Houston Teenager Bakes Custom Cakes

High school student Sophia Jorksi bakes custom cakes all summer long!

Hi there! I’m Sophia, 17, and live in Katy. Since 2013 I have run my business, The Summertime Cakery, during summer break from high school. Customers go to my website thesummertimecakery.com and place their order, then I make their cake.

I have always enjoyed cooking, and as a young child desserts held a special attraction for me. I learned cooking and baking from my mom and then learned from a friend, online and mistakes. I decided to start a business to make as many cakes as possible, since my family, though quite willing taste-testers, could not exactly eat them all. Since starting, my largest weekend has been just over 200 servings of cake—no way we could eat all that!

Currently, I’m finishing high school and working towards an accounting degree to help me expand in the future. Though I am closed during the school year, I still test recipes, perfect new techniques and find different ways to advertise.

Sometimes people wonder, “Why the extra work when you could just relax?” First, for me baking is actually relaxing, so technically I relax a lot on summer break. Once I expanded from just cupcakes and layer cakes to custom cakes, every week has been even more exciting and challenging with at least one custom cake a weekend!

Creating cakes and running a business is worth the work because I love it. A stereotype of lazy teenagers does exist, but that doesn’t mean you or I have to follow. Being a teenager did not bar me from pursuing my passion, and no one else should let their age dictate that. If you have the opportunity to explore something you love, go for it!