Inside the Oven: The Secret Ingredients of Sweet Sweet Bakery’s Success

With creative flavors and handcrafted treats, Emilia Galvan, ’25, shares how she turned her passion for baking into something truly sweet

By: Carissa Chavez

Emilia Galvan, ’25, Sweet Sweet Bakery owner and Redwood student, shares the hardships and troubles of running a bakery with lots of orders coming in and battling school work on a daily.

Galvan has been baking for about five years. She said, “I’ve baked my whole life. I started my business during 2020.”

When baking at a very young age, it is easier to gain expertise in the field that you have started since you were young. The five-year-long business has run strong and gained interest and attention from others outside of Redwood.

Galvan said, “It has been really fun to see the improvement I’ve made and meet so many new people from there (Sweet Sweet Bakery account).”

While baking can be fun, there are definitely challenges. Galvan faces the challenges of quantity and the struggle of trying to make the perfect amount.

Galvan said, “The biggest one I want to say is quantity because there’s some days that I make too much and I don’t sell enough, and other days where I don’t make enough for the amount people want to buy.”

Baking the correct amount can be different each day, as some days are always better than others for Sweet Sweet Bakery.

“My treats have always been first-come come first-serve but, I always feel a little bit guilty. I try to do my best to make the perfect amount, but sometimes I fall a little bit too short,” Galvan said.

Another thing that Galvan may have to worry about is preserving her treats on a daily and making sure that they do not go bad by the end of the day.

Galvan said, “I try my best to keep everything as to my standards as possible. For my cookies, for example, I let them cool then package them immediately that way they stay as moist as it can be and then after two days if I don’t sell them I just end up either giving them to my family, they eat them here at home, or to really close family or friends.”

Galvan preserves her cake pops very similarly, but leaves them cooling in the fridge for an extra day before taking them out of her group of treats ready to sell that day. The precautions she takes help her be able to give the best quality of treats on a daily.

“Honestly, my biggest problem has only ever been admin, but they have really warmed up to me, I guess. My freshman year, I got my supplies taken away from me at school, but ever since then I really have not had any problems,” said Galvan.

“Sometimes kids don’t listen and they’re impatient and they try to come and buy from me during class time, and of course teachers always kind of get on me like ‘not during class,’ and I always try to be as respectful as possible and I follow the rules as well as I can,” Galvan said.

Every school has different guidelines for selling baked goods on campus and the dangers or mishaps of making sure students aren’t allergic. Yet, Galvan finds her way to make sure students can have these treats and respects the school’s guidelines.

Galvan said, “So that’s honestly probably my biggest issue. I prioritize treat-making over school, so I am not the most scholar student, but I try my best and I try to balance it as best as I can.”

The balance of school and baking can be difficult for anyone who has an extracurricular outside of school to complete both.

“I love baking. It’s always been one of my passions and it’s always been one of my hobbies, so I never really do get overwhelmed. The only time I do ever get overwhelmed is when I have actual orders that I need to complete. Especially last minute orders because I am not good at saying no to people so whenever they ask for same-day I try my best,” Galvan said.

Galvan loves to bake and has always found it as therapeutic and not something that can be overwhelming. When she is faced with an order that needs completion on the same day, she then struggles with the anxiety of getting it done on time.

Galvan said, “I am currently enrolled into COS and I’m majoring in culinary arts, so I plan to go to culinary school. More specifically, the pastry branch, to learn how to make more than just cake pops and cookies that I’m doing right now. I’m really excited, I can’t wait to see where this takes me. Hopefully I make it big.”

The dreams and aspirations of Galvan are truly inspiring as she hopes to gain more knowledge in the baking community and move on to bigger things, such as owning her own bakery in the future.

Galvan gives her special tips to other young bakers, saying, “Don’t be discouraged, it’s most likely never going to come out the first time. Keep trying. Have faith in yourself. The biggest thing is don’t give up. I mean, look at me, I worked really hard for this, and I’m doing pretty good for myself. I’m proud to say that. Believe in yourself.”

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