Have a sweet tooth? Check out Kaitrin’s Konfectionaries—a student-run baking business owned and operated by junior Kaitrin Francis. Ranging from fortune cookies to wedding cakes, prepare for the cravings to be cured.

As a self-taught baker from the age of three, Francis has mastered her love of baking sans recipe.

“I began by baking grocery store cupcake and cake mixes and didn’t like the way they tasted or looked. Because I wanted them to taste and look like a higher quality, I began to experiment and stray from the recipe,” Francis said.

Because of this experimentation, Francis has developed a unique and original taste that has jump-started her business and allowed her baking to gain popularity.

“When I first began my business, it was slow but receiving very positive feedback. A few months in, a family friend published my business on Facebook and it began to take off with more orders and customers,” Francis said.

Now avidly working to grow her business, as well as better her abilities, Francis has taken on more audacious and time-consuming projects that will take her baking hobby to an actual job. Francis recently signed on to a job baking two wedding cakes and an estimation of over 200 cupcakes for a May wedding; a task that is pushing her limits past her previous projects.

“Taking on this project will be particularly difficult because it’s larger than anything I’ve done before. I’m going to be responsible for baking the wedding cake, a groom’s cake, and around 200 cupcakes. To make it even harder, everything will have to be gluten free, so I’ll have to do at least a few practice runs before the actual event,” Francis said.

Despite her natural taking to the art of baking, Francis does not plan on making this a full time job, but rather saving it for her retiree days.

“I’m planning on working as a software engineer and continuing my hobby of baking, but I won’t give it up entirely. After I retire, it’s my dream to open an American bakery in Shanghai,” Francis said. “Baking is a stress reliever, so I don’t think I’d ever be able to give it up.”