Today we’d like to introduce you to Sadaf Mehdizadeh
Hi Sadaf, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My sister and I were both researchers at UCSF—she studied type 1 diabetes, while I focused on cancer immunotherapy.
During that time, our world was turned upside down when our father fell seriously ill and he was diagnosed with a rare and very aggressive cancer (double hit lymphoma) and admitted to the very same hospital where we worked. It was an incredibly difficult period for our family, and my sister and I desperately needed a distraction.
I have always been an artist, working with sculpture, painting, and various other forms of creative expression. But as our situation grew more challenging, my art became darker, and I struggled to find an outlet that could truly take my mind off everything we were going through. My sister, on the other hand, has always had a sweet tooth and turned to baking as her way of coping.
One day, as she baked, I started thinking about ways to design her creations, turning them into something even more visually captivating. Soon, it became a routine—she baked and we designed together. We began sharing photos of our work on Instagram, and people started asking if we were selling them.
What started as a simple distraction soon turned into something more. Encouraged by the growing interest, we decided to start a home bakery together, crafting cakes and cookies not just as a creative escape but as a way to bring a little joy to others during a time when we needed it most.
So, when we started our business, neither of us had any professional baking experience. Even to this day, we haven’t taken any formal courses on baking or cake design. Everything we know is entirely self-taught—we learned through creativity, YouTube, and our applying our artistic background. We made fully functional and fully edible book cakes that actually opened with edible pages, gravity-defying cakes, replicas of people’s pets, you name it. As two Persian sisters, we also made sure to add elements of our culture and background through our flavors and incorporated aromas.
Two years later, our dad passed away, and we decided to keep the business going. By that point, we were deeply connected to it—we had built it from the ground up and overcome countless obstacles along the way.
My sister was accepted into Harvard Medical School and is now in Boston, but helping run the back-end of the business from afar. Despite the distance, our busy has continued to grow. We began traveling more frequently, especially to Southern California for intricate wedding cakes. Recently, we were there for Jenn Tran’s cake, and that opportunity even led to us being featured in Cosmopolitan magazine.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting a new business in an unfamiliar field came with many obstacles. We had no background in business or baking, so figuring out where and how to start was a challenge. We had to learn how to register a business and understand different business structures such as LLCs and corporations.
With our careers initially in science, having a full time job other than the baker was also another challenge, especially with amplifying demand, managing social media, and continuously create exciting new products and ideas for holidays and seasonal events. Initially, it was a lot of all-nighters to make sure our perfectionist personalities really were at ease. However, over time, with teamwork we learned how to optimize things and multiply the success of our business.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a custom online bakery specializing in artistic wedding cakes and celebration cakes.
We infuse Persian flavors into modern designs. For example, our exclusive organic saffron pistachio cookies are infused with the nostalgic scent of rosewater, and our organic pistachio cake with organic rosewater buttercream is crafted to appeal to both Persian and non-Persian tastes.
All our ingredients are organic, and we source our saffron from Saharkhiz, one of the finest Persian saffron producers in Iran.
We use less sugar in our products so our cake and cookies are not overly sweet. We also offer a special line called Guilt-Free, featuring six fantastic vegan cakes that taste amazing and can be enjoyed by both vegans and non-vegans.
These vegan egg free cakes took extensive research and development to perfect into soft, airy, and well-balanced, delicious cakes of perfection.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Our artistic vision has always been at the heart of my baking, allowing me to blend creativity with my Persian heritage. Drawing inspiration from Persian poetry and illustrations—especially those from Shahnameh— we infuse my designs with storytelling and cultural depth. This fusion of art and tradition led us to create my own recipe for saffron pistachio Shahnameh cookies, a tribute to the rich flavors and history of Persian cuisine. These cookies have gained recognition beyond borders and being shipped worldwide, sharing a taste of Persian artistry with people around the globe.
Pricing:
- As a custom bakery, our pricing is based on the complexity of the design and the serving size. We work directly with clients to bring their vision to life with individualized sketches and exact pricing
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ittybittypatisserie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ittybittypatisserie/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ittybittypatisserie
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ittybittypatisserie8951
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@itty.bitty.patisserie
