We were lucky to catch up with Whitney Depaoli recently and have shared our conversation below.

Whitney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’ve been fascinated with cake since I was a little kid. I baked with my mom a lot and she had this vintage cake cookbook that I was obsessed with. I loved looking at the pictures and baking the recipes any chance I got.

While I loved to bake throughout my childhood, it wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I started experimenting with cake decorating. I was inspired by a tv show called Ace of Cakes, which follows the cake artists at Charm City Cakes as they make huge artistic masterpieces out of cake. I was so intrigued that I went to my local craft store, bought my first cake decorating tools, and started practicing techniques that I would learn from the show and YouTube. I’d gift these cake experiments to my friends and neighbors and not soon after, people started asking to purchase my cakes for events. I was still working a full time day job, but I found myself making more and more wedding and celebration cakes most weekends. It was so stressful because I was essentially learning as I went, but it was so creatively fulfilling so I kept at it for several years.

I learned everything I know about cake from my own research, YouTube videos, experimenting with recipes, and lots of trial and error. There were so many cake fails that I overcame and so many recipes I developed myself. I turned all of this information into my blog Sugar & Sparrow so that I could share everything I know with other people, whether they’re learning to make cakes for a business or simply want to create cakes for their friends and loved ones.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Whitney DePaoli, a professional baker, food photographer, cookbook author, and the blogger behind Sugar & Sparrow. I started as a home baker making custom cakes for weddings and events, and then discovered a passion for teaching other people how to make cake. I started my blog Sugar & Sparrow to share all the recipes, cake decorating techniques, and everything I learn about cake on my baking journey. In 2023, I published my first cookbook called Anyone Can Cake. It’s an all-encompassing guide to baking, building, and decorating perfect layer cakes. I truly believe that making someone a cake is one of the best ways to spread joy in this world, which is why I’m so passionate about what I do. I want to give people the confidence and skills to create beautiful cakes that spread joy in their families and communities.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

This is a question I get a lot! I started posting my cakes on Instagram in 2016, just a few years before starting my blog. Early on in my career I learned the importance of being original and doing my best to pave my own creative path, so I really focused on an aesthetic and cake designs that would set me apart. My first “viral” cake was a milk & cereal cake that was decorated with fruit loops and had an edible (white chocolate) milk splash on top. That put the wind in my sails to keep creating totally original designs and things just organically snowballed from there. I launched the blog, started getting sponsored content opportunities from prominent brands in the cake decorating industry, and grew my following at my own steady pace.

I have never had a strategy other than posting consistently and focusing on quality over quantity. I post on Instagram every 3-4 days and repost the same video on TikTok and YouTube Shorts. I post full-length YouTube videos when I can get to them. I’m just now putting more of a focus on Pinterest.

It can be overwhelming to run all of the socials yourself, especially when you’re the one creating and editing all the content and trying to maintain a good work/life balance. So my best advice is to find a pace that works for you and re-adjust as needed. You don’t have to work at a breakneck pace if it’s burning you out. And know that you can’t predict when you’ll have a really popular piece of content that will grow your following. It may just happen when you least expect it!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My biggest pivot was switching from my home cake business to blogging. I loved the idea of making custom cakes for events, but it was really burning me out, especially since I worked a full-time day job. I was finding that my weekends were consistently full and also stressing out over the cake orders. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with making cakes for weddings and events, and the stress of it doesn’t stop when the cake is made because you then have to put that cake in your car and drive it to the venue (which sometimes was an hour drive!).

I was torn because I wanted to keep making cakes, but I didn’t want to do cake orders anymore. My husband is a graphic designer and generally more tech savvy than I am, so he suggested starting a blog and sharing my cakes there. I was certain that no one would read it, but reluctantly started putting some ideas together. He designed and built my website, I closed my books for cake orders, and I pivoted to blogging. To my surprise, people started reading my blog and making the recipes in their own kitchens! Such a wild feeling that I don’t think I will ever get over.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sugarandsparrow.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugarandsparrowco/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/SugarandSparrow
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sugarandsparrow

Image Credits

Whitney DePaoli