Cake for Maya

Last weekend we made a special cake for my cousin Maya's 18th birthday/high school graduation party at Tiki's Grill and Bar in Waikiki. Tiki's with its Hawaiian tiki theme, yummy food, and amazing views overlooking Waikiki Beach is the perfect spot to kick back with some friends and celebrate, and Maya had a lot to celebrate. For starters, acceptance to Stanford University, where she will be attending in the fall. This is my little cousin -- who would kill me for saying that because she's not so little anymore -- and Rick and I couldn't be more proud of her! She's grown up to be a beautiful super-smart young woman, and we wanted to make her a cake that would live in her memories as she enters the next exciting stage of her life. June is a tremendous month for Maya. In addition to a closing one chapter of her educational life and looking towards another one, she also turned 18 over the weekend.

Maya has been a big fan of cakelava since we opened. She loves Rick's bold fun designs and we knew funky was the direction we would go for her cake. She asked for lime green and light turquoise to be used on the cake and gave me her invitation which had polka dots on it, should Rick wish to use it for inspiration. The design would be a surprise to Maya. When Rick was making Maya's cake, he was working on several other cakes at the same time and didn't see the invitation I had attached to the back of the order. He was moving quickly from one cake to another and designed a cake he thought she would love. It wasn't until the cake was finished that he saw the invitation with the polka dots. What an amazing coincidence he selected polka dots for her cake! It's not the first time that his design matched the theme of the decor without knowing about it beforehand. People are often surprised when we show up with the cake "How did you know?" and the answer is "I didn't." It was just meant to be, I guess, just like Maya's cake, which by the way, she and her guests adored! Happy Birthday and Happy Graduation, Maya. We are so proud of you!!


Thank you to Maya and her family for sending us the awesome photo!
To see more funky colorful cakes, check out cakelava.com.

Aloha, 'til next time!