Aimee France Transcript
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Hi, everyone. You're listening to The Future Of Food Is You, a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. I'm your host, Abena Anim-Somuah, and each week I talk to emerging talents in the food world and they share what they're up to as well as their dreams and predictions for what's ahead. As for me, I'm the founder of The Eden Place, a community that's all about gathering people intentionally around food. I love this new generation of chefs, bakers, and creatives making their way in the world of food, drink, media, and tech.
Today's guest is Aimee France. You might know her as YungKombucha420. During the pandemic, Aimee used her free time to hone her baking and unique cake decorating skills. Today she's part of the new generation of cake artists in New York City. Her custom cakes are in high demand, and you can find her at popups in spots like Rhodora and public records. Aimee and I chat about the creative way she came up with her account name, the reality of Running a one woman cake business, and how she taught herself to make cakes and forays for decorations. Stay tuned for our chat.
Thank you to Kerrygold for supporting today's show. Kerrygold is delicious, all natural butter and cheese made with milk from Irish Grass-Fed cows, raised on small family run Irish dairy farms. Kerrygold's farming families pass their craft and knowledge from generation to generation. This traditional approach is the reason for the rich taste of Kerrygold. You can enjoy delicious sliced or shredded Kerrygold cheddar cheese available in mild or savory flavors. The shredded cheddar is perfect for those who love making mac and cheese. And now the grilling season is here. The cheddar slices will take any burger or veggie burger up a notch. There's also Kerrygold's classic salted butter in the gold foil. It's perfect for slathering on corn on the cob, always a summer fav, and the unsalted butter in the silver foil is an absolute must. If you're turning sweet summer strawberries into strawberry shortcake. Visit Kerrygoldusa.com to find the Kerrygold retailer nearest you and lots of great recipes.
And now let's check in with today's guest. Aimee, thank you so much for joining us on The Future Of Food Is You podcast.
Aimee France:
Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Amazing. I'm a huge fan of your cakes. Can you tell us a little bit about where you grew up and how food showed up in your life?
Aimee France:
I grew up in New Hampshire, 40 minutes outside of Boston. Just the suburb. Food was definitely a prominent part of my childhood. I have a lot of memories of doing little bake sales with my friends or we would play Iron Chef America in my kitchen. My mom cooked. For some reason, I don't have a ton of memories of a lot of the meals that she cooked. I just remember she always made this Portuguese soup when I was little and there was a chocolate cake that she always made because when she was a teenager, she worked at a bakery that was always on my birthday. She always made birthday cakes though for me, and when I watch back on home videos, she did some elaborate stuff.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's awesome. Do you remember the first cake that you ever made?
Aimee France:
Probably, I made that chocolate cake with my mom at some point because she used to be in charge of the stand mixer. I was really scared of it, so I would always help and taste the batter and stuff, but I was like, all right, you can do that. I'm a little nervous about working with this machine.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Is that fear gone now or is it still prominent?
Aimee France:
It's gone. Me and the stand mix are our besties now.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And so you came to Pace for college, and at the time, was food still prominent in the way that it is now or were you just looking at something completely different?
Aimee France:
Yeah, so I went into college undecided. I honestly went to Pace just because I was like, oh, New York could be cool. I actually really wanted to go to University of Vermont or University of New Hampshire, which were state lick party schools, which I can never imagine myself going there now, but I didn't get in.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, wow.
Aimee France:
Yeah, Pace was like the one place I did. It was really random and I was like, well, New York could be cool. I've never been there. So I decided to come. Then I decided I would do communications as my major because I didn't want to take statistics because I hated math. I was so bad at math my whole life, I had a tutor. I was just doing communications, no idea what I wanted to do. And I know that I didn't want to have a corporate job. Something in me always knew I wanted to do something entrepreneurial, but I just didn't know what that was.
When I was in college, I think it was like my freshman year, I made a food account on Instagram, which is YungKombucha420, but it was me posting cursed things because I knew how to work that dining hall and make cool food out of what they had. So that's what I was posting, but it was just for fun because my friends were like, "You should document what you're doing. You really elaborate in there." And I was like, okay.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Can you give us an example of what kinds of meals you would make are the foundations of the dining hall?
