The Origin Story

I arrived at this professional baker thing pretty late in life. I was 49 years old when it all began. What brought me here?

Up until about May 2020, I had been a career digital graphic designer. I had been employed by consulting firms, government institutions, and had my own freelance business. My focus was company branding, logos, and layout of marketing materials. But in addition to that form of creative work, I’ve always loved dabbling in the arts. I’ve quilted, sketched (not very well), painted (not too shabby), and have an eye for interior design. On the side though, the art that I most enjoyed was creating one of a kind birthday cakes for my son. Almost every single cake of his then 15 birthdays, I baked and decorated and each year I worked to improve on the last. I remember my first time using fondant, my first time stacking a two-tiered cake, my first time being challenged by my kid with some crazy idea! Most of my skills, outside of my own artistic ability, came from YouTube “university” as I like to call it. You can learn pretty much everything from YouTube.

Before starting Designed to Eat and making it all official, I branded myself the Hobby Caker and even started an Instagram page. It was fun sharing all the artistic bakes I made. While I was “operating” as the Hobby Caker (baking for family and rarely for friends) and still taking on deRuth Design clients - my digital design freelance company, we got hit by the pandemic and suddenly, no one needed a graphic designer. Business came to a standstill and I ended up in my kitchen getting obsessed with French Macarons. I spent months perfecting my recipe, flavors, and method.