For nearly 20 years, Kara has been baking and decorating unique cupcakes and cakes for her friends and family - but it wasn't until 2012 that Kara's love for baking became more than just a hobby. Kara started her business out of her parents' home when she was a senior at Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. After graduating, she attended the Institute of Culinary Education to study in both the Culinary Management and Baking & Pastry programs. In 2013, Kara took her home business to the next level, and rented out a commercial kitchen space where she catered to her first wholesale accounts with local supermarkets, cafés, sweets shops, and frozen yogurt shops. 

Two years later, Kara's dream became a reality when she opened her glitzy and glamorous cupcake shop -Kara Kakes. Located in her hometown of Franklin Lakes, the shop quickly gained popularity among Bergen county residents, and soon became a social media phenomenon. With each passing year, Kara has been challenged to conceptualize and create new and innovate treats that continue to set her apart from any other bakery in the area! On the store's two-year anniversary, Kara opened her second location - The Kake Studio.  This event space is used to host birthday parties, children and adult classes, and other special events year-round. 

​​

Kara Kakes has been ranked among the Best Cupcakes finalists for Best in Bergen since 2015; taking first place in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. With a menu that is constantly expanding, and new, over-the-top flavors being rolled out on a monthly basis, Kara Kakes is sure to impress even the most critical cupcake connoisseur. 

​

What's next for us? Kara's future goals for her business is to expand into multiple retail locations; including new spaces for additional bakeries and event studios. In the short-term, we are working on a way to ship our carefully-crafted cupcakes to the tens of thousands of followers we have amassed on our social media pages from around the county.