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Zoë Selesi spent the summer watching mini lunch box cakes rise in popularity on social media. People posted videos of personal sized cakes with colorful frosting and special messages written on the cake or inside the lid of the box. Eventually, the Syracuse University senior decided to try the trend herself.

“I saw a lot of people making these bento cakes and like lunch box cakes,” Selesi said. “And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, these are so cute.’ Like, it’d be so cool to be able to do that. But I have no experience in baking at all.”

Despite having no serious passion for baking prior to this summer, the results paid off. She taught herself to bake the lunch box cakes from watching tutorials and reading posts on social media sites such as TikTok and Pinterest, Selesi said.

The senior then took to Instagram in July to create her very own lunch box cake business, “Lunch Box Cakes by Zo.” Selesi posts updates on the business’s Instagram about the “flavor of the week” and when preordering is going live. Customers fill out a Google form to place an order and pick what flavors they want. The base price for the 4-inch cake is $6.50, and the 6-6.5-inch base price is $10.

“Baking kind of came out of nowhere,” Selesi said. “The people that are around me pretty much support anything and everything I do.”

At first, Selesi made a plan to just bake for fun. But the plan included details for what it would be like if she turned it into a business. The more she spoke to people about it, the more positive feedback she got to take her hobby to the next level.

At the start of this school year, Selesi received an $800 gift card from University Village Apartments that she decided to invest into her business. She purchased a stand mixer, packaging and baking supplies to kick-start her business.

Jonah Sierra, SU senior and Selesi’s roommate, said Selesi cares about what goes into her product and is diligent about her process.

“Zo definitely went all out, bought a mixer and everything that she needed to be efficient and make cakes. She definitely cares about what she puts into the cake and how it’s made,” Sierra said.

Selesi has a very busy schedule during the week, she wrote on the business’s Google form. So the senior does most of the preparatory work for the cakes, like frosting and packaging them, on the weekend. After adding her personal touch to the cake, Selesi includes a few more special touches, like writing a note thanking the customer for their purchase and tying it onto the box with twine.

She also adds extra goodies like cake pops, as there are always left over supplies, she said.

“I made cookies and cream cake pops that I gave to people who just ordered just to give them a little treat because I just always have extra stuff,” Selesi said. “Cookies and cream frosting seems to be a hit between all the people that have ordered it so far.”

Selesi offers customers a choice of cake shapes, like a heart-shaped cake or a classic circle, as well as a middle filling that matches the frosting flavor. Each week, 10 spots are available for customers to make orders, and each cake is made to order.

Wendy Wang | Assistant Photo Editor Maya Goosmann | Digital Design Director

The baking entrepreneur offers vanilla or chocolate sponge cake and frosting types such as marshmallow vanilla.

Bryan Reynoso, an SU junior in the Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity with Selesi, said he decided to purchase a cake because she’s a friend and he wanted to support her business.

The junior attributes the business’s early success to the entrepreneur’s outgoing personality and “great connections.” He wouldn’t be surprised if demand for Selesi’s cakes picks up soon as more students learn about the company, he said.

“Since it’s a student-run business, other students would be wanting to buy from her specifically … I can really see that the word can get out really fast,” Reynoso said.

Selesi hopes to expand to making larger cakes, cakes for special occasions and even expanding her menu into cupcakes as her business grows.

“Before, like for my mom’s birthday or my birthday, we’d always go to Costco or Baskin-Robbins or whatever to buy a cake,” Selesi said. “Now it’s going to be like, ‘Zoë knows how to bake.’”

Published on October 13, 2021 at 12:28 am