By: Ava Zordilla

When the doors opened, I knew instantly that these clients were going to put me on the map. The mother walked in wearing a floral Dolce & Gabanna dress, sparkly Valentino pumps and a Prada purse. Her daughter following closely behind was dressed head to toe in Gucci and was scrolling through Instagram on her iPhone Xr.

She was here to order a cake for her daughter’s ninth birthday. All she wanted was a vanilla cake with chocolate mousse covered in white fondant and decorated with fresh flowers by next week. In my head it seemed super simple, and I would have no time finishing it within the time frame. That is until she gave me her list of requirements.

I looked at the list and gasped. Apparently, she had been denied by every baker in the state, which explains why she walked into my shop. I’d always wanted to see the world, so I agreed to make this cake for her. I took down her order and drew out the final outline. She gave me her credit card information, and was out the door without a care about the final cost.

The next thing I knew I was packing my bags and hopping onto the next plane to Tahiti to grab vanilla beans. I walked through groves of vanilla bean pods and hand-picked each one. It took me several days to find the perfect pods that fit her order. Once I gathered enough, I was back on a plane heading towards Switzerland for chocolate. I hiked down mountains and pushed cows out of the way just to get to the Geneva Chocolate Factory. Where I bought dozens of milk chocolate bars for the cake. With my list almost complete my last stop was China for pink peonies. I meticulously went through fields of peonies to make sure they were the right shade of pink. After my list was complete, I flew back home with only three days to bake. I spent long nights and days perfecting this two-layer cake, but soon it was complete. White fondant cake decorated with pick peonies. It truly was my greatest master piece. Not only did I become $10,000 richer, I also gained more ridiculous cake orders.