She made kitchens her classroom; now this young foodie has her own Olathe bakeshop

Oreo cheesecake cookies. Take-and-bake cinnamon rolls. Pina Colado sodas. After seven years as an home-based business in Olathe, Cake Loft now has a storefront and even more attention-grabbing offerings.

Cake Loft macarons; courtesy photo

Owner Chrissy Zemencik’s line includes cakes, cupcakes, decorated sugar cookies, and macarons, as well as gourmet cookies — apple pie, cherry pie, lemon blueberry, brown butter pecan and more, including her most popular gourmet cookie: Oreo cheesecake.

Baking has been a passion since a “super young age,” Zemencik said from Cake Loft’s bakery at 13778 S. Black Bob Road in Olathe.

While a student at Olathe Northwest High School, she entered the culinary arts program of the Olathe Advanced Technical Center, spending half her school day in a commercial kitchen learning about food basics, safety and sanitation, catering, restaurant management and more. 

The students even prepare a three-course meal for the public. 

Zemencik attended Johnson County Community College for three years, earning an associate’s degree in food and beverage management, and a certificate in baking and pastry. 

Then she earned a bachelor’s in hospitality management from Kansas State University Olathe.

All the while, she ran Cake Loft out of her mother’s house in Olathe, following health department guidelines. 

Zemencik spread the word through friends and family, then a Facebook page. During the pandemic, she made thousands of hot cocoa bombs. 

After years of operating out of home-based kitchens, she spent a year searching for the perfect storefront.

The new space’s commercial kitchen on Black Bob Road allows her to expand her line to include cheesecakes in multiple flavors (this week’s offerings are classic, cinnamon roll, and turtle cheesecake); as well as take-and-bake cinnamon rolls; and dirty sodas such as blue raspberry Jolly Rancher, and Piña Colada.

Cake Loft cake topped by macarons and chocolates; courtesy photo

“Just being able to have a little bit more freedom in what I’m making, no longer just for custom orders and pop-ups,” Zemencik said. “And it’s really nice for customers, too, because they can come in and get one or two items instead of ordering a dozen of something.”

Catering orders include custom cupcakes and cookies with logos, and Zemencik also sets up dessert bars at weddings and other large events. 

Cake Loft offers such cookie decorating classes as a St. Patrick’s Day theme class on March 16 and 17. It has private classes for girls night out, corporate team building, children’s birthday parties and other special events.

“She’s a perfect example of how you do it,” said Christine Splichal, director of marketing and communications at K-State Olathe. “Chrissy baked, sold her baked goods at Farmers’ Markets, pop-ups, to pay for her education without having to move away from her home base.”

Cake Loft is planning a ribbon cutting Thursday, Feb. 27, with 25 percent off gourmet cookies and dirty sodas.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. The business is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

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Startland News contributor Joyce Smith covered local restaurants and retail for nearly 40 years with The Kansas City Star. Click here to follow her on Bluesky, here for X (formerly Twitter), here for Facebook, here for Instagram, and by following #joyceinkc on Threads.