In my family, food and love go hand in hand. Food is the way we show affection for one another, welcome someone new to the neighborhood, celebrate each other’s achievements, and cheer someone up. Growing up in an Italian family on Capitol Hill in Seattle, I came to associate desserts with family, traditions, and memories. Cinnamon wafting off a warm apple pie brought me back to my grandmother’s kitchen, gooey chocolate chip cookies reminded me of my mom, sweet and spicy crumb cake from Leske’s Bakery made me think of family trips to Brooklyn, pillowy sheet cake from Borracchini’s Italian Bakery reminded me of family parties, angel wings and pizzelles reminded me of raucous Italian Christmas celebrations.

My mother took notice of my interest and encouraged me to help her in the kitchen. She enlisted me to help plan for parties and family gatherings, and would sometimes even put me in charge of the baking!

When my kids were born, I put my generational baking skills to good use, creating personalized birthday cakes. All of my children were born with food allergies, so I learned how to make vegan and nut-free cakes. I wanted to make cakes that showed them that I really cared, so I based the cakes for their birthday parties off of their interests - everything from Sesame Street to dinosaurs!

After raising my kids and teaching at elementary and pre-k schools, I made my first professional foray into the culinary world as an instructor at FrogLegs Cooking School in Seattle. It was an amazing experience and a perfect fit! Working there allowed me to combine my passions for both cooking and teaching, and to spend time with a group of people I love and learned so much from.

When the pandemic began, I suddenly found myself away from my job and separated from most of my family. I desperately wanted to be able to show love from afar so, naturally, I turned to baking. Cakes seemed like the right thing to give, but I couldn’t justify giving whole cakes to homebound families and small groups. Enter BabyCakes!

BabyCakes gave me a way to keep busy, to draw inspiration from the seasons, nature, holidays, people, heritage, and to get through difficult times by spreading love. Currently, we are a home-based cake bakery, selling our seasonal BabyCakes and BabyBites to family, friends, and folks all over the greater Seattle area.