Launched: April 2017

Number of Cakes Baked in Inaugural Year: 157

Most Popular Themes: Paw Patrol, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Spiderman, Unicorns, and Rainbows

Help Cake4Kids San Diego deliver more smiles!

Who inspired your love of baking?

I have early memories of my grandma indulging my sweet tooth: with my sister, we all made root beer floats on hot days, and picked scarlet colored strawberries from her garden to macerate with a bit of sugar- eventually spooning it over some vanilla ice cream. She would usually send us home with her famous cranberry-orange biscotti. However, it wasn’t until I graduated college and the COVID-19 shutdown where I started baking regularly and experimenting with different flavors/techniques. Also, my mom gifted me the “Snacking Cakes” cookbook by Yossy Arefi, which was a great starting point.

What’s your favorite thing to bake?

I really like making and decorating layered cakes, specifically with buttercream. I also discovered that I enjoy the design process: deciding what flavors to use, and when baking for Cake4Kids, how to incorporate the youth’s requested theme. More often than not, my partner works with me to design and 3D-print a cake topper, which is safely inserted into the cake with wood skewers. It usually includes the youth’s name, so the cake topper also serves as a keepsake from their celebration!

If you’re interested in baking, please visit the Volunteer page!

If you are a caseworker or work at an agency and are interested in partnering with Cake4Kids to receive free cakes for your youth, please visit Who We Help to request our services!

If you still have questions, please contact me at hannah@cake4kids.org.