Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Wahlrab.
Hi Rachel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, tell our readers some of your backstories.
I started baking with my mother at the age of 4 years old. We would make Christmas cookies every year together. Once I got old enough and started working at 16, I’d make cupcakes or cookies and bring them to work. At the age of 20, I enrolled in The Illinois Institute of Art- Chicago for baking and pastry. After graduating in June 2013, I moved to Northern California to pursue my baking career. I’ve worked multiple baking jobs! I’ve been a baker, decorator, dishwasher, and cashier, and in every position, I thrived off chaos and stress. After working for many companies and wonderful people, I knew it was time to do it myself. I started Ray Cakes in February 2017. If I have to be honest, I couldn’t find a job that paid enough or had a lot of creativity at that time. I wanted to expand my craft. So I took it upon myself and kept saying, “If they can do it, so can I. What do I have to lose since I’m doing everything myself (baker, decorator, manager, delivery driver)? I know I’m good at what I do, and now I won’t have any limitations.” Ray Cakes has been around and started in Irvine, CA; Mission Viejo, CA; Dallas, TX. San Juan Capistrano, CA; and now Orlando, FL. The only limit to my craft is what my clients want!
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Of course, there were struggles. What business doesn’t have one or two? My first struggle when starting my custom cake business was getting clients. I was new to the game! So I postings on Facebook, Instagram, Google, and even the apartment complex I lived in. It was a slow start but quickly took hold after about 2 months. Then my next struggle was time. I always needed more time! Time to get ingredients, bake, decorate, create decorations for the cakes, answer messages as fast as possible, and deliver. Once I got the system down, it was smooth sailing.
Thanks for sharing that. You could tell us more about your work.
Ray Cakes specializes in custom cakes and treats. Regarding customs, all my clients are getting something catered to their event. If a client sends me photos of something they like, I take bits and pieces of what they sent me and create something unique. I never copy someone’s work. I pride myself on this because I feel like in this industry, that’s all it is. Copy and paste. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I like to be known for something else. I want all my clients to remember that their cakes or treats taste as good as they look! What I’m known for is the taste. Almost every client I have tells me they love the taste. They love that it’s not too sweet and that it tastes fresh. It doesn’t taste like a cake mix, to which I just added eggs, oil, and water. I’m most proud of doing my best to create even more time. I have a one-year-old daughter. Sometimes it’s a struggle to balance personal life and professional life. I do my absolute best every day when I’m super busy with orders. I want to be the best custom cake shop out there, but I also want to be the best mother too. What I love is that she gets to watch me every day—doing what I do best. Right now, she’s not helping me in the kitchen, but I bet one day she will. We’ll be like how my mother and I were, and I can’t wait for it!
What quality or characteristic is most important to your success?
I strive for quality and fresh ingredients. Everything is baked fresh, never frozen! The only thing that’ll ever be frozen is a cake chilling in the freezer before I stack it on the cake.
Pricing:
- Custom cake base prices: 4” round cake to 12” round cake. The base price before any details are added start from $45-210. Depending on the details of the cake the pricing goes up.
- Treats: cake pops, cupcakes, cakesicles, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered Oreos, chocolate covered pretzel rods, chocolate covered rice crispies. All starting prices are on my website www.raycakes.com
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.raycakes.com
- Instagram: @raycakescustomcakes
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/RayCakesCustomCakes/
- Twitter: @RayCakesCustom
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/ray-cakes-orlando
