Making Taylor Swift’s birthday cake was a blessing for this small-town Kansas baker
Like many small-business owners, Cami Sanromani has worked hard to make her Council Grove, Kansas, bakery a success.
That has included making a two-hour trip to Kansas City twice a week to deliver goodies from her Cami’s Cakes to customers. But Sanromani got a big break last month in the form of a high-profile order.
Sanromani created a savory cake for Tammy Reid’s birthday. That’s the wife of Chiefs coach Andy Reid. Then came a request for a birthday cake for Bronze Mahomes, the 2-year-old son of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
That was merely prelude to the biggest order of Sanromani’s life: a birthday cake for superstar singer Taylor Swift, who turned 35 on Friday.
“Obviously, it was the thrill of a lifetime, being able to do the birthday cake of arguably one of the most famous people in the world,” Sanromani said in a phone interview. “It’s a pretty cool deal. And I’m just like a regular lady, I’m not some famous bakery, I’m just a mom, I’m just a small-business owner.”
Sanromani shared her sweet creation for the Eras Tour singer on Instagram, and her posts went viral.
“My Instagram did blow up, and I didn’t even put her name,” Sanromani said. “I didn’t tag her in it. I just posted a little sneak peek, little cross section of a cake. Definitely, people made some assumptions and figured it out pretty quickly, but I was very careful about what I put (in the post).
“I just put a song and put happy birthday. And yeah, it was crazy. But my Instagram did blow up.”
Sanromani, 41, said having her bakery get a boost of orders for high-profile foodies like Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, has been a blessing.
“We’ve battled a long way,” Sanromani said. “I mean, this is not always easy running a small business, a small woman-run business. I’ve been on my own for 15 years and struggled. And just within the last month, we’ve been able to make Tammy Reid’s birthday cake, Bronze’s birthday cake. ...
“So I am thankful after years and years and years of hustle and sacrifice, and I’ve raised three kids, and we’ve gone through some stuff, and to have this happening right now is just thrilling.”
Sanromani didn’t classify herself as a Swiftie, but her pre-teen daughter is a fan of Swift’s music. And Sanromani appreciates how Swift seems to take the time to treat others well.
For example, Swift visited Children’s Mercy Hospital on Thursday.
“Even beyond her music, I don’t know her personally, but she just seems like such a genuine person,” Sanromani said. “I live a very small-town life. I appreciate all the things that she does, all the kind gestures and obviously like seeing her the other day go to the hospital.
“There is a boy from Council Grove who has been going through cancer treatments and was at the hospital and got to meet her and talk to her the other day. So those kinds of things, she seems like a really great person, so I was more than thrilled to do a cake for for somebody like that.”
Sanromani declined to give many details about who ordered the cake, citing the privacy of her clients. But in Instagram comments, she talked about fulfilling the surreal order.
However, Sanromani did answer one question fans have been asking: what kind of cake did Swift receive?
“It was a mix of my chocolate cake and vanilla bean cake. It was multi-layer,” Sanromani noted.
“It was delicious, by the way.”