Aimee France:
Yeah, so my go-to meal was, I was vegan at the time too, so keep that in mind, but there was a chopped salad section. Me and the guy that made the salads, we were close. He knew I was coming and I would get a chopped salad, but I'd only get half the portion and then I would go over. There was a vegan hot bar area. Honestly, the Pace food is cursed now, but back in the day you had to deal with it. But I would go over to the hot bar and I would add a ton of stuff from the hot bar to the salad, so then you'd have a full meal, but then I would bring stuff from my dorm, so I'd have nutritional yeast and avocado and seasoning and ended up tasting pretty good.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Since you mentioned that you made the account in college, I'm obsessed with the name YungKombucha420. I feel like you and Bettina, who's also been on the podcast, it's like the describer food 420 is a beautiful motif, how did you end up coming up with that name?
Aimee France:
It was just random. I don't know. I just thought it was funny because I was obsessed with kombucha at the time, and I was like, I don't know, is this like a silly username. I guess that's like good SEO now.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
So you're a self-taught baker, and it sounds like you've always had this passion for food, but before we dive into the cake business, where did you get inspirations for the foundational recipes you have and also where did you learn the techniques that are on your cakes?
Aimee France:
Over the pandemic is when I was like, all right, I'm going to really teach myself how to bake right now because I was at my parents' house in college, but college was a joke at that point. The professors would give me all of my work for the entire semester. I'd do it in two weeks, and then I would just wait until the final would come. So I had so much free time on my hands, and I was supposed to get an internship at Pace, which obviously never happened. I was kind of like, maybe I should just teach myself how to bake. So at the time, I was doing a lot of sourdough bread because I did have a starter that I made in November of 2019. So I was a little ahead of game.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You were before the-
Aimee France:
I'll take pride in that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Before the flour craze. Yeah.
Aimee France:
So I was making sourdough, making donuts, and then I would make cakes for holidays when I would go home. But since, like I said before, I was vegan at the time, I really wanted to learn about the science of vegan baking, mimicking traditional baking techniques. That's kind of what I just taught myself. I literally used YouTube and Reddit to learn everything, and I just made notebooks and I would just write down recipes and test them, see if they would work. I have so many notebooks from that period of time, so it just all went from there until I finally really built up a good base cake recipe that is just really versatile and I can work it into whatever I want.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What I love about your cakes is that they're very whimsical. It kind of reminds me of “Alice in Wonderland” tea party, yes, they've got this so much depth and structure to them. I feel like especially now in this cake era, there's really smooth Swiss meringue filled cakes, but your cakes have this awesome kind of, I don't want to say prickly texture to them. Where do you draw inspiration for the flavors that you have and then also for the decorations that come on the cake?
Aimee France:
So flavors, it's kind of just what I personally think I would like to eat, and then the seasons in the summer, I kind of like to do more light flavors, maybe fruity. I love a chocolate cream berry moment in the summer, and then in the winter more of, I don't know, a spice pumpkin or coffee flavors, just eating with the seasons. I wouldn't want to make that pumpkin cake in the middle of the summer. So yeah, definitely inspired by going to the farmer's market and just... it's so exciting when a food comes into season again, because I feel like when you don't eat it for so long and then you try it, you're like, oh my God, I forgot what that tasted like. And then you're like, Ooh, but this would pair so well with this, and then I'm excited to use it again.
So that's where the inspiration comes from for flavors. And then decor wise, I don't know, that really came out of nowhere. So I used to get edible flowers and crystallize them, but that was just way too much work.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And very expensive.
Aimee France:
Yeah. I just started to forage more stuff and learn about what is edible, what isn't. I would say, I'm pretty knowledgeable about that. That's kind of where the flowers came from. I just thought that they looked cool. To be completely honest, when I first started decorating cakes, I was just frosting them with an offset. And then my mom has this really big collection of piping tips that were her mom's.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, wow.
Aimee France:
Yeah, which is so cool. But she gave me them and then I was like, oh, I'm going to pipe a cake. And then I tried putting the tips into the bags and I couldn't figure it out, and I just got so ticked off that I was like, I'm not using a tip. I just decided to pipe a cake one day, no tip. And that's what I do now. I don't use a piping tip.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
So you've never used a piping tip for any of your cakes?
Aimee France:
No. I just cut a little hole and then use different sizes, and then I just kind of started piping different designs. I would say the inspiration kind of came from ballet costumes, really intricate designed costumes, and then baroque architecture.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
For cakes, yeah.
Aimee France:
Yeah. Just like crown molding and stuff like that I think is so beautiful. I guess it's all a little subconscious when I decorate, but that's I think where the inspiration has come from and just nature in general.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I just want to circle back really quickly to what made you decide not to be vegan anymore?
