Baking Beyond Limits: ‘The Cake Girl’

TAMPA, Fla. — Known as “The Pie Girl,” Kristina Lavallee’s love of baking began as a child.

“I was born and raised in Puerto Rico,” Lavallee said. “My mom, she was a chef back then. She loved cooking for family, friends, and even doing it as a caterer.”

At age 15, Lavallee’s family moved to Orlando, where he later attended the University of Central Florida and earned degrees in hospitality, restaurant and food service management. She did all of this while working in bakeries and making custom orders for family and friends.

“Even while working, I did it on my own. But there came a point where the demand was so high that he couldn’t do both. I had to choose. Lavallee said.

Since then, she has never looked back. With the support of her husband, Kirby, whom she met in college, they made the decision together. She runs the marketing side of the business and even came up with the iconic name, “The Cake Girl.”

“I think we have a great product. Not only does it taste good, but it looks great. You have to have both. I think that’s why people keep coming to us. They really want that extraordinary, big, amazing cake. They know it tastes good.” Lavallee said.

Whether for taste or design, as orders poured in, Lavallee spent hours making it, all while selling at farmers’ markets, a dessert truck, and later in her own brick-and-mortar store. Now, she has a team of people working at her Carrollwood store. As news of her work spreads, so does her following, with over 110,000 followers on Instagram, her clients span the country and even include celebrities.

“I never would have thought it would be this big or anything like that.” We have made many cakes for famous people. Leonard Fournette is a great friend and also a client of ours. He was the one who ordered the GOAT cake for Tom Brady. We also made cakes for Glenn Beck. We brought a cake to Texas.” Lavallee said.

Kristina’s attention to detail and her work in the community is part of what sets her apart.

His advice to others thinking of taking a similar risk is to seize the opportunity.

“You only live once,” Lavallee said. “If you don’t take risks, you’ll never know.”

“The Cake Girl” has won many awards for her work, including Wedding Wire’s Couple’s Choice Award, The Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and has been nominated multiple times for Business Observer’s Top 40 Under 40. years.

When we were talking about celebrities, he says that one celebrity he would love to bake a cake for is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

“Believe it or not, I am obsessed with The Rock. Dwayne Johnson. Not just because he looks good, but, you know, as a person. It will be amazing one day to be able to bake him a cake and see his reaction. I would love that!

The Cake Girl is located in the Carrollwood area of ​​Tampa at 14851 N Dale Mabry Hwy in Tampa.