Meet Katrina Rainier: Owner + Baker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katrina Rainier and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katrina, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind the success of my brand is the quality of ingredients that go into my products. I use as many locally sourced ingredients as I can, which gives me the opportunity to really know and trust the people that I’m buying from, and anything that I can’t buy locally I buy the highest quality possible. It has always been important to me to really understand what I’m putting into my body, and I won’t sell anything to other people that compromises that.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I consider many aspects of cooking and baking to be art. After all, you decide a lot about the food you’re eating with your eyes before you taste it! When I have free reign for decorating a dessert, I tend to lean more towards a fun and eclectic style. I love color and bold, unique flavors. Baking and decorating can take a lot of trial and error, but with everything you do, you learn something new and that’s how you grow. It can be very easy to give up when you make a mistake or get frustrated. I’ve found that, with decorating, if I make a mistake or start to lose my motivation, it’s great to step away for a little while and collect my thoughts. I spend a lot of time taking short walks through my neighborhood clearing my head. In this moment, I want the world to know that sometimes you have to take what you’re given and run with it. I lost my day job last year, and around the same time found out I was pregnant. I’m very thankful to have a supportive partner in this journey, but these big life changes also make this line of work a little scary. I’m so thankful to my clients that keep my head above water and always trust my process.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Coming from southern Louisiana, I was very surprised to find Dallas has a wildly diverse food scene! Also, local roasters have helped me to fall in love with coffee in a way I didn’t know was possible. We would start with a mocha or chai latte from State Street Coffee. Bobby makes all of their syrups in house, and you will not be the same after having one of these drinks! If the weather is nice, we’d take a walk through Klyde Warren Park while enjoying our lattes. For lunch we would head through downtown to the Farmers Market. The vast array of food vendors inside the market will cater to any taste, but I would highly recommend a noodle bowl from Nammi or a jambon beurre (ham and butter) sandwich from Scardello. After lunch, we may go for a massage and facial and Spa Adolphus before heading to Lower Greenville for dinner and rooftop drinks at HG SPLY. On Saturday morning, I’d recommend White Rock Farmers Market for some local eats and fun trinkets to take home. This is my favorite farmers market in the area because of how well their vendors are vetted. You can trust what you find here! From here we would head just down the street to stroll through the arboretum or a hike through Oak Cliff Nature Preserve. On Sunday, we would head over to Yolk for brunch then take a walk through Bishop Arts for some window shopping and live music at Revelers Hall. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Jessica Isaacs is my friend and photographer. She showed me the ropes to help up my photo game, and also came in to shoot lots of product shots for me when I needed her! She’s also been a great taste tester, opinion giver, and assistant baker and decorator when I needed her most.

Website: katrinamakescakes.com
Instagram: instagram.com/katrinamakescakes

Image Credits
Photos with Katrina in them were taken by Jessica Isaacs Photography