Hey hey!
I’m so glad you’re here.
Baking is is an expression of creativity, an outlet for various emotions and feelings, a vehicle for art and style, a form of guided meditation, an outpouring of love and sweetness, a means for me to get my hands dirty, a salve for my soul, the wanderings of my mind, an artist’s blank and ever-changing canvas and palette, a love language, a confusing mix of calculated science and whimsical daydreams, and the way I share my love and care with those around me.
Let’s play, let’s bake!
Elisa Sunga
Elisa is the founder of saltedrye and CAKE PICNIC™ and co-founder of the Bucket List Bake Club.
I was born in the Philippines before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2001. Since then, the Bay Area has become my home, my playground, and my canvas to life: getting my braces, learning how to ride a bike at twenty-seven, to getting my first real job, and to many more adventures and misadventures along the way. During the week I am a UX Program Manager at Google (more) where I obsess over design, research, user experience, and team culture. Outside of my nine-to-five, I spread myself dangerously thin over a menagerie of hobbies, interests, passions, dreams, and ideas. From gourmet popcorn-making, to training for obstacle course races, to baking every single pie from the Four and Twenty Blackbirds piebook, to reading as many books as I can, etc. Some of these survive the test of time and become constants in my life; others last a week. Each season, day, and moment brings something new; I start over, I repeat, I continue.
If you want to follow my personal updates, follow my personal Instagram account!
It keeps me awake at night, alert at all moments of the day to day, and alive to the magic of it all. I am inspired and floored by it. I believe in the magic of holidays, of the warmth of freshly plated bowls, of the grandeur of buildings young and old as time, of the depth between smiles, of the balance of comfort and style, of the strength from tears and sweat, of the grit born from hard work and patience, of the strokes of genius at seven o’clock on a Tuesday night, of the value of trust and good faith, of the adventure of a Sunday at home and a midnight in Paris, of the brilliance of street food for less than a dollar, of the bravado of denim on denim, of the courage to speak up and grow up, the glow of lamps and the flicker of candles, of the courage to create and burn, burn and create. Most of all, I believe in creating, designing, and transforming everything I touch into a beautiful experience.
I am driven by the ruthless pursuit of wondering, tasting, and creating.
saltedrye
saltedrye was born in March 2020 when I found new time in my life. For days, weeks, and months all I could do and wanted to do was bake. It was a year of many firsts: buying a 10 pound bag of sugar, deep frying donuts, building a layer cake, and more. I lived to bake – it became a form of meditation, escape, and creative expression all in one. For two years I created several pastry box drops to raise almost $30k for social justice organizations. Eventually I started to publish recipes and share them. Occasionally I baked cakes for special celebrations. I would sprinkle in a few events and workshops here and there.
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saltedrye is born! I started baking out of my home kitchen for fun and sharing them out with the SF Bay Area. Major projects: bake 20 Milk Bar cakes from Christina Tosi's cookbooks, re-create all 20 of the Milk Bar cakes into donuts, and monthly pastry box fundraisers.
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Continued to launch monthly pastry box fundraisers for social justice organizations.
Co-founded the Bucket List Bake Club with my friend!
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Continued to launch monthly pastry box fundraisers for social justice organizations and eventually raised almost $30k. Stopped doing them monthly.
Started publishing recipes online to share more broadly.
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Hosted a few events and workshops around pastries and cake decorating.
I signed with a literary agent to work on a cookbook proposal.
Judge for KQED's "Science Is a Piece of Cake" show.
Launched my newsletter on Substack!
Hosted my first cookie exchange with 30+ friends by the Bay Bridge.
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Launched CAKE PICNIC! Was featured in various media articles. Added tour stops in LA and NY. Registered trademark for CAKE PICNIC (TM).
Hosted a cake decorating workshop at 1 Hotel San Francisco.
Special edition CAKE PICNIC at the Legion of Honor to celebrate their 100th birthday.
2nd annual Cookie Exchange!
