Cooking with cups of creativity

Aivah Kassabian makes gluten-free cakes and showcases them on instagram

by Lauren Greene

Life is no piece of cake, but for senior Aivah Kassabian, baking makes life a little bit sweeter. Kassabian bakes and decorates elaborate gluten-free cakes and desserts, sharing her treats on her Instagram platform, @ aivah_bakes.

Inspired by her grandparents, Kassabian began baking around the age of nine. Today, she specializes in making cakes, but also bakes other treats such as cookies, cupcakes and banana bread.

“My Armenian grandma owns a restaurant, and I used to bake a lot with my grandparents as a kid,” Kassabian said. “I also watched a lot of baking shows, and I wanted to try to make what I saw on TV.”

Kassabian began making gluten-free sweets when her mom, Rye Kassabian, became gluten-free around four years ago. Mrs. Kassabian recalled the difculty in fnding gluten-free treats “that were simple and tasted good,” so her daughter became like her “personal little baker.” Kassabian herself later stopped eating gluten, focusing her work solely on specialized gluten-free recipes.

“I make most of my cakes for my family and friends or for birthdays. I always bring leftovers to school for people to come and eat,” Kassabian said. “I also sell some cakes through my Instagram DMs or per requests from my mom’s friends.”

Kassabian spends, on average, 6-12 hours making each cake, depending on its complexity. Her creations are inspired largely by online images, videos and recipes that she adjusts to her own baking style.

“I've always been pretty creative,” Kassabian said. “I started watching YouTube videos and I would try to fgure out how to make [interesting designs]. I also get a lot of inspiration of of Pinterest.”

According to Mrs. Kassabian, her daughter has expressed her artistic abilities since she was a toddler, and consistently determines how to create her work simply by looking at an image of her inspiration.

“When she was two years old, she was already drawing little happy faces when most kids were only drawing scribbles,” Mrs. Kassabian said. “She just kept practicing and each cake that she baked and decorated got better and better, and she would look for diferent techniques and diferent frostings to use.”

While her personal favorite is her red velvet cake, Kassabian’s “go-to recipe” is chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, as she has now “perfected” its technique.

“Her chocolate cakes and cupcakes are one of my favorites because they're so light and fufy and moist,” Mrs. Kassabian said. “Gluten-free pastries and cakes can often be dense, but she has mastered the tech niques and they aren’t overly sweet.”

Both Kassabian and her mom note her dedication to detail during the baking process, especially when decorating.

“The most frustrating part [about baking] is when [the treats] don't turn out the way that I want them to, appear ance-wise,” Kassabian said. “If the frosting isn't cooper ating, that really annoys me and I have to try again and again because I want it to look as perfect as possi ble.”

Kassabian bakes on the weekends and after school several times a month, depend ing on the quantity of orders she receives. While she would “love” to run a bakery when she is older, Kassabian realizes the challenges of simultaneously “owning a business and baking,” due to the time commitment it requires.

“I hope to keep improving and perfect my skills over time. But for the most part, I just want to see where baking takes me,” Kassabian said.

Mrs. Kassabian would also love to see her daughter open a bakery, but supports her with any career she decides to follow.

“Coming from a line of family members on her dad's side that all own businesses, I know she'd have support and guidance in that area,” Mrs. Kassabian said. “She's always going to need baking as an artistic outlet, so even if she does keep it as just a side hustle, that's fne too. I want her to continue to bake and to maintain that passion for baking and whatever she chooses to do in