Sierra Rumble Loves Baking

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By Rachel Thomson

Ronelle Funk Allstate LogoMost sixteen year olds are excited about getting their driver’s license and shopping for the perfect prom dress – not trying out a new hand mixer or getting their hands covered in flour and granulated sugar while experimenting with pastry recipes.

But that’s how Sierra Rumble likes to spend most days after school. The junior at North Thurston High School has plans on becoming a pastry chef one day. Though she’s had no professional culinary training, she’s already getting lots of recognition for her sweet treats. She and her mother have started an unofficial business, Sierra’s Baked Goods. They take orders through Rumble’s Facebook page. Rumble makes the pastries in her home kitchen and delivers them to clients in Thurston County. In less than one year, Rumble has received more than 100 orders for her home baked goods.

sierras baked goods
Sierra Rumble puts the finishing touches on a sheet cake featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The 16-year-old North Thurston High School student wants to become a professional pastry chef.

“I love baking,” Rumble says. “When they pick up their order for the first time, the smile on their face says everything. I love making people happy.”

A quick scroll through her Facebook page shows a gallery of intricately designed and baked confections. Cherry chip cupcakes topped with marshmallow flavored fondant Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A cream filled pumpkin roll. Red and pink frosted Valentine’s Day cupcakes featuring a hand-sculpted white fondant polar bear. A beautiful “rose” centerpiece made of cupcakes. A purple tiered “Tim Burton” cake featuring Jack Skellington from the director’s films The Nightmare Before Christmas and the dog from Frankenweenie. 

Rise of A Baker

Rumble says she never really did a lot of baking growing up, apart from helping her grandmother bake cookies every once in a while. The possibility of baking as a career option didn’t cross her mind until last year. She gives credit to her younger brother, 12-year-old Derek Loniak, for indirectly helping her discover her passion.

Loniak is an aspiring actor and needed some money to cover the travel costs of an audition in Seattle though the International Model and Talent Association. So Rumble decided to help her brother raise the funds by holding bake sales at school. Rumble would bring some of her baked goods to school and quickly sell out. Teachers and other students would see her baked goods and would often compliment her and ask her to make more.

“People started coming up to me and complimenting me and I began to realize, ‘wow I’m actually good at this,’” Rumble said.

She accomplished her goal of raising enough money to get her brother to the audition. He was cast in a local commercial and recently scored an audition for a major motion picture. But after the bake sale, the requests for cupcakes and other treats just kept coming.

sierras baked goods
Sierra Rumble holds up a Mickey Mouse themed smash cake.

“If it wasn’t for him (Loniak), she wouldn’t have found her true passion,” says her mother, Karen Loniak. Karen acts as the secretary for Sierra’s Baked Goods. She keeps track of receipts and helps lead customer consultations for their orders.

She says the experience has created an opportunity to both bond and encourage her daughter.

“I’ve always told my kids to follow their dreams,” Karen said. “If something means a lot to them, I tell them to follow their dreams and don’t let anyone tear you down.”

Rumble is doing everything she can to make the dream of becoming a pastry chef a reality. She is learning everything she can about baking. She combs through book books looking for new recipes to try. She scours websites like Pinterest and Google Images to find inspirations for her baking. She watches episodes of TLC Network’s Cake Boss on Netflix. And she’s even done some job shadowing with a couple local professional bakers.

She says her skills improve with every item she bakes. One of the biggest and challenging jobs she’s had in recent months was a three-tiered wedding cake she completed in March. She says it was complicated because once the fondant is made, you have to wait for it to harden enough to cover a cake and sculpt or cut shapes from it. Then she had to bake the layers of the cake and wait for them to cool enough to cover them in fondant. She said the entire process, including assembly, took about 26 hours to make.

“But it was worth it,” Rumble said. “The groom said it was like seeing the bride the first time. He said ‘It’s amazing and it’s exactly how I pictured it.’”

sierras baked goods
Sierrra Rumble uses a computer and kitchen utensils to draw and cut out designs from fondant, a creamy sugar paste used to make designs on pastries.

Rumble leads a busy life. When she’s not creating edible masterpieces in the kitchen, she is the president of her school’s book club and also leads a support group for children of parents in the military. Her stepfather is actively serving in the US Army. She’s also working with students at other schools to plan a conference for children who have parents in the military with social opportunities to talk and support each other.

But at the top of her list has always been baking. Rumble says after she comes home from school she completes her homework as soon as she can so she can spend the rest of the evening baking. She says after she graduates high school she wants to attend South Puget Sound Community College’s Culinary Arts program and then take some business courses at a four-year university so she can one day become the pastry chef at her own bakery one day.

“I’m picturing the entire thing right now,” Rumble said. “I’m so glad I can do this.”

To find out more about Sierrra’s Baked Goods or inquire about ordering by visiting her Facebook page. Prices vary depending on the type of item ordered, but Rumble says she makes an effort to sell her items at less than the cost of what a commercial bakery would typically charge.

 

 

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