With shows like Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss popping up everywhere, students at our school are jumping on the band wagon.  Vandegrift’s own Hailey Shuster is a baking wonder woman.  Shuster has been finding inspiration all over, mainly from her family and her grandmother.  Shuster has been making anything from basic cookies to fancy decorated cupcakes from the age of ten.

“I loved seeing [her grandmother’s] reaction whenever I made a batch of cookies or biscotti’s all by myself,” sophomore Shuster said.

Her baking has really taken off since then; she’s starting to bake for customers who fell in love with her handmade cakes and cupcakes.  To get to this point takes lots of practice.  Shuster practices five to ten hours a week, generally on the weekends baking her heart out.  Shuster is self-taught for the most part; she’s only taken a few classes at “All in One Bake Shop” in Austin.

Her cupcakes are becoming more and more well known and more requested, too.  Not only are they delicious, but each cupcake is perfectly hand decorated every time. Her cakes are becoming popular too; she’s recently made a few cakes for birthday parties.  Each cake takes her two to three hours from start to finish.

“Hailey makes the best cupcakes in the entire world! They are always so pretty I don’t wanna eat them. But I always do.  They just taste so delicious!”  sophomore Emily Garbutt said.

For Shuster, baking has become a big stress reliever.  With a busy schedule, she finds time the time to warm up the oven on Saturdays and after a rough week at school.  Shuster suggests that new bakers should practice a lot.  Baking is all trial and error, generally more error.  There is a special science to baking and it takes a lot of time and effort to get it just right.

“And don’t be afraid to sign up for a class. You will not regret it – I promise,” Shuster said.