(click on pics to enlarge designs)

A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to dedicate a series to my friends who are doing cool stuff. The first one I decided to feature is my buddy Jenny.

I’ve known Jenny for about six years now and she’s a fabulous person. A smart, educated, ambitious young lady. She graduated from Baruch College and has plans to attend NYU’s Stern School of Business for her Masters in the future.

But, in the meantime, Jennykinns as I like to call her, is the soon to be Cupcake/Cakes Queen of not only NYC, but the world.

Check out this interview I did with her:

Name: Jennifer Gorotiza
Age: 24
Graduated from: Baruch
Degree in: Marketing & Communications

When did you begin making cupcakes?

I’ve been making cupcakes for friends for years. I’ve always enjoyed baking but I started taking it all more seriously after taking classes at Michael’s for cake decorating last year. I went to the store to look for some scrapbooking material. While I was in there, I caught a glimpse of a classroom where an instructor was showing people how to make elaborate buttercream flowers. It looked like something I could handle so I signed up for the next open class.

Two months later, with a “Certificate of Completion” for Courses 1 and 2 under my belt, I attempted to move forward with the following courses but my learning was derailed. There weren’t enough people signed up for Course 3 and since I had already grown attached to the idea of one day making a fondant-covered cake, I refused to give up so easily on this “hobby” (that and I had already spent way too much money on decorating supplies, haha). After calling several Michael’s stores and not finding ANY available classes, I finally found the mother of all instructors, YouTube. A year and a half later and I’m still loyal to YouTube.

At first, were you charging people or giving them away for free to get your name out there?

Well none of this was really planned. After taking the classes, I volunteered to bring cupcakes to any and every event just to practice what I had learned and improve my techniques.

My first paid job was in May 2009 – I was asked to make soccer-themed cupcakes for a birthday. I was mostly shocked that someone actually wanted to pay me to make something that I did for fun. I hadn’t thought about charging, but once more and more people started inquiring on prices, I thought “Hmm, I may have something going here!”

Is it a goal of yours to make this an official business?

It is now!

I really enjoy what I’m doing and I smile at the thought of what this could turn into. If this were to continue to grow, my first order of business would be to find a location because I wouldn’t be able to continue working from home. There’s a lot of research I still have to do, but I ‘d like to have a business plan written up before end of year.

Is it a goal of yours to make this your only source of income in the near future?

Maybe not in the near future but eventually, yes, that would be great. I turned out to be more skilled than expected with this hobby and I want to do all I can to turn this into a profitable business. If by some miracle I was allotted enough start-up capital, then it would definitely be in the near future! For now though, this will be my part-time gig.

How many clients do you have to date?

Roughly 40; most are friends but I have recently been receiving orders from people who attended parties where my cupcakes/cakes were served.

Is a lot of your business through referral or do you do your own promotions/marketing?

I would say 80% of my business is through “word of mouth”. I think I cried the first time a customer who wasn’t a friend or acquaintance hit me up for an order! I’m lucky, a lot of my friends push my business more than I do, they’re my cupcake team, haha.

I’m now taking a more active approach though. I recently created a separate email address for orders and printed out business cards. I’ve also created a Facebook fan page and use my personal Twitter account. These were created to put up pictures of the work I’ve done and keep friends in the loop on what I’m working on.

What’s the cost for a dozen of your cupcakes with your design? Or better yet, what are your price ranges?

Cupcakes start at $20/dozen for more simple designs; if fondant creations are involved, they start at $25/dozen. I’ve never charged more than $30 though, and that order involved super intricate designs (sneakers).

Do you do this all by yourself?

For the most part, yes I work by myself. My sisters help me out of the kindness of their heart when they see I’m really overwhelmed; they’re wonderful. But paid help, no – one day, hopefully!

What’s been the longest that you’ve worked on a single order?

