While in graduate school at Alabama A&M, Joni Harris started baking cakes for fun. A friend had invited her to a cake-decorating class and, to her surprise, she enjoyed it. Beginning in 1994, baking became a hobby for Joni.

After graduation, she realized this cake-baking thing might be more than just a fun pastime when she and her husband, Quinton, had their first daughter, Kayla. In March 2001, it came time for that daughter’s first birthday. Joni took the convenient route and picked up a cake from a big box store. A few bites in and she realized she could do better, so she did. This led her to start baking cakes for family and close friends, and “she’s been baking ever since,” says Quinton.

Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Cake is Joni Harris’ signature dessert. (Lenore Vickrey / Alabama Living)

With Joni as owner of KayBri Desserts and with Quinton as manager, in 2020 the two expanded their home bakery to their own business location, a fully renovated home in eastern Wilcox County, offering baked goodies including cakes, cookies and cupcakes to the public. On a rural hillside across the street from the post office in Furman (although some GPS locations show it being in Pine Apple), the business is named for a combination of their daughters’ first names – Kayla and Brianna.

“Basically, everything I bake is my own creation,” says Joni, who started cooking at age 8. “I have never followed a recipe. Even if it’s something my mom gave me, I tweak it a little to make it my own.”

Joni Harris’ cinnamon rolls are a popular menu item. (Kayla Harris)

Her first cake creation? “It was strawberry cream cheese,” she recalls. “That’s my signature dessert. Cheesecake was my favorite, so I thought, well, let me make sure I can make something I really like, and I wanted to do it in a cake form. I did it and people loved it. Now, at every event or church function, they ask for it.”

The Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Cake remains a favorite with customers, along with red velvet, cookies and cream, Key lime, lemon, German chocolate, a variety of pound cakes and many other desserts. Joni’s versatility includes creating these flavors in cupcakes, layer cakes, cheesecakes and many custom desserts.

Quinton and Joni Harris, holding one of Joni’s fresh-baked carrot cakes, make customer service a priority. (Lenore Vickrey / Alabama Living)

“A lot comes from customer requests,” Joni says, “like tea cakes, Boston cream pies and turtle cheesecake. I will look to see what the main ingredients are, and I will make my own. I know what I like, and I know what’s going to taste good.”

Another popular item is her made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls. “I love desserts,” Joni says. “When I was pregnant with Kayla, Quinton would buy me a whole six-pack of cinnamon rolls and I would eat the entire pack. Over a decade later, during COVID-19, I said, ‘This would be a good time to create a new recipe.’ This was my opportunity to innovate my own made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls.”

The results were a huge hit, especially with grown-up Kayla. “I would eat an entire batch,” Kayla recalls.

Quinton Harris did the landscaping for Southern Venue’s home in Wilcox County. (Lenore Vickrey / Alabama Living)

Expanding the menu

The baking business did well. In an effort to accommodate their customers’ requests, in 2022 the Harrises decided to venture into offering a limited menu of food on the weekends. “We started with catfish, coleslaw and fries,” Quinton says. Gradually, they started rotating it with ribs, Boston butts, baked beans and potato salad. Friday night fish specials soon included hushpuppies, and customers began to call ahead for pickup orders or to eat at the restaurant.

Thus was born Southern Venue, their catering and weekend restaurant venture. “Southern Venue is the place itself,” Quinton says, “and KayBri Desserts resides here.”

Although the original building was designed for a bakery only, they were able to create a dining area and a large outdoor deck to accommodate groups for small events. Southern Venue is now a popular place for celebrations, such as graduation parties, birthdays, showers and reunions. “Between the catering and baking, we get all kinds of requests,” Quinton says.

“As we do catering events, we get more referrals,” Joni says. On one day recently, for example, the team was preparing for a large family reunion in Enterprise the next day. On the menu were roast beef, chicken, green beans, field peas, cornbread, rice, pound cake, tea and Bri’s Lemonade.

“Customers always comment on the great taste of Bri’s Fresh Squeezed Lemonade,” Joni says.

Catfish, fries, hushpuppies and coleslaw are often on the weekend menu. (Lenore Vickrey / Alabama Living)

They also do pop-ups at special events out of town, bringing their customized mini-trailer loaded with sweets and other dishes in prepackaged containers to sell at venues in other cities. “We’ve been all across the state — Dothan, Auburn, Birmingham,” she says.

The Harrises rely heavily on their family team for support and input to make their business work. Their niece, Lilly C. Flowers, handles social media and marketing and her husband, Justin Flowers, is community service director and self-appointed “taste tester.” Their daughters Kayla and Brianna help with events and catering. Important decisions are made only after family discussions.

Both Joni, trained as an environmental engineer, and Quinton, an area manager with the USDA, continue to work their day jobs, while devoting their weekends to KayBri and Southern Venue. Sunday lunch has proven to be very popular, as customers flock in for a home-cooked meal after church. At the time this was written, Quinton was looking forward to finishing construction on their outdoor kitchen, which will allow him and his staff to have a larger place to fry catfish as well as cook larger quantities of food.

What accounts for their success so far? “I believe it’s because of customer service,” he says. “Our goal, our aim, is to make every customer feel a warm welcome. We haven’t had any complaints. If we do, we want to do whatever we can do to be better.”

This story originally appeared in Alabama Living magazine.