Elizabeth Newton
From left, photographer Elizabeth Newton and baker Kassi Moore.
To say that local business partners Kassi Moore and Elizabeth Newton’s new entrepreneurial venture is a piece of cake wouldn’t be far from the truth.
Their collaboration is part photography and another part baking, but there’s one part of their business model that might sound a bit unorthodox. The cakes Moore spends almost two days decorating and baking must be destroyed in order for Newton to have the desired effect she needs to sell a picture. But the focal point of these images isn’t the pastry, it’s the babies brought in to destroy the cake almost on purpose, that make it stand out.
This style of photography is called cake smash and its origins could be traced back to many forms of birthday celebrations over the years. My favorite explanation for the popularity of this style of photography resides in the Mexican childhood tradition called the Mordida (which means bite in Spanish). This tradition consists of a parent shoving the face of their baby into their first birthday cake while everyone sings. I know this sounds creepy but trust me it’s a thing. After the baby has been thoroughly covered with confection, everyone then cheers, and lots of pictures are taken.
Whatever your birthday tradition is, it’s safe to say that your birthday is the one day of the year you might be photographed near a cake. Why has this tradition stuck? There could be many answers, but for two local business partners, it’s a tradition that is helping them get some notoriety.
“It’s an affirmation of life and a lot of fun,” Newton says as a possible explanation. “There’s just something about watching a baby dig into a beautifully decorated cake for the first time, only to have them make a mess with it by the end.”
Before she moved to the North Texas area, Newton was already an established cake smash photographer in her home state of Massachusetts, something she said she was leery to leave behind since it took her years to get established.
1 of 3
2 of 3
3 of 3
“When we moved to Texas, I knew I was going to have to start from scratch, so I prepared myself to network every chance I could,” she says.
The main ingredient missing in Newton’s business plan was a reliable baker. “I reached out to 30 different bakers when I first got here and only six got back to me and only one of them showed up,” Newton says while pointing at her business partner Moore.
“[Moore] came into the studio holding one of the most beautiful cakes I’ve ever seen in my life and we just hit it off from there,” Newton says.
Both Newton and Moore run their respective sides of this new business venture out of their homes. Newton has a studio set up in her house and Moore has a cottage baker’s license, which allows her to make and prepare food for sale out of her home throughout the state.
“This allows me to run a business without the hassle and financial constraints of running a brick-and-mortar bakery,” Moore explains. “This also allows me to start small, grow my clientele from a home base and then build from there.”
So, what is cake smash exactly? Well, according to these two business partners, the concept is simple. A child is dressed up in a color-coordinated outfit that matches the cake and backdrop of a photoshoot. Next, a cake is placed in front of a child, then Newton says she waits to see how the child decides to interact with the titular pastry.
“Some of the kids poke at the cake and look at it like they are confused,” Newton says. “Most just dive right in and destroy the cake, which ends up in their hair and all over their clothes. This is what we are looking for; a mess.”
Moore says it takes her the better part of two days to bake, layer, and decorate one of these small cakes since she makes everything from scratch.
“I make everything from the classic syrup soak to the buttercream icing, and even the floral designs that adorn the top of the cake that mainly get destroyed first thing, she says.
It can take Moore several days to complete an ornate cake that will — in the end — be destroyed for art’s sake. “I don’t care that it might get messed up, I still put my all into every cake I make for a shoot,” she says. Moore says a custom cake for one of these shoots can cost upwards of $70. Not bad if you consider the shoot itself cost $575 just to book. This includes the cake, one to two outfits, a 10-foot balloon garland, and five images. Setup is included, and Newton says she’ll even clean up the mess your child created.
As for future plans, both Newton and Moore would like to have a physical location that has a bakery and a studio either attached or very close to each other one day.
For now, these two already have shoots booked all the way through the end of the month with more expected to come in throughout February.
“These cakes last forever in the form of an image, so it’s not so destructive if you think about it from that angle,” Newton says. “And the parents get to have a fun photo that will chronicle what their child looked like during their first birthday party.”
For more information about how to book a cake smash shoot click here.