My Cup Runneth Over Bakery & Restaurant, Jackson

Shonda Harris, a former Angeleno now living in Mississippi, taught herself to bake in her own kitchen, tweaking her recipes for cakes, cupcakes, and baked goods until each passed her kids’ stringent taste tests. More than a decade later, Shonda continues to earn new fans at My Cup Runneth Over, a bright café that serves pastries, espresso, and coffee beverages as well as breakfast and lunch on weekdays. Though not the most obvious match to the bakery’s cakes and cupcakes, the restaurant’s southern-inspired fried-shrimp po boys and burgers evoke similar nostalgia for soulful, down-home cooking.

When she isn’t preparing to square off in Food Network’s Cupcake Wars, Shonda creates edible centerpieces for weddings and catered events. Her fondant and buttercream cakes come in custom shapes and sizes with a variety of colorful embellishments, from blooming flowers to elegantly scrawled court subpoenas