Anna Aguilar crafts cakes so tall that she doesn’t trust they’ll survive the car rides to their final destinations. Instead, she delivers her wedding and quinceañera cakes in pieces and builds them at the venues.
“They’re always challenging, and I’m learning new things on those because with one little mistake, your cake can tilt,” Aguilar told the Sun. “And the whole thing just collapses.”
A Santa Maria cake boss
To see examples of Anna Aguilar’s work or place an order request, visit @chikiscupcakes1 on Instagram or Aguilar Chikis on Facebook.
It happened once at an event, but thankfully guests hadn’t arrived yet. While the Santa Maria native regained her composure in the restroom, she realized she forgot to stick straws in one half of the first layer. This technique helps the top tiers stand up straight.
“Luckily, it was a fixable thing,” Aguilar said.
Since the pandemic, she’s been channeling energy into growing her cottage bakery, Chikis Cupcakes, named after her childhood nickname. She makes fresh cakes on the weekends for pickup or delivery.
Wedding and quinceañera cakes can be four or five layers tall depending on how big the party is. The biggest she’s made fed 300. Add decorations or florals on top, and the finished product can be massive, requiring careful attention to every detail.
“There’s times where your cake is not level, and that’ll just throw off the whole thing,” Aguilar said.
She learned from the toppled disaster and hasn’t made that mistake again. Another way she combats the issue is by wrapping each layer and freezing them before frosting.
“It actually brings so much moisture, and the fact that I’m going to use them that same day doesn’t give it a chance to dry at all. So within a few hours, it’s a bit firm but not frozen. I’m able to stack them,” she said.
Stiff layers are easier to decorate compared to wobbly ones. Aguilar goes in first with the filling. Maybe strawberry compote or chocolate ganache, but every part of the cake is customizable.
Homemade buttercream frosting is another star of the show, and Aguilar mixes different variations depending on how sugary her clients want the dessert. American buttercream is the sweetest, and Russian buttercream only requires butter, vanilla, and condensed milk. The Swiss and Italian versions use egg whites, which Aguilar always approves with clients in case of allergies.
For her most classic creations, she smothers two layers of filling in between three cake layers.
“I put it in a chiller for a little bit, meanwhile it stiffens up, and I’ll start another one,” Aguilar said of her typical baking day. “Then I’ll grab [the first] one out, and now it’s nice and firm, and then I just start decorating. … It’s like magic.”
She’s an expressive person by nature, with tattoos dotting her arms, shiny rings on every other finger, and bright red streaks in her dark hair. She said the dye is only because football season just started, and the San Francisco 49ers fan wanted to show her team spirit.
Customizing each order allows her creativity to shine in a way that she can share with the community. Decorating with toppers, fondant, and florals makes her giddy.
“The best part is when a customer says, ‘Do what you want. I trust you,’” Aguilar said. “That’s when I get to use my creative senses.”
Some days she gets going at 4 a.m. The weekends are her most common baking occasions because Aguilar uses the week to shop and prepare. Plus, she has duties as a stay-at-home mom to four kids.
Saturdays and Sundays are often mad dashes in the kitchen so that every order is as fresh as possible.
“What I promote a lot is, ‘If you have a cake order on Saturday, I’m baking your cake on Saturday,’” Aguilar explained. “I know it’s a lot more work. Some people won’t do it because of the work.”
After the chaos slows down, Aguilar wants to keep busy in the kitchen during the week. She’ll experiment with cinnamon rolls, sourdough croissants, and variations on traditional Mexican goods, including bolillos and stuffed conchas. Fall is bringing new flavor profiles, too.
“Everybody knows conchas, but I make them pumpkin, so that’s a good twist,” Aguilar said.
Incorporating her Latina heritage into her business dates back to when she first started selling cupcakes. The “big hits” that did well were inspired by churros, mazapán candy, and Duvalín.
“I think they’re more like a childhood favorite, so I put a twist on them in cupcakes,” Aguilar said. “I even have cake fillings that are like Duvalín, which is basically like a Neapolitan.”
With a goal to open her own boutique storefront in Santa Maria, her modern Mexican variations would definitely be on the menu, she added. People seem to love them.
Her focus throughout the entire baking process helped with anxiety that flared up in 2020. After college, Aguilar worked in the medical field for more than 10 years, but when the pandemic started, she realized the work was draining her.
Instead, she was able to take her favorite part—caring for others—and translate the feeling into baking for customers. Food is important to people, but the baker learned that there’s something extra special about cakes. They’re a celebratory symbol of love and excitement, just like how every order brings the business owner joy.
Aguilar said she’s finally doing what she loves and is grateful for the Santa Maria community that has supported her journey since the beginning.
“I’ve struggled a lot, and I never knew my purpose,” Aguilar said. “I think they just let me find my purpose.”
Staff Writer Madison White savored the blueberry cream cheese croissant by Chikis Cupcakes. Find her at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in September 10 – September 17, 2026.
