Cake Interview With Bon Vivant Chicago
Welcome to the Baker & Cake Decorator Interviews Series!
Hi sweet friends! I am pleased to feature Emily Nejad with Bon Vivant Chicago, located in Chicago, IL. Emily is renowned for her whimsical and edgy cake designs that reflect her personality and style!
Since founding Bon Vivant Cakes studio in 2017, Bon Vivant has pivoted from taking custom orders to offering a full calendar of weekly cake and treat workshops designed for beginners in 2021. Emily’s mission is to convince everyone she meets to take cake & cookie decorating as their favorite hobby. Taking one of her workshops will be a must-do when visiting Chicago! In my case, it will be!
Read my cake interview with Bon Vivant Chicago, on how she got lost in the cake decorating world and now owns a cake decorating workshop studio! Click here to read more cake interviews!
Interview with Emily Nejad, Bon Vivant Chicago
This interview has been edited for clarity and length, preserving original responses.
Check out what Emily had to say in our interview:
Can you share a bit about yourself?
I’m Emily Nejad, owner of Bon Vivant Chicago, a recreational cake and cookie decorating school that teaches treat enthusiasts at all skill levels. I’m a former musician and theatre kid who fell in love with cake decorating in 2015 after teaching myself how to do it using YouTube and trying to mimic the cakes I saw on Instagram.
Do you remember your very first cake and how/why you made it?
My first layer cake was special- it was for my friend Holly’s birthday, which was also a celebration of her being cancer free. She loved the color green, so I made her a 5 layer green ombre cake with a gloopy cream cheese frosting and one of those musical candles on top. It was a mess, of course, but I was so so proud, and everyone was SO impressed.
How did you pivot to creating unique cake designs?
Like most bakers, I started by trying to replicate the designs that I saw from all the cool Instagram bakers that I followed. In 2015, my favorite accounts were Katherine Sabbath, CocoCakeland, Sweetapolita, Don’t Tell Charles, and unBirthday Cake (note that 3 of the 5 are Aussies- shoutout to Australia for producing some of the most iconic bakers and design trends in the cake world.) I made all the hits- Katherine Sabbath’s melting ice cream cone cake, DTC’s concrete buttercream cake, and some drippy cakes covered in candy and flowers like the one’s all over unBirthday’s feed. Something cool happened around the 10th cake I made- I stepped back and realized that I’d made a cake that looked more like ME and less like an imitation of someone else’s work. Once I realized that I could use cake to express my OWN creativity, I was completely hooked.
Start small. Practice teaching on your friends. Constantly evaluate the success of your teaching methods and don’t be afraid to try different approaches.
Emily Nejad, Bon Vivant Chicago
What is your favorite buttercream to work with?
My Lazy Girl Buttercream is my favorite to make- it comes together as easily as ABC but behaves like SMBC- the dream! I’ll be available in my upcoming book on cake decorating.
Where do you get your inspiration from? (We want to dive into your mind to see where you get your inspo from!)
I’ve come full circle on where I draw inspiration from- at the beginning of my career, I was pulling inspiration from cake trends. Then I started letting my own creativity guide me in my decorating, which unexpectedly saw me *creating* trends, like my shag cakes and sandart buttercream. It’s been 3 years since I pivoted from doing custom cakes to teaching beginners how to decorate, so now I’m back to drawing inspiration from other bakers on IG and Pinterest, always keeping an eye out for the next big trend that the public will be excited to make themselves. I’ve gone from Trend Follower, to Trend Setter, to Trend Spotter.
Which cake decorating technique is your favorite?
It really depends on my mood – sometimes the rigidity and uniformity of Lambeth are really soothing, but only when I’m feeling very calm and patient. Otherwise, I tend to gravitate toward techniques that are a little quirky and textured, like shag or big squiggles, or narrative, like little figural piping.
What made you decide to launch your cake classes?
In a time where being an adult sometimes feels like a long, stressful group project, I firmly believe that cake decorating is the best hobby ever. Every cake has a beginning, middle, and end. It’s not something that you can abandon in a closet halfway through, like all my sewing and embroidery projects, and it’s not something that gets displayed on a wall like my art projects. It’s ephemeral, it’s edible- it’s frickin CAKE. Before cake decorating became my job, it was my therapy – it grounded me in the present, without a screen, and felt immensely satisfying when finished. After the pandemic, I felt compelled to share that experience with others. It’s been incredibly rewarding to gently guide people into reconnecting with their creativity, and I’m very grateful to be Chicago’s happy place.
Do you have any advice for bakers who want to launch their cake decorating classes?
Start small. Practice teaching on your friends. Constantly evaluate the success of your teaching methods and don’t be afraid to try different approaches. Remember that all your students are being brave by trying new things- it’s your job to protect their creative confidence and hype them up so that they’ll continue their creative journey when they leave.
What do you like to do with your free time?
I love to garden! Spring through fall, I’m outside digging around in the dirt. In the winter, I’m inside formulating a plan for the next time I’m able to dig around in the dirt. It’s fun, experimental, grounding, and most importantly: screen-free. It gives me the same kind of calming, creative boost that cake decorating did when I first started.
What is your favorite food?
Any and all Persian food!
My Favorite Creations
Chicago Cookout Cake
The perfect Chicago summer cake! Link to the reel on how I created these adorable buttercream stickers!
Pom Vivant Cake
This Pom Vivant cake has everything that I love: texture, color, and spots!
Mini Two Tiered Cake
Such a cute and tiny tiered cake using all of the favorite piping tips!
Merry and Bright Cake
Merry and bright on this festive holiday cake!
Moonlight Path Cake
This Moonlight Path cake is one of my favorites for a workshop!
Greco Deco Cake
This Greco Deco is an intermediate class to learn some intricate piping techniques including buttercream fluted pillars, ruffles, and drop strings!
Frill Seeker Cake
Frill seeker is one of our newest beginner workshops and is designed to help you build your piping confidence! This was a two-layer, 6-inch funfetti cake with a lemon cookie crunch and filled with buttercream, then topped with buttercream flairs, fresh florals, and glittered cherries on top to create the most frill-seeking cake you’ve ever seen!
Summer Floral Cake
This cake incoporated a design rule, Golden spiral, a natually occuring pattern that shows up in everything from seashells to sunflowers! When used on a cake, it helps to create movement and harmony.
Froggy Manor Cake
Frogs is a serious obession for this cake! How adorable are these froggies?
Piping Party Cake
This beginner-friendly cake workshop was specifically designed for kids ages 10+ and adults using some fun piping tips.
Witchwood Cottage Cake
Gingerbread found DEAD- long live the cake cottage! This spooky witch’s cottage was made entirely out of chocolate CAKE! This cottage was customized with doors and windows, creepy crawly details, cake moss, and even an edible graveyard!
Funky Holiday Tree Cake
This Funky Tree Shag cake workship is an annual favorite at our studio!
More about Emily Nejad, Bon Vivant Chicago
Cake Artist, Founder, and Cake Instructor of Bon Vivant Chicago