Illiana Lifestyle Fall 2022 | Page 17

ILLIANA MAGAZINE — FALL 2022 17
About five or six years ago , Dillman transitioned to custom cakes and cupcakes with buttercream frosting and has taught herself how to bake and decorate her creative confections by watching YouTube and tutorials online .
“ The Internet is amazing ,” she said . “ I watch a few videos and try out techniques .”
But perfecting her baking and decorating skills produced an overabundance of baked goods and practice cakes .
“ I wanted to keep baking , so I took them into my dad ’ s office ,” she said . “ I knew my dad was retiring , so I started giving them away on Facebook and Instagram about five years ago .”
Dillman still remembers the first cake she gave away in 2016 or 2017 on Facebook . It was a red velvet funfetti cake with Oreo buttercream frosting covered in sprinkles .
“ I use a number generator to pick the winner but , most of all , I like to see the new ‘ likes ’ and comments from people I ’ ve never met before ,” she said of her Facebook contests .
Her weekly giveaways on Facebook have garnered a following of
4,400 followers on her Kayla ’ s Chic Treats page and allowed her to take the next step in fulfilling her childhood dream .
“ The dream was to build my own bakery ,” she said . “ I looked at places to rent . The woman who owned Red Door Cakes offered her location , but I didn ’ t want a sit-down place .
“ I like setting my own schedule and baking on my own time ,” she said , adding that she continues to work full-time as a personal fitness trainer at DC Fitness in Danville . “ I pretty much work seven days a week . Some days I wake up at 3 a . m . to start baking .”
During the summer of 2021 , Dillman built a bakery on her property and officially became a business in February 2022 . Her commercial-grade kitchen has a vintage vibe with red appliances and black-andwhite checkered flooring .
“ My goal is to have cake decorating classes for adults and cupcake decorating classes for children , but I want to get one year ( in business ) under my belt ,” she said .
“ I ’ m not paying myself for the first year ,” she added . “ I ’ m putting everything back into the business .”
The Internet has kept Dillman upto-date on the latest cake trends .
“ I mostly look at pictures , but reels are everything ,” she said . “ Some bakers will find their own thing and it blows up ( online ), and other bakers will try it and give them credit . Slowly I ’ ve put my own twist on cakes .
“ Sometimes you have an image and sometimes I draw it , and when it turns out the way you envisioned it , it ’ s exciting ,” Dillman said of her cake designs .
“ I enjoy seeing pictures from customers so I can see if it ’ s something I can do or , if I can ’ t , I will recommend someone who can ,” she said .
Geode cakes that were once popular now have been replaced by fault line cakes that look like the cake is being split apart .
“ I ’ m not into animal cakes ,” she
Kayla Dillman , owner of Kayla ’ s Chic Treats in Danville , uses a palette of colorful buttercream and small tools to create the buttercream flowers on her cake creations . Photo by Carol Roehm

ILLIANA MAGAZINE — FALL 2022 17