Aimee France:
I actually had a ton of health problems come up, not related to veganism. I was just in a really bad living situation that made me realize what anxiety was, and it just started to affect me in a physical way. And the vegan diet was just not enough anymore to sustain myself because I was vegan on high school, I was running track and I was super active and I was very healthy. But I don't know, being in more of a fight or flight state and then having issues eating in general was just like I couldn't do it anymore.
And it was also becoming a career barrier because now I was actually getting involved in this New York food scene, I guess, and I couldn't eat so many of the foods and I wanted to experiment with vegan baking more. But it's like when you can't taste what the real thing is and what the texture is like, and actually work with the ingredient to see what it looks like, it's just kind of difficult to recreate it in a vegan version.
So I think that transitioning my diet was one of the best things I ever did. I don't think I would ever go back, no offense to anyone that's vegan, that's your decision. But for me, it was a time of my life and if I never went vegan, I don't think I would've gotten into cooking and being so interested in seasonal produce and everything as I am now. So I'm very grateful that I did that. I think it was a learning experience, but now I'm definitely at a different point in my life.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I mean, also I think everyone has a different relationship to food that works for them. So at least you tried it, you've experienced it, you understand the social cultural implications of it. You've talked a lot about how it's helped you meet so many people in the food scene because you can now try everyone's food without limitations or restrictions. But I also think it's really nice that you still make some of your cakes. Some of your cakes are gluten free, some of your cakes are vegan, and I think desserts are often the hardest part for any vegan to transition in. So I want to talk to you a little bit about, now we're getting into the business of things. You are self done and you are the one woman show behind the YungKombucha420 bakery. So emails, orders, cakes, delivery. What sparked the decision to go into making cakes full-time?
Aimee France:
Like I said before, I was baking for fun over the pandemic, and I think a lot of people were just like... this was before food. Instagram is what it is today. You know what I mean? There was the few accounts and everyone was in a very tight knit community, and we were all cooking for fun and baking for fun and posting it and just taking really pretty pictures because what else were we going to do? I gained a following really randomly and organically over the pandemic. Over the pandemic also, I did a few Zooms, so I did a pasta making tutorial and a bake with me, and then we decorated a cake. So I had this following and I had this product, and now I was back in New York. I was like, maybe I should try to sell a product, try to do a bake sale.
So I saw Hester Street Fair on Instagram when it was actually in the old location, and I texted my friends and was like, should I do this? And they were like, "Yeah, you should." So I bought a table and made a ridiculous amount of stuff. I made multiple cakes, donuts, banana breads, I don't even know how the heck I did that. And I ended up selling out, which was really crazy. So many people showed up and there was a line which I was not expecting, and then I did it again, and the same thing happened, and then I just started doing pop-ups and my Instagram following began to grow. It grew from there. And then I was still in school while all this was happening. Now I was back in New York, but I was doing online school and-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Still at Pace?
Aimee France:
Yeah. And it was approaching graduation and time to actually get a job, and my parents were like, "What are you going to do? You going to get that communications job? You better get on Indeed. You better get on Indeed. So working on your resume." And I was like, no, but you guys, it's you don't understand. I think I can do something with Instagram and baking. And they were like, "I don't know." They were a little nervous, but they ended up understanding and then I decided to take the risk and start my own business in it. It ended up working out. I feel like I got really lucky with the timing and everything, but that's kind of how that all grew. So I never had a real job.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
This is a real job. Just because you're not sitting on the desk doesn't mean it's not a real job. I think people work in food, have very real jobs. We've talked a little bit about the realness of your job, even though it's on Instagram and it looks great and you get to do all these amazing events, but I'm sure there's toughness and stuff that comes out with it. So yeah. When you decide to go, how did you think about the types of cake projects that you want to work on?
Aimee France:
So I was doing the pop-ups all the time, and it was so much work to do a pop-up, but from doing the pop-ups, I met so many people that I started getting commissioned orders. That's when I was like, maybe I can actually do this as a job. Since people are wanting big cakes, I'm not just having to do these events every weekend. So that's kind of when I noticed that it would be something sustainable. So mostly commissioned orders are the best. I love when I get a big cake order, even though it's a little stressful, but those are always fun and low-key. I love when people order a bulk order of mini cakes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh wow.
Aimee France:
It's just so fun. Everyone gets a little individual one, people can just share it. Yeah, definitely love a wedding cake order though, even though it breaks my wrists a little bit. It's fun.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What's the biggest mini cake order you've gotten?
