Q&A no.2

mostly unanswered q's from IG! (sorrrrrryyy if you've read this before on my blog whoops!!)

Anytime I do a IG story Q & A- I get so many more question than I bargained for LOL more than I have time to answer. Also, I’m kinda picky when I answer questions on stories because if I’m ever the person with so many stories you have to tap through a hundred slides… nope nah never gonna be me sorry. So I’m just gonna start answering the GOOD ones in little posts here :-) By good I mean every other question other than what inspires you… I’m sorry but that’s not the think piece you think it is. I just love answering more original and personal questions BUT for the record the answer is being alive. The fact that I am alive right now and experiencing this world as it is with so much art, music, food and talent is amazing and it pushes me to create whatever I feel at that moment. blah blah blah. The digital age is wild and you are exposed to a VAST variety of art forms which is fucking rad.

Here some of the Q’s that didn’t make the cut in my last IG Q&A sesh ♡

What is your favorite texture?

In a dessert I’m suuuuch a creamy girl. Give me ice cream, creme brulee, a barely set flan. It works in my favor now that I’m getting OLD and my teeth are sensitive . In general though I like the feel and texture or those like nailed peg boards that would leave imprints of your hand when you touched them. I would run my hands along those for hours growing up.

What is your favorite thing to bake that isn’t cake?

Donuts and croissants. Donuts hold a lot of childhood memories for me, getting donut holes and banana milk with my dad after Saturday soccer games. Croissant making though is technical and satisfying. I love the feel of the dough and the zen process of breaking down a block and shaping croissants. I once had someone tell me it was mesmerizing to watch me work on croissants which was a little weird (I don’t like being perceived) but equally an endearing compliment. Other than that I go through phases of hyper fixation when I remember a pastry exists and I’ll make dozens of iterations of it over a few weeks perfecting then move on to something else. Last summer it was jam making, last month it was flan, now I’m re-entering an ice cream making phase- we can thank the $8 thrifted ice cream machine for this era.

Is making cake your full-time job or do you still work in another bakery/field?

Right now cake is a semi-part time thing. For the most part I only take cake + pastry box orders on weekend. The rest of the time I work on some freelance projects like content creation for brands + bakeries, as well as flavor + recipe consulting for businesses. I will pop into Clark St from time to time to shape croissants though- crx shaping is something I miss from my last job but I’m sure as shit not gonna make and offer croissants out of this tiny kitchen LOL.

Any advice for industry folks still paying their dues before deciding to do their own thing?

Take advantage of the fact that you are in environment where you get to learn for FREEEEE. Be a sponge for knowledge and technique. I think one of the beautiful things about being is alive is how different people are and how differently they do things. So keep an open mind- just because you originally learned how to do something once doesn’t mean it’s the only way of doing it. Someone else might teach you a way that’s more efficient or user friendly.

Don’t stay in one place for too long. Once you’ve felt you’ve soaked up all you can it’s time to move on and learn from a new set of people. Comfort in the workplace can stifle growth. Chase opportunity.

Any advice for those trying to strike out on their own? Was is scary?

So, I did not have a conventional start to this, I think most people juggle a “normal” job while building up a business and one they reach a point where that can sustain them they quit and go all in on their business. I thought I had this thing called job-security because IMHO I was the perfect employee (aka easily exploited … not so much these days uh huh honey)ANYWAYS, job security was actually not a thing I had. One day I was called into the office and laid OFF. Which I forgot to factor in the fact that even thought I’m hard working… the business I’m working for can still go bankrupt and close down. So I’m sitting here, middle of a pandemic, NO JOB AND SCARED OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD!!! So, I did what lotsa other bakers and pastry chefs were doing and that was selling baked goods via IG and it popped off. That was the least scary part of everything before it. Being unemployed during a pandemic was scary, selling cakes wasn’t. So just start, you’ll figure it out eventually. Then realize that’s wrong and doesn’t work for you then pivot and figure it out all over again. The best experiences are the ones that lowkey scare the shit out of you (in a positive way… you’ll know the difference between good growth scared and bad feeling scared).

If you weren’t working as a baker, what would you be doing?

It’d probably be something bake adjacent like full-time recipe developer idk. This has been my whole life for so long its hard to imagine a world where I’m not baking. If I had to be completely separate from the food industry I’d definitely still be in a creative field. I think maybe a tattoo artist or interior designer could be fun. By interior designer though I think I mean kitchen designer.

How did you learn to decorate cakes in your style?

It’s not that I learned how to decorate cakes like this- I created an organic decorating flow for myself based on classic and basic cake decorating techniques mashed together. I’ve been baking and decorating cakes for years. Not just the stuff i’ve shared on IG since 2020. Professionally since 2016 and long before that in my home kitchen. There wasn’t a course in culinary school touching on this organic floral cake design. I just make moves on cakes that I find beautiful. Cake in itself is an ephemeral moment, one you finish the last slice it’s gone. I think the whole experience should reflect that.

Music is a huge part of my inspiration while decorating- the vibe of a playlist will lead the cakes in different directions. Here’s one that produces the more whimsical cakes ♡

xoxo,kassie

PS feel free to leave some more questions in the comments for the next time ♡