Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Waller
Hi Samantha, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always had a passion and love for baking. I started baking cakes, cookies and other pastries with my grandma at a young age. Recipes that had been passed down from her grandma. Growing up I also knew I always wanted to be an attorney, and focused my studies on that. However sometime during college I decided I no longer wanted to follow that path. In my free time I would buy cookbooks, watch so many cooking and baking shows on TV and test out recipes, sweet and savory. I just loved to cook and bake and wanted so badly to recreate all the beautiful cakes and pastries I’d see out there. After graduating from Cal state northridge with a bachelors in political science, I decided to enroll in culinary schoool at Le Cordon Bleu and never looked back. I graduated with a degree in baking and pastry in 2012, have worked in a few different restaurant/bakeries, as interns, assistants and working my way up to head baker/kitchen manager. I also started making custom cakes on the side to fuel my creativity. I slowly built up a clientele and in January 2020 decided to leave my bakery “day job” and persue Samantha Cakes n Bakes full time. Just two months later the pandemic hit and all hopes of large parties and large cakes went out the window. However I started offering mini fully customizable cakes for small family parties because at that time, now more than ever everyone still needed something fun and sweet to get through the day. I continued to grow my business with the support of locals in my community and family /friends referrals and I haven’t looked back. I am so happy to be doing what I love everyday and creating custom cakes has become my passion and main focus of my business. Being able to further my own dream everyday is truly magical.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Besides the pandemic overall being a great challenge to most restaurants, bakeries, and event businesses, there were and still are some other challenges. Custom cakes and any restaurant/bakery/ food service job is not easy. Its long hours and always working weekends, holidays, and any other time most “9-5” workers have off. Being self-employed in general has its challenges as well, such as always being “on- call” as the face of your business. The worry of not having a steady paycheck creeps up on you every so often. As a self employed person, you can technically work as much or are little as you want, however building and growing a business to success requires a lot of work and effort. Although it is challenging at times, working hard to build my own dream and to see the look on clients faces when they receive a beautiful cake makes it all worthwhile. Creating not just a cake thats meant to be eaten but a memory that stays with their family. and watching their family grow up every year with a different birthday cake or milestone event is truly special.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create custom cakes. When someone asks me “what do you do?” I respond with a variety of answers- I’m a baker, dishwasher, delivery driver, pastry chef, cake artist, custom cake designer. Its all encompassing as there is so much that goes into creating a custom cake from start to finish.
I specialize in custom cakes for birthdays, weddings, baby showers, bar/bat mitzvahs etc ,any event from small to large is worth celebrating and there is alway a cake that can be made for the occasion.
I made a custom themed costco cake for a friend in 2019 who was obsessed with costco. I had not seen anything like it anywhere for reference, but my cake went viral and was talked about on a few websites, and since then there have been so many costco themed cakes.
I think I’m known for my whimsical, colorful and fun cakes with delicious flavors. Cake should taste as equally as good as it looks because at the end of the day, its meant to be eaten. I think every cake artist has their own artistic flare and I believer my clients or followers can see the little touches in my work that makes it standout.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up I was very shy and introverted. I am probably still on the more shy side with the exception of being around my close friends and family. I always loved to paint and draw, make jewerly, and played piano for several years. I had an easy bake oven that i loved which makes so much sense. My love of playdough and painting clay /ceramic pieces as a child definitely translates into why I love decorating and making figurines out of fondant. Being artistic and creative always was a part of my life and helped fueled my passion for cake decorating.
Pricing:
- Custom cakes are all priced differently depending on serving size and design. Its hard to give a set price as they all greatly vary.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.samanthacakesnbakes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthacakesnbakes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samanthacakesnbakes/
Image Credits
taylor swift cake- photographer credit- Amanda Clarke Fotos
3 tiered cake with pink flowers under floral arch- photographer credit- Taryn Grey Photography
