For ZozoCakes, it's always time to get baking

(Reprinted from a summer 2016 Piedmont Post article.) Two years ago, Piedmont Middle School eighth grader Zozo Tahawi launched a cake-baking business. Appropriately it is named ZozoCakes.

Asked how her passion evolved, she said, "I first started baking when I was 7 or 8. I would make pancakes and waffles on the weekends. My Dad would help me turn on the stove. I loved to flip the pancakes and hear them sizzle."

As she grew older, she developed an interest in baking, starting with Snickerdoodles. And moving on to baking cakes. "I loved it. The cakes were fluffy, flavorful tasty treats taht were fun to make. I loved mixing the ingredients and smelling the cake as it was baking," she said. "But my favorite thing by far to do is decorating. It is like painting with sugar on food."

No unlike many adult cooks, she admitted the one part of baking she does not like is cleaning up. Describing how her interest continue to grow, she said, "I would make cakes and cupcakes all of the time and give the rest to friends. Whenever my family would go to a dinner party, my Mom would ask me to bring the dessert." "If family friends were having a birthday, they would pay me to create a special cake. Baking cakes even brought me luck, because every year at the Piedmont Harvest Festival, I would always win at least one cake in the cake-walk."

"That's when I decided if people were willing to pay for my cakes, I was willing to try to make a business out of it," she exclaimed.

ZozoCakes specialities include birthday cakes of all sizes, pies, seasonal cakes and cookies, with free Piedmont delivery.

Piedmont resident and client Sharon Filler commented on her third order she placed with ZozoCakes. "Zozo's Lemon Drizzle cake was a little slice of heaven," said Filler. "A perfect combination of tangy and sweet."

ZozoCakes recently delivered three types of desserts (apple spice, chocolate cupcakes, and double-chocolate caramel cookies with sea salt,) for a party of 60 visiting French exchange students hosted by the Bloemkers. "People absolutely raved, there was nothing but crumbs left!" said Shannon Bloemker.

Zozo is looking forward to the holiday season, where she can make her mark, launch with pies at Thanksgiving adn cookies and cakes throughout December. She developed her own website and business cards and pays for her own supplies and ingredients from her earnings.

http://zozocakes.wixsite.com/z...