12-year-old baker brings holiday joy

Twelve-year-old Capri Sen started a cottage industry this year making holiday cakes in her mom’s kitchen, and she hopes to keep it going.

“I’m already thinking about Valentine’s Day and Easter,” she said.

Capri and her mother, Jennifer, came up with the idea of making their family cake and selling it as a way to raise money for their church’s adopt-a-child-for-Christmas program.

“This year we [adopted] two; one wasn’t enough,” Jennifer said. “But the lists were expensive. One of the gifts alone was $50.”

Capri was determined to find a way to make money to pay for all the gifts on the wish lists. She settled on a family recipe for Jewish apple cake that has been handed down over the generations. Although they aren’t Jewish, Jennifer said her great-grandmother would bake the cake every year. When she died, her late uncle kept it going. When he died, Jennifer decided to take on the task. She bought a holiday cake pan from Pioneer Woman that forms a festive treat, and had been baking it for her family for years.

In mid-December, mother and daughter decided to advertise the cakes for $20 on Facebook. Jennifer said she didn’t know about the Nextdoor community until someone suggested she try it. When she posted the cakes for sale on the site, the orders came flying in.

“We were almost overwhelmed, but we got a good system,” Jennifer said.

They had to get another pan to fill the 30 orders they got in five days. Jennifer’s 18-year-old daughter also helped as they cooked, wrapped the cakes in cellophane and delivered them all before Christmas. Each cake included a handwritten note with a Colossians scripture on giving thanks. 

The family had a hard deadline to meet because of their own travel plans to visit their oldest child in Florida who is serving in the Navy. “Taking the family down to Florida for Christmas was my gift to them, but the cake project made this year more special,” said Jennifer.

The project netted them $400 and enough money to buy all the gifts on the children’s wish lists. With $70 left over, Capri said she wants to keep baking cakes and goodies for upcoming holidays. 

Mom and daughter were encouraged by an outpouring of thanks from the community. One woman who wrote them said she was Jewish and their Jewish apple cake was the best she had ever had. “That was one of the best compliments we could get,” Jennifer said.

Capri, a seventh-grade honors student at Millsboro Middle School, said she’s been baking since she was 9, starting with brownies. Since then, she’s made scores of cupcakes and birthday cakes for family members. Combining recipes, she said she came up with a rainbow Peep cake for her cousin’s fifth birthday. “It came out great,” Capri said.

She now has some extra time in between her fall volleyball schedule and spring softball season, and she is focused on her next baking creation.

For Valentine’s Day, she wants to make another family favorite – a hot milk cake with buttercream frosting topped with red hearts, all in a heart-shaped design.

An easier option, prompted by Jennifer, could be cookies similar to peanut butter blossoms, but made with strawberry filling instead of peanut butter. For St. Patrick’s Day, they may pull out their family Irish soda bread recipe.

But whatever Capri decides, Jennifer said she’ll support. “This Christmas was one of the best. My heart was full,” she said.

Stay tuned to their Facebook page at Capri Creations, or the Nextdoor account for more details.