South San Francisco's queen of cakes

In December, it will be selling Christmas cookie kits for families looking to bake their own Christmas cookies. The journey to customized cakes started small, when Monzo would help her mother in the kitchen.

“I remember my mom would bake cookies, so I would be in the kitchen with her, and I enjoyed doing that,” Monzo said.

When she got older, she joined the California Culinary Academy, which has since been shut down, in San Francisco. There she enrolled in its baking and pastry program, and fell in love with baking cakes. 

She started selling baked goods such as cookies and cupcakes as a side hustle from out of her house in 2005. Sister Jade Bussard helps bake and handle inquiries for the current shop, said their family would come over to help Monzo complete the cakes on time.

“On Friday nights, when Tara was working out of her house, she would have like 10 cakes and so that weekend would turn into a family affair where we’re all helping her,” Bussard said.

Then, in 2015, she opened a culinary studio called Bay Area Cake Queens, where she focused solely on customized cakes. Since 2019, she has been running the South San Francisco cake shop with the help of her sister to serve the community with cakes they have never seen before.

“The cakes are always busy,” Monzo said. 

The process for the cakes starts when the customer walks in. There, they discuss how they want their cake to be decorated and its size. Pictures provided by the customer help a great deal in configuring the right design and once Monzo has it her head on how she wants to do it, then they move onto the next step.

Cakes are baked and then stacked to the proper size, then handed off to Monzo for decorating. Fondant is one of the main ingredients used to make the cake come to life because of its doughy, malleable consistency.

“It’s like Play-Doh,” Monzo said. “You could make characters out of it, roll it out, and then just drape it on the cake. That’s to get the smooth clean finish.”

For all the intricate details that enhance the cakes appearance, Monzo uses a wide range of clay tools to sculpt the fondant how she wants it to look. After many hours of carving and assembling, the customer is called in to pick up their cake.

When the cakes are brought up to the front for the customer to pick up, Bussard said she loves to see their reactions because they are usually in complete awe of the work the team has done. And it’s all about the creativity in the kitchen and working together, she said.

“I love being around people being creative,” Bussard said. “I love the people we work with like family. I love working with my sister. I love working at a bakery.”

Bussard added that everyone is there to support her sister and it is wonderful to see the transformation of her cakes, over her 20 years as a baker and artist, from basic to masterpieces.

“I think about it and it’s funny because we look at her first cakes and we laugh at them because they look so basic, but it’s just so cool to see where she started and what she is now,” Bussard said.

The Cake Queen and Coffee Bar is at 132 Brentwood Drive in South San Francisco. It is closed Monday and Tuesday, but open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, and 9 a.m.-2p.m. on Sunday. Those looking to order their special tres leches cakes or their daily menu can find it on its website: bayareacakequeen.com.