Baking is her ‘love language,’ so this SU junior started a dessert business
Scarlett Benson | Contributing Photographer
Some of the deserts that Kai Wright offers through her business Baby Cakes Sweet Shop are taffy grapes, banana pudding and cheesecake cupcakes.
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After watching the Netflix show “Nadiya Bakes” during the pandemic, Kai Wright began baking more. Throughout this time, she found that baking was truly her “love language.”
The Syracuse University junior is now baking for the SU community through her new business Baby Cakes Sweet Shop, a dessert business she launched on March 16. Baby Cakes has its own Instagram account where customers can fill out a Google Form to order desserts such as taffy grapes, banana pudding and cheesecake cupcakes, all ranging from $2 to $6.
Wright grew up in a cooking-oriented family and would love to eat dishes like her mom’s chili, but cooking felt scary, she said. Her passion for baking started when she was in high school, and since baking has easy-to-follow instructions, she found it to be her niche.
“There’s a lot of other kinds of cooking. There’s a lot more room for improvisation, Wright said. “I didn’t trust myself to do that yet. So I got into baking.”
Last academic year, Wright worked in a kitchen of her own for the first time on South Campus. Having her a space to explore cooking and baking on her own gave her the confidence to start creating recipes.
During the pandemic, the junior began buying containers from Amazon and quickly realized she had access to all of the supplies that she would need to run a successful business.
While racking her brain for names, her mom suggested “Baby Cakes,” a name Wright’s grandmother calls her. Wright loved it, as it added a sweet and personal touch to her company and was fitting for selling desserts.
Wright thought few people would want to buy handmade treats due to COVID-19, so she added precautions like wearing gloves and a mask while baking. She also keeps track of her customers’ orders over Google Drive and makes desserts to order, instead of having a surplus sitting in her fridge.
“It’s definitely hard. I just started selling my baked goods,” she said. “It’s been a challenge. It’s a lot more daunting than you would think.”
Nicole Miller, SU junior and Baby Cakes customer, is vegan. Her favorite dessert from the sweet shop is the taffy grapes — a grape that is coated in a white chocolate and caramel mixture, then dipped in peanuts. Miller first bought from Baby Cakes because she knows Wright and wanted to support her business.
Wright was concerned people would not be interested in buying homemade baked goods during the pandemic, so she wears a mask and gloves when she is baking. Courtesy of Kai Wright
Like Miller, SU sophomore Shea McMullen is a big fan of Baby Cakes and said that Wright is committed to her passions and is also a yoga instructor, as well as an activist.
Wright hopes to be able to do pop-up shops in places like Schine Student Center with her products and has goals of partnering with different organizations on campus as a method of advertising.
As the junior continues to develop her business, she would like to expand her menu and start filling larger orders.
“I just love watching people eat my food and seeing them be like, ‘Oh my god, this is so good. All this is delicious,’” she said.
Published on March 29, 2021 at 10:18 pm
