I'd love to start with five photos that mean something to you, and I'd love to hear something about each of them.

I was vending at the Ditmars Open Streets Halloween event. I teamed up with the Bier and Cheese Collective and did a popup in front of the shop.

This was probably my favorite popup I did the entire vending season. It was my favorite holiday weekend, and it was during the Ditmars annual Halloween parade so everyone was in costume! I loved seeing all the kids and parents in costume together and everyone was so supportive of my small business.

There was even a line of people waiting to purchase! I had a line!! Me! It was an amazing day.

This is my first Wedding cake - a three-tier funfetti cake with Biscoff buttercream. I was so excited that someone had trusted me to make their wedding cake. A wedding is a big deal! I also made it with a one-week notice! They added their own flowers and topper! The cake was a huge hit and the grooms were extremely happy!!

This is my first character cake. This was also my first time using A LOT of fondant! I pretty much held my breath the entire time but I am completely in awe of how it came out.

My best friend. My sweet wild little bean. This is my daughter Elyzabeth (pronounced e-LIE-za-beth), who's turning 3 in June. She is my purpose for everything.

I want her to be the happiest little person and want to do everything I can for her. I hope that one day she'll help me bake and decorate. For now, she's my taste tester ☺️💗

This is my family. We are a hardworking little family full of love. We strive to do good everyday and treat people the way we would want to be treated. We love enjoying time alone, and spending time outside making memories.

How did you get started baking? Who encouraged you?

I started getting interested in baking when I was around 10, when I started watching the show Cake Boss. Cake Boss himself was definitely an idol of mine in my baking adventure. I watched his show countless times. On the weekends, there would be a Cake Boss marathon on TV, and it'd be playing all day in my room. I picked up baking lingo and techniques that he used and it stuck with me.

I didn't get to practice much as a kid, so it was all visual learning until I was able to eventually get my own ingredients and practice what I could. It definitely did not look good in the beginning, but it definitely tasted good. In high school, I would bake for every holiday and my birthday and give the treats to my classmates. When I was in college, I lived in an apartment on-campus, where we had a whole kitchen. There, I practiced more.

After I was out of college and working with my dad in his restaurant, I began to really pursue baking as a hobby first. For years, I'd bake for my coworkers and bring them the results.

When the pandemic hit, I was 7 months pregnant and out of work. At that point, I had all the time in the world to practice.

For my niece's birthday one year, I gave her the first cake that I had baked for someone else. I made her a Moana themed cake. I made buttercream flowers for the first time after watching a 5 minute video on YouTube. I was so proud of myself and it came out super pretty!

That was when I knew for sure - "I need to do this."

After I gave birth, I took a break from baking. A year later, I decided to jump back on it again and I joined a mom group on Facebook called MOMally Astoria and commented on a post where someone was asking for cupcakes for a party. I mentioned that I was starting out as a baker and that I would do the cupcakes for free just to get some clientele.

I received a message from someone who we'll call "C". She saw my comment and she wanted me to make cupcakes for her sister's baby shower. I was so excited! I mean - someone wanted me to make them cupcakes! I didn't mind that it was free.

Well, C insisted on paying. Despite my objections, she offered $50 for 40 cupcakes. That cupcake order created Crystal's Confections.

C is still my client today and orders from me at least 2 times every year. I will always be grateful to her. She gave me a chance when no one else would. This entire business is based off of word of mouth. I'm just so grateful for all the clients I've gained thus far. Without them, there's really no Crystal's Confections.

Is there a memorable time when you made a mistake while baking? How did you recover?

One of my cake orders was a fruit-themed cake. It had a banana-flavored cake with a chocolate ganache filling and vanilla buttercream.

I didn't make my ganache ahead of time - it takes about 1-2 hours for ganache to set to the right consistency for a frosting/filling - and I was a little impatient waiting for it to completely set. Sometimes ganache is deceiving where it'll appear thick but it doesn't hold up.

I started filling my cake with the ganache and my cake layers started to slide. I started frosting around it with buttercream and put it in the fridge in hopes the buttercream would harden and hold the cake in place. In the fridge, it held up, but as it warmed up, it started to slide again.

My brain did this weird thing where instead of panicking, I suddenly remembered everything I've ever read and seen. I grabbed a long flat cake spatula, and took apart each layer. I scraped off the ganache - luckily I had extra! I made a dam, which is a buttercream ring around the layer to act as a barrier so filling doesn't come out. Then, I filled each layer again with ganache and stacked the layers.

It worked and I saved the day with my quick thinking! The cake came out beautifully and the client loved it!