and challenges.

“Having a passion is so rewarding. I love to see when people are happy because of something I enjoy doing,” she said. “However, it is frustrating at times when I’m not getting many orders because I don’t have a big platform to work with. Also, buttercream isn’t always your friend.”

Jurrius’s excitement for baking keeps her working constantly. She continues to bake whenever she can and practices decorating on differently sized cakes and cupcakes in an effort to find her unique style. Jurrius is proud that she stuck with her interest and turned it into something more than a fun hobby.

“Baking and decorating is very therapeutic. I’m a perfectionist, so I love to see my designs and my ideas come to life on my cakes, or my ‘canvases.’ I always sketch out my ideas for cakes or cupcakes and try my best to replicate them when I’m baking,” Jurrius said.

Broadening her customer base and setting prices have been among the challenges she has experienced after creating a business. Jurrius solves most of her problems by looking online and researching comparable prices.  

Chapel Hill math teacher Aaron Ideus hired Jurrius to bake a cake for his wife’s birthday.

“I had Veronica in one of my classes last year, and she would bring in baked goods all the time. They were always amazing,” he said. “This year, my wife said she wanted a Bailey’s cake for her birthday, and I immediately thought to ask Veronica because I knew it would be really good, and I knew baking was her passion. I wanted to support her.”

Jurrius plans to keep improving her baking and decorating skills, as well as spreading the name of her business and gaining new clients.

Honey and Grey was chosen for the name of the business because Jurrius loves both honey and the color grey. She thought the two words would complement each other well.