While everyone was sweltering through a heat wave on Friday, Northern Beaches Baker to the Stars, Gabriela Oporto from Bakealicious by Gabriela, revealed she was living her Wildest Dream by delivering cakes to singing superstar, Taylor Swift, and her crew ahead of her first performance in Sydney (that almost didn’t go ahead due to the Cruel Summer storms).
We can’t promise that will be the last T-Swift song reference in this article.
“When I got the call, I was shouting and jumping in the shop,” Gabriela says.
“We created the Bakealicious Eras Cake especially for Taylor.”
Side note: it’s also available for regular people who don’t perform to 80,000 screaming fans.
Gabriela started with Taylor’s alleged favourite Milk Bar Birthday Cake (she had a slice at her last birthday party), which is confetti sponge (or in American: funfetti).
With her parents from Chile and Gabriela spending some of her youth there, she added a South American twist.
…Ready for it?
“We added traditional Chilean Mil Hojas and Dulche de Leche. Finished off with some puff pastry horns filled with Dulce de Leche buttercream, sprinkled with pastel glitters and a pom pom purple flower, which I researched is Taylor’s favourite colour,” she says.
The special order also included vegan cupcakes, gluten-free lamingtons and gluten-free brownies.
Sadly, Gabriela didn’t get to meet Taylor when she dropped off the deliciousness.
But, one star, even someone like Taylor Swift, doesn’t make you a baker to the stars.
“Last year, I got a call from the company who cater for artists and their crew to bake for K-Pop band Stray Kids,” she explains.
“They said they found me through my website. That everything looks so good and that because I cater for a lot of dietary requirements, they wanted to give me a go.”
A few weeks later, an order was placed for Ed Sheeran.
“For his first show in Sydney, in February last year, they ordered a range of desserts. The next morning, I got a call saying he wanted desserts from my shop for every Sydney show,” Gabriela remembers.
“I was short staffed that week, but I couldn’t say no, especially to Ed! So, I was baking from early in the morning to late in the night.”
A few weeks later, Harry Styles placed an order.
He had what Gabriela says are her customers favourites: Scrumptious Chocolate Cake, Piña Colada Cake, Dulce de Leche Cheesecake and Naked Vintage Vanilla.
Simply, Gorgeous.
At the time of publication, P!NK hasn’t placed an order for her Sydney shows in a couple of weeks, but we are keeping a close eye on the Bakealicious Instagram… just in case.
Another equally exciting thing that happened last year, was when Gabriela won Outstanding Bakery/Cake Business for the Northern Beaches Local Business Awards.
“When I was four years old, I told Mum I wanted a cake shop. I even have footage of me whisking eggs as a child,” Gabriela says.
“In 2017, I quit my ‘real-life’ job and opened up a bakery in the apartment I was renting in Crows Nest.
“Two years later, I opened a shop in Willoughby, but that quickly got too small and three years later we moved to Forestville, which is three times the size of the Willoughby store, but that is even getting too small.
“It’s a hard industry to be in. I’m often baking on Friday and Saturday nights until 1am while my friends are out at bars, but I also wouldn’t have it any other way.”
What Hits Different about Gabriela’s cakes is her focus on fresh ingredients and doing everything from scratch.
“My cakes are full of flavour,” she adds.
“I bake with my heart, and I think people understand that when they taste my cakes.”
If there was any celebrity Gabriela could bake for, who would it be?
“Gordon Ramsay. I really admire how he came from nothing and achieved so much. I’d love to be him but in the baker version.”
