We were lucky to catch up with Tiffany Mccray recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tiffany, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
When I was 17, I got a job at a bakery for the first time. I was hired to answer phones, help at the counter, and clean tables, but I was really soaking in as much information as I could by watching the decorators work in the back, and quickly trying to build up my skills since I had such a passion for cake decorating! However, I still had plans on pursuing a long-term career in the Social Sciences, despite being encouraged by my bosses and coworkers to utilize my talents in the pastry field. When I became a Psychology major, my thought in mind was long term stability and choosing a path that felt more traditional, but upon starting that journey I realized that It just wasn’t the right fit for me and that I was willing to find stability in a field that I truly enjoyed, even if it meant that I’d have to work even harder. I couldn’t imagine a life long-term where I was willing to sacrifice my creative passions, and I made the tough decision to eventually leave college, and pursue cake and pastry full-time instead. Now about 4 years in to my journey of being a cake and pastry artist, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else and I feel truly aligned with the career that I now have. Even though I am still young and have much to learn, I am so inspired and excited by my job every day and I can’t wait to see all of the growth that comes as I continue!
Tiffany, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Tiffany, I’m 21 years old, and I am a home-based bespoke cake artist and aspiring bakery owner, specializing in vintage-style custom cakes!
Baking has always been such a big part of my life, and I have been collecting skills since I was super young. As a kid in the early 2010’s, between age 7-8, my Easy Bake oven was the most valuable asset on the planet. I started out with their pre-made mixes, and watched tutorials on how to make them over and over, and then I started scratch-making recipes and miniature cakes with it. I loved all forms of art, but I had such a passion for baking and I just always came back to that. At 10 years old, I begged and begged for my first KitchenAid hand mixer, specifically in their Pistachio color, and when it was gifted to me by my aunt that Christmas, I officially fell in love with the craft. Whether I was making holiday cookies, cupcakes for my classes, or cakes for my family’s birthdays, I was always looking for a good excuse to bake.
I started selling cupcakes throughout high school, and spent lots of sleepless nights doing that until I finally got my first bakery job, where I answered phones and cleaned tables, admiring the cake decorators working in the back. Eventually I started doing small tasks like making hot chocolate bombs, sculpting small fondant pieces, and adding finishing touches to the cakes. While I was incredibly inspired by my job and was encouraged by my bosses to consider a baking profession, I was adamant on pursuing a career in the Social Sciences at the time, and it wasn’t until I actually did that and became a Psychology major that I realized that baking is a lot more than just a hobby for me.
Once I started, I missed being in the kitchen a lot and I had so many doubts about the field I was in. On November 7th, 2021, at 18, I created an Instagram page called CutesyCakery, with the idea of documenting my journey as a cake decorator. About a week later, I made the decision to pursue baking as my long term career and leave school. I started Pastry School that winter, and although I didn’t learn too much about cake decorating in particular, I learned so much about pastry as an art and its layers of history. I gained such an appreciation for the field as a whole and practiced cake decorating outside of working and going to school as much as I could, discovering what I enjoyed and what I thought I was good at.
After Pastry School, In 2023, I was still posting on CutesyCakery occasionally, and doing a lot of recipe testing and research on the back end. But, it wasn’t until 2024 that I actually decided to see how far it could really go. I spent the first half of the year quietly researching how to create a cake business, studying cake decorating techniques, more recipe testing, and curating every single detail from the costing and policies to the fonts and colors I used. I continued asking questions to anyone who inspired me, whether it was the owner of a cute cafe I went to or a full time female entrepreneur even in a totally different field. Just after my 21st birthday, I started offering discounted cakes to my friends and family, who started telling their friends and family, and between that and the exposure of posting on the internet I was able to create well over 100 cakes for people’s weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and all types of events in under six months! It’s the most special feeling to create something unforgettable for people, and to be a part of the big milestones in so many different lives. I put so much love into every single detail of every cake that I create, and I cannot wait to see what the future of me and Cutesy Cakery looks like in 2025 and beyond. I hope that people are able to feel my passion for what I do when they see and taste my creations; and understand that it’s so much more than just eggs, butter and sugar, but a symbol of celebration and a piece of art hand-crafted with utmost care. My goal is to one day open a brick-and-mortar bakery where I can truly physically bring people together over a love and appreciation of cake and pastries! But until then, I am super grateful for the sweet-spot I have found making these deliciously special custom creations from home and documenting them in a way that makes people excited to celebrate themselves and the ones that they love.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me, the most rewarding part of what I do is the fact that I get to be apart of such special milestones. People order cakes for such a multitude of reasons, so weather I’m making a wedding cake to help celebrate two people and their love and commitment to eachother, or a first birthday cake I get to make for a family to commemorate that milestone for their child, maybe its a graduation cake for someone who really struggled to make it through school, or a cute birthday cake for someone’s best friend. All of it means so much to me, and I put not only a lot of love but consideration for each and every client with every cake and dessert that I make. I try my best to go the extra mile with my work because there is always a story behind each cake and each customer. When I get reviews that say, “The cake matched my outfit perfectly!” Or, “My mother/sister/daughter/boyfriend/etc. loved the cake so much!” Or, “I’m so happy we found you!” It warms my heart so much to know that people are getting the experience that I work so hard to provide, and that people are loving a creation and a piece of art that I’ve spent my whole life building a passion for.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
There so many things that keep me driven and inspired within this journey, But I think a big one is creating an outlet where I’m able to express my inner child openly and be a person that I would have looked up to as a kid. For me, Cutesy Cakery is the start of the rest of my life, and I see such a big picture for it that motivates me every single day to work even harder. Something that is super special to me is when I do events and the little girls are super excited to get a cute dessert from me or ask me questions, or when kids tell me that I inspire them to be a baker when they grow up. For me, baking was my safe space as a kid and as a teen, and it was something that I could always turn to. I hope that I can translate what I do into a safe space for others who are either interested in baking or to create a magical experience for people who are inspired by me. Upon my long-term goal of opening my bakery, I love the idea of people getting their dream birthday and wedding cakes from there, But I also look forward to those who might walk there and grab a treat and do their homework after school, or for people to come take a cake decorating class with their spouses, or maybe someone who has been following me for years stopping by to see what has come out of the journey. Truly just creating a fun and safe space for people to express themselves or explore and learn more about this form of art and inspiring people to gain a new appreciation for cake!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cutesycakery.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cutesycakery/
