Long before she graduated with honors from the baking and pastry arts program at the Culinary Institute of America in 1992, Stephanie Baker had a career path in mind. “When I was a kid, I could make anything out of Play-Doh. I could make an elephant in five minutes,” she says. “I’m an artist. I’ve always liked to do little figures on cakes. And now, I’ve turned it into a marketable skill.” Early last year, Baker opened a Falls Church-based custom sculpture cake business called Stephanie the Baker.
After graduation, Baker bounced from the catering department of the Boston Marriott to the Russian Tea Room in New York, with tenures at Emeril Lagasse’s Nola restaurant in New Orleans and at Zola and Federal City Caterers in Washington. After 16 years of on-the-job experience, she decided to strike out on her own. “When I started my business, I had no client base. But I wanted the freedom to do what I love all the time, not just occasionally.” In Falls Church, she shares a rental kitchen with two small catering companies.
Baker has sculpted buildings, sports equipment, and “a lot of rubber duckies” using edible ingredients. A few months back, she created a cake with a logo for the Washington office of international law firm Morrison & Foerster L.L.P. In addition to cakes, she makes cookies and cupcakes, which can be topped with corporate logos. She considers her style on the cartoony side: “My cakes have a sense of humor.” As an example, she recalls a cake she fashioned in the shape of a Mercedes-Benz convertible, with telltale personal details inside. “The guy drove to work eating cereal,” she says, “and by the end of the week, the car was filled with bowls and spoons—a little joke between him and his wife.”
Baker’s business has grown steadily from word of mouth and recommendations. Christy Humston, senior account manager with Entertainment Cruises, has worked with her on several onboard functions. For a recent private event for a firefighter, Baker created a helmet-shaped cake. “I was very impressed with her presentation and personal touch,” Humston says. “Because she works alone, she is involved in every step from order to delivery. And her cakes taste very good, as well.”
