Today we’d like to introduce you to Natasha Merchant.
Natasha, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I met my husband Aaron in 2010, he introduced me to a cupcake shop that he liked. We would go from time to time, but the frosting was too sugary and I could never find anything there that I wanted to eat. I decided to want to try making my own, so Aaron bought me a copy of the cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I baked my way through that book, and from there, starting to experiment with different flavors. In 2012, I started taking cake decoration classes and also started my blog. Originally, it was just a hobby, but as I continued to blog, I also became interested in food photography. I would find any excuse to bake- every holiday, friend’s birthdays, a friend of friend’s birthdays, or just because. I wanted to know what it would be like to be a professional baker, so I applied for a job at my favorite bakery. After working there for a few months, I learned a lot of new skills but also realized that the bakery environment wasn’t for me. I missed the photography, and also just being able to bake what I wanted, so I left the bakery and continued with my blog. Today, my blog is a creative outlet and a part-time job. My blog is geared towards helping the home baker make bakery quality desserts. I also post a lot of recipes for small batch desserts because I’m often just baking for two, and I could never find recipes for desserts in small quantities.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Because blogging isn’t my full time job, I’m not dependent on it for my income, but there have been obstacles. For example, I have a post about making French Macarons on my blog. Originally, I planned to spend a few weeks on it, but it was such a challenge to get it right and to really understand the science behind it. It took me over a year to write that post, but it’s the most popular on my site and has seemed to be helpful to people.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Cake Merchant story.
My blog, The Cake Merchant (named because my last name is Merchant), is a blog that is meant to help people make bakery quality desserts at home. I try to help people understand the science behind what they are baking so that they can carry those skills over into whatever they want to bake. Because I love anything miniature, and I like to eat sweets in moderation, I also post a lot of small batch desserts. While I don’t sell cakes, I do freelance food photography as part of my business as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://cakemerchant.com
- Email: natasha@cakemerchant.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cakemerchant/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cakemerchant/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/cakemerchant/
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