{"id":321199,"date":"2026-05-18T13:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/321199\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T13:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:50:13","slug":"how-a-google-employee-turned-a-mission-picnic-into-an-international-cake-craze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/321199\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Google employee turned a Mission picnic into an international cake craze"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elisa Sunga founded Cake Picnic in 2024, never expecting the event to become an international phenomenon. | Source: Andria Lo for The Standard<\/p>\n

For dessert obsessives, it\u2019s been fascinating to watch the phenomenon that is Cake Picnic (opens in new tab)<\/a>, the event series that sells out in seconds, with only one requirement: \u201cNo cake, no entry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Founder Elisa Sunga \u2014 who works as a UX program manager at Google \u2014 got the party started in 2024, when she threw a picnic in Potrero del Sol Park, hoping 15 bakers might show up. Instead, 183 bakers marched their cakes into the Mission that day, and Sunga\u2019s inbox soon flooded with requests to host events all over the world. In the two years since, Cake Picnic has popped up in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, and Sydney. Tickets always sell out in less than a minute, and fans have been known to fly in for the occasion. They arrive by train, car, and ferry \u2014 leading to occasional mishaps with sliding layers and melted frosting. The events range in size from 200 to 2,000 people, with the largest last fall welcoming 2,068 cakes on Treasure Island.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve never snagged a ticket, you can get a taste of the action when the cookbook \u201cCake Picnic\u201d (opens in new tab)<\/a> comes out May 19. Part entertaining guide and part cake gallery, it\u2019s a vision of stacked layers, swooshed buttercream, and over-the-top florals. \u201cI was really excited by the idea of inspiring people to gather and host around cake,\u201d Sunga says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Two\"AnSource: Jason Henry for The Standard<\/p>\n

The lucky few who do get to attend one of Cake Picnic\u2019s events are treated to an experience that starts like an art installation and ends with an epic feast. At Treasure Island, organizers set up 600 feet of tables along the waterfront, creating a glorious 15-minute cake walk. Michelin-starred pastry chefs and dedicated home bakers set out everything from marzipan-draped princess cakes to thinly layered honey cakes; favorite flavors included \u201canything pistachio,\u201d mango, and black sesame, Sunga says. There\u2019s an art to cutting hundreds of cakes quickly and an unspoken etiquette on taking only small slices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sunga \u2014 who runs a blog (opens in new tab)<\/a>, bake club (opens in new tab)<\/a>, and monthly newsletter (opens in new tab)<\/a> \u2014 knew she wanted to write a cookbook long before Cake Picnic became an international phenomenon. She started writing in 2024, so the manuscript evolved as the tour grew, and experiencing more than 10,000 cakes proved the ultimate inspiration. \u201cI don\u2019t think Cake Picnic can go to all of the spots people want it to go,\u201d she says. \u201cSo if people are inspired, they can use the cookbook and host a mini one in their backyard or living room.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have thoughts on this story?Start the conversation<\/p>\n

The first section of the book is a guide to hosting your own cake picnic. Advice includes how to brainstorm a theme (winter citrus or afternoon tea?), arrange the tablescape (pro tip: level up with vintage stands and stacked books), craft a playlist, and even prep icebreakers to get the conversation flowing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though entertaining books were once condemned as fussy, they\u2019re making a comeback. Post-pandemic, there\u2019s been a resurgence of interest in the art of hosting, as evidenced by last year\u2019s reissue of Martha Stewart\u2019s \u201cEntertaining,\u201d which first hit shelves in 1982.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local photographer Andria Lo shot every cake in \u201cCake Picnic,\u201d some styled on location on patterned picnic blankets with backdrops of the bay and Golden Gate Bridge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AThe \u201cCake Picnic\u201d cookbook hits shelves May 19.<\/p>\n

The second half of the book dives into 50 detailed recipes. Readers get a taste for Sunga\u2019s personal style, which favors round cakes, a couple of layers, fillings and frostings, and fruit and flowers as decoration. Sunga was born in the Philippines, where dessert meant mango and sticky rice, and moved to Antioch, California, in middle school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine a 12-year-old eating a brownie for the first time,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was, like, lightning and heart eye emojis everywhere.\u201d At the events, she beelines to anything chocolate. In the book, she loves the recipe for dark chocolate cake with salty-sweet potato-chip toffee. Other flavor combos are equally unexpected, pairing passion fruit with honey-butter corn or blood orange with chai and bay leaf. There are advanced dome cakes, simple upside-down cakes, and \u2014 would you call trifle a cake? In any case, there are recipes for three.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To celebrate the release of the cookbook, Cake Picnic will host a hometown event May 23 in San Francisco (opens in new tab)<\/a>. Sunga will be bringing a cake, although she\u2019s still deciding exactly which recipe to use. She also asked several friends to bring cakes from the cookbook and has commissioned Mallory Valvano of Party Girl in Philadelphia to make a large-format sculptural cake.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given the popularity of the events, you might wonder if Sunga considered working with contributors and putting out more of a community cookbook. She could have shared recipes from notable participants, including pastry chef Christina Tosi of Milk Bar, cookbook author Zoe Francis, and several contestants from \u201cThe Great British Bake Off.\u201d But for her first cookbook, Sunga wanted to share her original vision and recipes. She won\u2019t rule out another book down the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Cake Picnic continues to grow, she\u2019s been blown away by the variety of cakes brought forth at each event, from tres leches in Mexico to duck cakes in Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n