By Miranda Bramson

Casey Tilles, a junior at BHS, is on track to success and fame with the start of her new bakery, Casey’s Pastries. It all began for her in art class freshmen year when she was joking around with her friends about her baking skills. She baked a cake for her final project in the class, and everyone was greatly impressed. She took all their praise seriously and gave in to their demands that she start her own bakery to show off her skills.

Since then, it has taken off. She has covered many events, the largest being for a fundraiser where she had to bake about 100 cupcakes, as well as a few more that were auctioned off. Casey’s Pastries is becoming more popular as more people find out about it. She has her own business page on Facebook, business cards, and of course relies on her friends and past employers to spread the word.

But how did Casey manage to take that first step to actually start her own business? She says that she was talking to her parents about her future when she first heard the quote, “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This made Casey realize she wanted to bake. She also realized that she should start as young as she could to get experience in baking and business, while also maintaining the financial support of her parents. Casey has already started to develop her baking career outside of her own home. Over the summer, she interned at the Sugar Flower Cake Shop in Manhattan, a custom cake bakery. There, Casey learned all the skills needed in the bakery business. This includes her new favorite skill, making sugar flowers out of gum paste.

Casey now has a possible opportunity to use these new abilities at an event for the Briarcliff Manor Historical Society. She is very excited that the society even knows who she is and hopes the job will work out. Casey’s Pastries will probably always be around through Casey’s high school career, and maybe again after she finishes college, so there is plenty of time to order a few Oreo Cupcakes for your next class party. Casey is thrilled to be getting this experience and “would love for Casey’s Pastries to expand into something even greater.” You can contact Casey at 914-419-4119 or caseytilles@yahoo.com