Patti Grandidge’s love for cupcake has made her set up a home-based business whose products have attracted celebrity-clients

“CUPCAKES TASTE better with a cup of love with an extra serving of great friends,” says Patti Grandidge, the 23-year-old woman behind Sweet Patti Cakes.

“Whether it’s their perfectly sized portions, pretty pastel frostings or their ability to take you back to a childhood party, cupcakes are tiny works of art that have the ultimate ‘sweet treat’ appeal,” Grandige says.

Cupcake talk on Twitter or Facebook raves about this girl. This self-proclaimed “Seeker of the Sweet” has been making bake-to-order cupcakes out of her home for the past few months. In such a short time, she has built a name for herself in the pastry scene.

Her bestseller is Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter, made of peanut butter cake, studded with chocolate chips and peanut butter frosting; it hits your palette so effortlessly that you realize a dozen cupcakes all to yourself wouldn’t be enough.

Sweet roots

Thanks to numerous family vacations, Patti was exposed to different cuisines at an early age. “My parents have always been into fine dining and downright delicious food, so my brother and I got to ‘tag along’ for dinner reservations instead of getting left with room service,” says the British-Filipina.

Traveling has exposed her to the best culinary dishes around the world. She spent different parts of her life growing up in England, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo, Singapore and Los Angeles. She has made Manila her home this year.

Despite working as a model in the past, Patti has always kept food as her passion. “I developed a love for food,” she said. “Now my trips are based on food. Seriously, I plan my days around the meals… I do my research and find out where to go for the best burger, best pizza, best cheesecake, best sushi, best chili fries.”

Baking has always been a passion: “I remember getting into baking when I was in fifth grade. My friends and I would have sleepovers and pre-plan our ‘midnight snacks.’ We’d bake cakes, cookies and brownies out-of-the box and gobble them up like there was no tomorrow. Betty Crocker was our best friend!”

In high school, she tried out recipes. In college, studying International Business at Pepperdine University in California, she and her roommates would bake “study snacks.”

After college, she applied for an internship at Sprinkles, Los Angeles’ premier cupcake bakery with loyal celebrity clients. “I learned so much at Sprinkles! I like to think of Sprinkles as the Cupcake Capital of the world,” she said.

Sprinkles also taught her valuable lessons about business. The Sprinkles’ founder, Candace Nelson, “told a story about how few people believed in her cupcake concept. People were saying that a cupcake only bakery would never work in Beverly Hills. However, she turned a blind eye and went ahead with her gut feeling.”

“Candace’s story just reconfirmed with me to believe in your dreams and passions no matter what anyone says. If you visualize and practice positive affirmations, the universe will listen and everything else will fall into place. It’s the ‘what’ before the ‘how.’”

Sweet passion

After Patti moved back to Manila, she immediately set up plans to put up her own cupcake business.

“I’ve learned that every difficulty I’ve encountered helps me prepare properly for the next challenge,” she said. “For those starting their own businesses, learn the 5 P’s: ‘Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.’ Take time and design your business plan and all its components.”

Her clients includes celebrities Iza Calzado, Anne Curtis and Raymond Gutierrez. Other clients: Mikaela Martinez, Sarah Meier, Cesca Litton, Teresa Herrera, Karen Pamintuan and Isabelle Daza.

“I appreciate every single customer who orders a box of cupcakes,” she said. “My favorites have become my repeat customers who have their orders memorized. When I see tweets and twitpics about Sweet Patti Cakes, the grin on my face says it all.”

Published October 23, 2010 in Inquirer 2bU