Welcome to Cakes by Åsa (pronounced OH-Sa). I've been involved in baking and food preparation since my early teens. I have a degree in culinary arts that I earned while studying in my native country of Sweden. Upon graduation, I worked as a cold-prep chef in various restaurants in Sweden. I also traveled abroad to places like Scotland to do seasonal work in restaurants.

Though I always enjoyed cooking, working as a female chef in Sweden was very demanding and there came a point when I decided to switch things up a little bit. That's when I came to the United States and worked for a fellow Swede caring for and training Swedish Warm Blood Horses. I had no desire to resume my chef career here in the United States and, instead, went on to study computer technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Around this time, I met my future husband, Michael.

Studies took a back seat to raising a family. Michael and I have two wonderful children together; Lucas and Cadence.

And here's where fate steps in and my story takes a surprise turn. As I stated before, I always enjoyed cooking even though I didn't want to work as a chef. Friends and family were big fans of my cakes and baked goods. The recipes were adapted from traditional Swedish recipes which were notably different than what Americans are used to tasting. I entered a baking contest on a whim, and chose my Swedish Almond Cake to put forward for judging. It took first place -even beating out professional cake bakers who had entered!!

A little while later, a piece of this delicious Swedish Almond Cake found it's way onto the plate of Loveta Wilen, General Manager of Paul's on the South River. One taste and she was hooked. Within a week it was on the dinner menu at Paul's. Other specialty cakes followed.

Through Loveta, I was able to meet with a master wedding cake baker and designer, Rose King (Cakes by Rose), who had recently retired. We developed a fast friendship and I ended up buying her recipes, equipment, and some hands-on lessons. Cakes by Åsa was born!