Community Highlights: Meet Annika-Mie Racadio of Nika’s Mad Sweets

Today we’d like to introduce you to Annika-Mie Racadio.

Hi Annika-Mie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am a second generation Filipino American. I was born and raised in San Diego, CA. I first discovered my passion for baking and pastries when I was 8 years old, making biscuits and muffins from box mix. I first went to culinary school in 2012 but left due to becoming pregnant with my son then went back in 2014 to finish. I have been in the food industry for the last 10 years and have worked at several casinos and helped open and spear-head the pastry program at my last position.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely been a bumpy road. Being a mom, wife, friend, person all while chasing my dreams has definitely been hard. I’ve learned the hard way that taking care of yourself is incredibly important. At my last position, I had a terrible habit of overworking myself and being so driven to grow my career that I ended up neglecting not only myself, but my family. I also placed a lot of my value as a chef in the hands of people above me and that really took a big toll on my sense of self worth and self esteem. I did, however, learn a lot about how to run my own business which has been incredibly valuable.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a Filipinx, Asian & Pacific Island Inspired Bake Shop based out of Stockton, CA. We are a certified cottage food bakery, we do pop-ups all throughout Stockton, Sacramento and The Bay Area. We are known for our Ube desserts along with blending together childhood favorites with a modern twist. What sets us apart from others in my immense passion for baking and pastries. I love showcasing flavors that I grew up on and love. I take pride in everything I make and strive to make everything of the best quality. What I am most proud of brand wise, is our logo. It was made by my dear friend who is an incredibly talented artist. We often get mixed expressions from customers, majority of them are great. We have had some people ask, “why is she cut in half?” “do you want to change your logo? its jarring to people”. To answer the first question, she is “cut in half” because she’s a mananaangal, a mananaangal is a cryptid from the philippines that splits itself in half and flies around at night looking for pregnant women uses her long tongue to eat unborn fetuses, I wanted to do a spin on that and have her fly around at night looking for hungry people and feed them delicious desserts. It is a homage to my heritage and love of all things spooky. To answer the second question, I have not and do not want to change my logo any time in the near future, It is near and dear to me and to change it would go against everything our business stands for.

What makes you happy?
Spending time with my family, I love having the ability to be home and run our business while being there to see my kids grow up. I love going fishing out in the mountains (Carson, CA). There this rush I get when I catch a fish, it’s like pure adrenaline. Perfecting a new recipe makes me feel so happy because its this sense of accomplishment that I worked so hard on something and it came out how I wanted and lastly, I love talking about pastries with people. I love talking about the stories and ideas behind my desserts. My eyes and face light up and it fills my cup to the fullest.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/nikasmadsweets
• Facebook: facebook.com/nikasmadsweetshop
• Yelp: yelp.com/nikasmadsweets