Keila Diaz

CakeLani

Phone: 386-456-7269

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17849665126794637/

Where were you born and raised?
Rochester, NY

What was your introduction to cooking/baking?
I became a bakery Clerk working at Publix in Florida

Where and how did you train?
I learned the basics working in the Publix Bakery. Since I loved it so much I began learningon my own at home after work. Just taking guesses on things and sometimes YouTube!

Have you always been a chef?
Before Publix, I worked in a salon working on hair and nails. Before that, I worked as a direct Support Professional with some amazing people at Heritage Christian Services.

When did you open your business and what inspired you to go out on your own?
I started accepting orders and obtained my DBA in 2021. Covid pushed me to dive into this passion for baking and decorating. The more I made cakes, the more inquiries I was getting and I knew it was time to take it a little more seriously than I ever had.

Where do your recipes come from?
I have found some amazing recipes right on Pinterest! Some are just trial and error as well! I’ve even had a customer give me her mother’s red velvet recipe because she missed having it. She trusted me to make it for her and said that she cried with the first bite because of the nostalgia. That made me happy!

Is there a chef you admire the most?
My aunt Lisandra is a great Chef. She cooks as a way to share her love with her people. Not only does she care about the taste but the looks as well. Her food and treats look perfect and always taste so good that you are thinking about it for days.

When you’re “off the clock” do you like preparing meals for friends and family or do you prefer someone else to do it?
As a business owner it is hard for me to have a good amount of downtime after ordersBUT if I did, I’d love to prepare new and cool dishes/meals for others. Cooking can feel so freeing and therapeutic.

You have a day to eat anything you want. What will your menu look like?
A stack of pancakes with butter melting down the sides and syrup. Kindve like in theCharlottes Web movie! For lunch, I’d say some type of Lo Mein dish. For dinner, CRABLEGS. A lot of those buttery corn and loaded mashed potatoes. For dessert, OrangeCreamsicle Cheesecake.

What is your favorite thing to bake?
Marbled cakes! I enjoy swirling the flavors and colors together and then seeing the pattern when I cut into them after they’ve been baked.

What are your best and worst skills?
My worst that has become something I’ve gotten really good at is covering a cake with fondant. One that I still struggle with from time to time is getting my ganache to the best consistency for drips around the edge on cakes. Sometimes it’s either too thick still or too runny.

Is there a handy baking utensil that you absolutely can’t do without?
My skinny spatulas! That is what I use to spread out my buttercream and then smoothe itover. They’re long and flat, perfect.

Besides baking, what are your other hobbies?
I am a huge nature lover. You can find me in the dirt somewhere taking pictures or videos of bugs, moss, cool rocks haha. I just like to explore and breathe in the fresh air and take pictures and videos of it all.

Please include any other things you’d like to share.
I am so grateful that I have a skill/gift that has helped get me through every moment in my life as an adult who dreams to be happy with what they do for a living. To be able to provide people with something beautiful, fun, a tasty. I feel truly blessed.