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If you’re like me, you believe cakes are born not made. The ingredients of cake exist in a separated state.. They include milk, flour, sugar, and a number of other ingredients I am oblivious to, yet undeniably grateful for, as their combination forms a heavenly and delicious culinary masterpiece. However, until recently, I figured there was a process like photosynthesis combining the elements together; a transformation more natural and unpredictable than anything made by hand. For those of you with a similar opinion, we couldn’t have been more wrong. Quality cakes are indeed handmade, and exquisitely so by MK Drayna, owner of Milwaukee’s new made-to-order bakery, Whisk Chick.
Before Drayna became the Whisk Chick we know of today, she was a student in high school making cookies for classmates as a form of stress relief. “I never did well learning from standard textbooks and lectures,” Drayna explains. “So naturally high school was stressful for me! I found working with my hands was the best way to cope, and I began to bake constantly.” And this simple pleasure quickly began to evolve. Eventually she started experimenting with other, more complex, baked goods. As her skill began to grow, her curiosity turned to passion, and after an extensive consumption of YouTube how-to videos, she met two owners of a bakery from her hometown who took her under their wing. In what could only be seen as a Batman-and-Robin type relationship, these professional bakers bestowed Drayna with the gift of real experience in the baking business.
Eventually, that experience guided her through the Baking and Pastry program at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Soon after graduating she became a pastry chef at different shops around town including the North Shore Boulangerie, while simultaneously making cakes and other treats as a side hustle.
Since I am, by absolutely no means a baker myself, I began to wonder what drives a person to have such a passion towards baking? What I’ve come to understand is Drayna doesn’t just work in a kitchen, she drives it. . She finds the intricacies of baking to be the most fulfilling part of her craft. When you or I whisk a bowl of cake batter, we are oblivious to things that only a real cuisine connoisseur can perceive. We are unaware of the subtleties in smells as you add ingredients; oblivious to the change in temperature of the room as the artist gauges whether a rise in their cake has reached its zenith; and we are thoroughly ignorant of the acute exactness to which taste is beholden to.
These statements, coupled with her portfolio on her brand new website, are enough for me to admire, and often consume Drayna’s fantastic masterpieces. Her delicate yet bold style includes modern and colorful floral imagery. It’s her calling card, and it’s undoubtedly the aspect that draws you in. However, the taste will certainly bring you back.
To celebrate the opening of Whisk Chick, The Workbench is excited to be sponsoring a decorating how-to event, hosted by Drayna herself. Pick up a package of handmade cookies and frosting from her new headquarters located in the University Club on April 7, and Drayna will virtually guide you through how to decorate them like a pro! Click here to register.
