By Danielle Smith
Staff Writer
While baking brownies and cookies are fun hobbies for most kids, incoming Mira Costa freshman Emma Doyle, below, took her passion for pastries to a new extreme by starting her own baking business.
Baking and decorating cakes began as a hobby for Doyle, but after years of dedication to improving her baking skills, she established her own cake business.
Doyle has been baking for almost six years. She produces cakes for many different occasions such as holidays, birthdays, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and private parties. Emma works primarily with fondant, a thick sugar paste, to mold decorative figurines to places on her cakes.
“I have always loved to sculpt clay,” Doyle said. “Coming from a girl who loves sugar and sweets, cake decorating seemed to be my calling.”
Doyle was inspired to bake by Duff Goldman, owner of Charm City Cakes in Los Angeles, and began to explore baking and decorating as a hobby. Goldman’s inspiration inspired Doyle to take 12 classes with a cake decorating brand called Wilton, as well as a class at the Cake Boss Factory in New Jersey while she was on a trip to the East Coast with her family.
“When I first started baking, I had no technical skill, so my cakes had no real structure and always collapsed,” Doyle said. “However, because I had such an urge to learn more, I kept trying and eventually figured it out.”
Doyle is dedicated to making every cake the best it can be by creating realistic decorations. Her cakes are custom made to the client’s specifications, and she uses a variety of materials, such as frosting and sugar molds, in order to depict the specific theme of the cake.
“It is obvious she has a real talent for cake baking and with Emma, you are guaranteed to get a beautiful, original and delicious cake,” customer Lisa Deseran said.
Like any other student, Doyle struggles to find balance in her schedule to make time to pursue her hobby. Between school, homework and soccer practice, Doyle does not have sufficient time to bake cakes during the school year and consequently has to turn down many offers.
“The best time for me to bake is in the summer because I am able to master new skills and have enough time to make and intricately decorate the cake,” Doyle said.
According to Doyle, she plans to further expand her cake baking and decorating business in the future. She will continue to learn new and improved baking skills over the summer.
“I hope to continue baking and cake decorating in my future, and I have always dreamed of opening a bakery for custom cakes,” Doyle said.
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