My love for pastries blossomed at a young age with the encouragement of my mother and grandmother. Born and raised in Arizona, with a firefighter for a father, my mom would try to perk up the weekends he was away by baking a chocolate cake. When we pulled it fresh out of the oven, she would cover it with butter and we'd eat it for breakfast. As a kid, it's hard to have a bad day that starts with cake. But weekends didn't get to have all the fun. My mom and I would make chocolate chip cookies at least once during the week. When we weren't doing that, my grandmother was showing me how to make treats that could pry a grown man away from his favorite team on tv by the smell alone. She taught me how to make cornbread in a cast iron skillet and that's still my favorite recipe. If you share any of my love for family, food, and definitely chocolate, I don't have to explain how wonderful those times were for me. 

 

At just fourteen, I couldn't wait to start my first job at Praline's of Prescott, especially since I would get a two chocolate bonus every time I showed up to work. Since then I've worked at places like Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Wild Flower Bread Company to La Grande Orange and Saint Cupcake. While at Saint Cupcake, the owner asked if I could make a place called Poplandia Popcorn profitable. I built that business from scratch, then went on to run Saint Cupcake. I graduated from the Art Institute of Phoenix, completing the bachelor program for baking and pastry. My mentor was head chef Cwierz and had I not wanted to incorporate more family into my life, I would have followed him longer as he is one of the most talented chef's I've ever met (go check him out on Instagram @bakedbychriscwierz).  I got married to the most incredible man, despite his opinion of candy corn, after we moved up to Oregon in 2014. We had our son in 2019 and he is proving to be as much of a chocolate lover as his mother! 

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After opening my own food cart in 2019 in Oregon, I was living the best pastry life possible! It was such an incredible experience to work for myself in my own little bake shop. However, as life does, our family got served a curve ball that resulted in us relocating to South Carolina! Saddly, I did have to part ways with my beloved food cart but now that we are settled into our new home, I am dusting off the mixers and ready to share my baking talent with everyone!

 

I've made wedding cakes, baby shower cakes, entered into various competitions, and trained numerous staff as lead baker and trainer. I want to make things that I love to make, things that are delicious. To me, flavor comes first over decorative appearance. I don't like to work with fondant or gum paste, but I will for special requests. I try to minimize artificial colors, opting for more natural ways to color things. Chocolate and buttercream are my favorites and the best pastry, to me, will always be a donut.