Meet Amy Kim of Tongtong Cake in Miracle Mile and Mid-Wilshire

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Kim.

Amy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I used to bake as a hobby during high school. Towards the end of my high school year, I took it more seriously and considered it as a career. So I applied to a culinary college and graduated with a degree in Baking & Pastry Arts. With this degree, I started working for hotels and restaurants. But I felt like I wasn’t really able to expand my creativity. After quitting my job I felt very lost about my future and was going through a slump. I wasn’t sure if working for a company was something I wanted to do anymore. So I combined my strengths and creativity, and that’s how Tongtong Cake happen.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely one of the bumpiest roads I ever took. Mainly getting people to notice my business and being able to create a trust bond between the customer and me. Since Tongtong cake is still a starting business, I needed to show people why my cakes are worth every penny they invest in. And what sets my cake apart from bakeries or even other cake businesses.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Tongtong Cake – what should we know?
Tongtong cake is a custom cake business. I bring the customer’s ideas or drawing into a real-life cake. Mainly I am known for flower cakes (real or buttercream flowers). Once in awhile customers would throw me their ideas or give me few keywords and I make it happen. I think just starting the business is what I’m most proud of. Coming from someone who never studied business, just taking the bold leap was rewarding.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I think caring about the quality of the product. Definitely quality over quantity. I rather put 100% of my focus and effort into one cake instead of receiving four orders and only using 25% effort. When customers order a custom cake they are investing quite some money, so you want to bring out the best. Sometimes I have to reject cake orders because I really want the customers to receive only the highest quality of my work. Also being detail-oriented, when making a cake the smallest details makes a huge difference. The texture of the cake, coloring, or even how the flowers are placed onto the cake, changes the whole image.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: tongtongcake

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