Meet Penny
Penny is the kind of cake artist who works intuitively with each client. She will find ways of merging your experiences, tastes and aesthetics into highly original sugar art. Penny has always been captivated by all forms of design, from fashion to interiors, and she brings this inspiration to modern works of cake art that will grace your celebrations with an unforgettable centerpiece sure to keep people talking long after the event has come and gone. Never shy of a challenge, she is an entrepreneur, media personality, and passionate chef-instructor. Her favorite cake to make is the one that she has yet to create.
Penny’s background in the visual and culinary arts makes her uniquely poised to sculpt visionary creations out of flour, sugar and butter.
Penny’s Cake-Story
Strongly influenced by her years as a filmmaker, Penny Stankiewicz strives to tell a story in every cake she makes. A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the Institute of Culinary Education, Penny’s background in the visual and culinary arts makes her uniquely poised to design delightfully original creations out of flour, sugar and butter. A strong visual language, sugar skills, and a knack for storytelling combine to create her superpower — the ability to combine diverse influences and imagery into singular, cohesive “cake stories”.
Not one to keep her craft to herself, Penny also led popular cake decorating classes at the 92nd St. Y, helped build the recreational culinary and baking programs at Sarah Lawrence College, and has led cake classes at the International Culinary Institute and Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). Penny was also honored to teach at DeGustibus Cooking School in Macy’s. Penny also offers private instruction which she values as a special opportunity to connect with clients and share her love of all things sweet.
Penny is a proud alumna of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Tory Burch Initiative, and is also newly-inducted into the premiere women’s culinary organization, Les Dames d’Escoffier, for which she is producing and hosting a podcast to launch mid-2021.
Karlie Kloss posing with Sugar Couture’s 10-tier cake for American Express
Couture Clients
From the honored bride, to the Grammy-winning artist, Penny has embraced opportunities to bring many innovative cake projects to life for discerning clients throughout New York, including: American Express, Edelman, Vogue, Showtime, Tory Burch, and Madison Square Garden.
Whether it’s a celebrity birthday, or celebrating 10 years of Small Business Saturday, Penny approaches each new challenge with the sense of curiosity and focus needed to turn raw ingredients into delectably unforgettable feats of gravity-defying sugar.
Master Chef and Mentor
She didn’t set out to be a teacher, but one day Penny realized she was doing it naturally with the staff of her Brooklyn, New York, bakery. Soon, she began teaching more and found deep pleasure in passing on her years of experience. She teaches cake classes at the Institute of Culinary Education, as well as privately. Contact Penny directly for more information on private lessons.
Penny On Screen
As a former film producer, Penny is no stranger to a production set, and in fact it’s one of the places she feels most alive. She has been a recurring featured chef on the wildly popular Epicurious 4 Levels YouTube show. Featured on the Food Network’s Ridiculous Cakes, Penny made some of the biggest and most detailed cakes of her career for Ceci Johnson of Ceci in New York, and the Tory Burch Foundation.
4 Levels of Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Amateur to Food Scientist | Epicurious
4 Levels of Chocolate Cake:
Amateur to Food Scientist | Epicurious
People Love Penny
“We’re about to celebrate our 10th anniversary, and our wedding cake is still to date, one of the highlights of the day.”
— Melie
“I first spotted one of Penny’s fondant creations in a New York magazine article showcasing wedding cakes that were museum-worthy works of art by themselves. I fell in love with her cake right then and there, which I’d contracted her to recreate for me before I bought my wedding dress!”
— Mei
“Penny created our wedding cake for 80 guests and I’m STILL dreaming of it! Something overwhelmingly joyous about seeing something on paper come to life and Penny could not have been more professional throughout every step. Penny’s cakes are worth every penny (no pun intended).”
— Sunny
“She loved it SO much. It was truly the most spectacular cake we have ever seen.”
— Shoshanna
Contact Penny
“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart.”
― Erma Bombeck