Morgan Forestiere never set out to become a cake artist and pastry chef. When she first left home for college, she thought her future might involve dolphins.

Morgan was accepted to Barry University in Miami and enrolled as a marine biology major to chase her childhood dream of becoming a dolphin trainer. But reality soon set in.

“I was 18 in Miami and I didn’t think the lab work would be that hard; I don’t know what I expected,” Morgan says. “Even so, the passion was still there because I wanted to ultimately train dolphins, but I decided I was missing home, too.”

Morgan moved back and enrolled in community college, shifting gears to art. She loved older paintings and the stories behind them, so she chose art history as her field of study. Little did she know that her choice was the beginning of a career in an entirely different field.

The spark was ignited near the end of her associate degree program when students were asked to create something using texture. Morgan and her partner decided to make a tiered “cake” from Styrofoam covered in buttons, beads and jewels.

“We were doing it, it was looking beautiful and all of the sudden, I thought, ‘Maybe I want to go into pastry art and decorate wedding cakes,’” she says.

That realization sent her home with a nervous question for the one person who could help change her trajectory. 

“I sat her down and said, ‘Okay, Mom, don’t hate me, but can I go to culinary school?’” 

Her mother said yes and the rest is history.

Morgan enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu’s campus in Tucker, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, near where she grew up. At first it was a culture shock. 

“Being the age I was, I had acrylic nails, nose piercings and stuff, and they said, ‘Nope, can’t have any of that,’” Morgan says. “At first it was life shattering, but then we had our uniforms and everything was so fun.”

From that point on, Morgan focused on baking and pastry, diving into foundational classes before moving into breads, cakes and fondant. One of her final projects required students to create a wedding cake.

“I was like, ‘Man, I just did this with materials, so I know I can do it again,’ and I kind of rolled from there,” Morgan says.  

She graduated in 2012. Shortly after, life took another turn. Morgan moved to Italy where her then-husband was stationed with the Army. She couldn’t work due to visa restrictions, but she kept baking anyway, making cakes for military wives on base.

She didn’t charge much, if anything. Instead, she saw it as practice. 

“My cakes were pretty terrible back then,” she says. “But they were just the beginning, and I was learning by doing.”

After returning to the U.S. and eventually divorcing, Morgan bounced between Georgia and Florida, taking jobs wherever she could grow. One of her favorites was at Cookies by Design, where she learned precision decorating using a striping technique instead of royal icing.

“Honestly, the best job I had,” she says. “I loved it so much.”

When she moved to Cocoa Beach to live with her dad, she struggled at first being in a new city with no friends or roots.

“He said, ‘You’re gonna make a new living here. You’re gonna make friends. Just go and find a job,’” Morgan says of the pep talk her dad gave her and she did.

An Italian restaurant hired her to make everything from scratch: desserts, pasta, tiramisu, creme brûlée, cheesecakes and more. She even developed some recipes of her own.

Later came Disney’s pastry program at Epcot, followed by nearly two years as a cake decorator at Publix. She’s even worked at a doggie bakery making dogs treats and birthday cakes out of peanut butter and yogurt.

Through all those experiences, she learned speed, consistency and how to execute someone else’s vision under pressure.

But it wasn’t until 2018, after becoming a mother, that Morgan began building something entirely her own.

“If I could be home to save some money, that’d be nice,” she says. “That’s actually when I started baking from home.”

She bought pans piece by piece and ingredients when she could. She created social media accounts and began advertising under the name Morgan’s Cakes. Orders grew through word of mouth.

The name ‘The Foxy Whisk’ came from a catchy sounding idea she had years earlier while considering selling fondant toppers online. Later, a weight transformation of more than 100 pounds served to elevate and seal the deal.

“I wanted to have like a fun, cool name; something creative and playful that people would remember,” she says.

She made the company’s name—The Foxy Whisk—official in 2020, formed an LLC and invested in branding, a logo and a business plan. A storefront remains a goal she’s still working toward, but the heart of her business has always been the work itself.

Morgan doesn’t rely on one signature style. Her cakes reflect a blend of her art background and years of hands-on experience. She gravitates toward vintage heart cakes, textured buttercream and boho-inspired designs with depth and movement, each one a masterpiece in its own right.

Her approach to flavor mirrors her approach to design, thoughtful, layered and flexible. She starts with base recipes and tweaks them over time. She adjusts and adds ingredients based on taste and texture.

“For chocolate or red velvet, I’ll use brewed coffee instead of water,” she says. “I find that it gives it a richer taste.”

Nutella, cookie butter, Oreo red velvet and filled cakes are among her most requested combinations. She also creates decorated sugar cookies. It’s a skill she didn’t offer at first, but it’s now a major part of her business for real estate firms, corporate events, celebrations and special holiday inspired treats.

Most of all, Morgan has learned to translate what customers mean, even when they don’t quite have the words to explain it themselves.

“They’re not used to the language but it’s just funny; I have this understanding, like an intuition kind of thing,” Morgan says. “I tell them, ‘I got you, don’t worry,’ and I come through.”

Morgan believes her intuition comes from preparation and an artist’s eye and perspective. She organizes everything before she starts – colors, tools, decorations – and mixes custom shades by eye, often blending multiple gels to match a brand or theme to the T.

“I feel like a mixologist sometimes,” she says.

Today, Morgan balances working professionally decorating cakes for a Publix bakery in Orlando while continuing to build The Foxy Whisk from home. Her vast collection of cookie cutters are kept in about seven storage bins in her kitchen, alongside cake pans and supplies. She’s created cakes for so many people including her regulars for years, adding beauty to weddings, birthdays, baby showers and watching families grow alongside her business. 

“I’ve had customers I’ve baked for since 2017,” she says. “They have kids now. I’ve done cakes for so many of their special occasions.”

Orders are primarily placed through Instagram, where pictures of her work on The Foxy Whisk page speak for themselves. Every cake includes beautiful details and all look as great as they taste. 

For Morgan, the most rewarding moment isn’t the photo or the post, however. It’s the reaction.

“When a customer picks up an order and tells me I exceeded their expectations or that it’s even better than they imagined, it makes me feel so good; like validated,” Morgan says. “I love seeing the big smiles on their faces when they see their visions come to life in my cakes.”  

Chocolate Cake 

American Buttercream

White Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes 

Photos: Nicole Hamel and Provided