This would most likely be my first wedding cake order I took on last month. I worked for a few hours each night for a full week. It was my first time creating flowers out of gumpaste. I had to make them two weeks ahead of time because they take a long time to dry.

Once the flowers had hardened, I used luster dust and chalk scrapings to give the flowers more dimension and make them look realistic. This then required another day of drying time and we haven’t even started baking the actual cake yet!

Total labor time on this almost tripled the average time it takes me to work on an order. Pandora kept me awake those few nights (sleepless nights, might I add) but it was totally worth it!

Tell me about one of your cake designs?

My first cake order was a Yo Gabba Gabba cake for a friend. As I was making it, I swore it would be the one & only time I’d make a cake; the whole process was exhausting!

Cupcakes are definitely more my comfort zone, but as it turns out, people have embraced my cakes so I’m trying to learn more on constructing cakes.

Thanks to YouTube and the helpful message boards/blogs I’ve found online, I’ve been able to gradually improve my cake designs.

What has been your most challenging cupcake to date?

The biggest challenge, which I really set up for myself, has been my sneaker cupcakes that I made last year. My sister asked me to make a Jordan cake for her boyfriend. The idea seemed impossible so I told her I’d prefer to make mini-sneaker cutouts. Why I thought this would be easier is beyond me now that I think about it, but I did it!

I’m friends with some hardcore sneakerheads so I knew if I posted pictures of these cupcakes, my cutouts would HAVE to be as accurate as possible. When the compliments started coming in, I was beyond elated. It was the first time I finally felt I had a grasp on not only the taste of the cupcake, but also the aesthetic component to decorating a cupcake.

Can you take me through the cupcake process as I’m a guy who knows nothing about this stuff?

Well I’m all about a matching theme!

When I’m asked to make cupcakes, I try to get as much information as possible from the client. What’s the theme of the party? What colors are you using for decorations? Is this a birthday order? What his/her favorite color, cartoon, #, etc.? I usually try to match the cupcake liners with the theme as well. I’ll also inquire on favorite cake flavor and frosting.

I make the fondant cutouts ahead of time because they usually require drying/hardening time; all of my cutouts are done with cutters/stencils, an XACTO knife, and a copious amount of patience. Then the baking can begin!

Most orders are for 1-2 dozen cupcakes so baking & cooling time can fall anywhere between 30-45 minutes depending on batter and quantity. In that waiting time, I make the buttercream frosting from scratch and sometimes I’ll color the frosting as well. But most times I prefer to keep it white if the fondant cutouts are already colorful enough. Then I put it all together and voila, your very own custom cupcake order!

Is there one cupcake design you are yearning to make in the future?

I’d like to make cupcakes with a damask print on them. For that, I’d have to learn how to work more with royal icing. There’s a technique called piping that requires a steady hand and a lot of patience; piping gives you the ability to create intricate designs, think calligraphy but on cakes (or cupcakes!). I haven’t really messed around with that too much, but I would definitely like to give it a try.

What’s been your biggest order whether it be a cupcake or cake to date?

Recent wedding cupcake/cake combination order.

I made 9 dozen cupcakes and a matching mini cake. My kitchen was a bakery that weekend. The house smelled delicious! It took a while because the order included 5 different cake flavors – oreo, chocolate chip cookie dough, vanilla, chocolate, and lemon coconut. Half of the cupcakes required a buttercream rose as a topper and these can’t be done ahead of time because buttercream doesn’t preserve well. It was a learning experience for sure; there are some things I would do differently next time in terms of baking. I sometimes forget I don’t work at an actual bakery and my oven is not built to commercial standards, but all in all, the order went well and that’s all that mattered!

How can people contact you if they’re interested in buying some of your cupcakes?

You can find me on Facebook. My fan page is “CupCakes by JennyKinns” or shoot me an email: cupcakesbyjennykinns@gmail.com. I usually answer emails within 48 hours and ask for at least two week’s notice but if I can, I do make exceptions!

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