Aimee France:
I think only 24, people don't order them that much. It'll be like for a catered event or something, but it just depends. More people want a showy cake for an event, so I mean, I understand.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.
Kerry Diamond:
Hi everybody, this is Kerry Diamond from Radio Cherry Bombe. The new issue of Cherry Bombe's print magazine is now available. You can subscribe via cherrybombe.com and receive Cherry Bombe direct to your door four times a year. Or you can pick up a copy at your favorite bookstore, magazine shop, or culinary store. You can find Cherry Bombe at Book Larder in Seattle, the Petite Shop at The Lost Kitchen in Freedom, Maine. And for our international friends, We Are Ferment in Vienna and under the cover in Lisbon. For more stockist locations, head to cherrybombe.com and click on the magazine tab. Thank you in advance for supporting our print magazine.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Let's talk about, you talked about how Instagram became your website became the platform when people were discovering you and also following you once they got to taste your work. We talked a little bit about it before, but why did you think it was important to continue to share your work on there? Even though you were out in the real world selling any other traditional bakery would?
Aimee France:
I'm in a really unique situation of using Instagram as my complete advertisement platform because there really is no other platform like it that you're able to promote not only a business but yourself in a creative way and not have to pay anything, which is crazy. That's something I think about all the time is like what's the next step from Instagram. Personally, I just find Instagram fun and I like posting pictures of food. That's how I originally started doing things, so I don't want to stop doing that, but at the same time, I've had so many, probably five or six times my account has been completely deleted. There's like a glitch in the system and I get reported for something that I never did, and in those moments where my account got deleted, you really realize without that platform you're nothing. Everything you've built is gone.
So Instagram is one of the most unreliable platforms, but at the same time, it's the most amazing platform. I don't know, it was just humbling reality check when that happens because it's like, how am I going to promote that the mini cakes need to be sold this week? And then it's like how I pay for my life, what happens if the account gets deleted? Luckily, I've gotten it back every time and shout to all the people that have helped me and that work at Meta that have helped me get it back. But yeah, those times have not been fun. Now I'm like, do I need to make a newsletter or something?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How have you managed to create a good environment Instagram, where you can still enjoy the app from a creative perspective, but also at the same time deal with the DMs and the requests that are coming in?
Aimee France:
Honestly, I haven't. If you want the truth, it's-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Of course.
Aimee France:
When Instagram becomes your career, you lose the fun of it, and it does become a job. I have very dedicated times that I answer DMs because it's just like I can't be doing it all the time. Same with emails, but I think something I always think about is the normal person, they're using it for fun, they get off their job, they've been working all day, they're on the train, they're going on Instagram after work, that's when they're sending their messages. That's why people are emailing you at 10 or 11 o'clock at night because that's their free time. On the flip side of it, it's like when you're the creator, you're on the app all day. So when it hits 5 or 6 o'clock and you want to shut down, it's like that's when people are clocking in.
I always say it's a job on top of having a full-time job because not only am I baking all day and being the prep cook and the dishwasher and the shopper and everything, I also have to keep up this social media persona and be posting consistently and be answering DMs. And you have to post certain things to keep your analytics up and everything. And I think a lot of people don't think about Instagram like analytically, but there's things you have to do in order to keep yourself relevant. It's very difficult because with any type of thing like that, it's like someone could do something and you're gone.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Someone could wake up one day and say no more Instagram.
Aimee France:
Yeah. It's a lot of pressure.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I want to talk to you about right now it's an incredibly challenging time. Food prices are up. You're a small business owner, you work for yourself. How do you think about the cost of cakes in response to rising food costs across the board?
Aimee France:
I've had to raise prices for sure, because first off, I'm doing everything by myself. I'm the prep cook. I'm the baker, I'm the shopper, I'm the dishwasher. Yeah, it's like everything is so expensive now, and I think people don't... in their mind they're like, oh, food's so expensive. And then they'll reach out to something and they'll be like, "Whoa, that's way overpriced. How are you charging something for that?" And I'm like, well, it's like you care about food so much and you know that prices are rising. Think about the person that doesn't buy bulk. I'm not getting the bell-door delivery to my door every week. I'm actually going out and handpicking the strawberries for you. So it's definitely been a little difficult, but I think most people who are interested in my cakes understand that food is, it's not what it was two years ago, and there's really nothing we can do about that. I think we're figuring it out.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
For sure. In an average month, how many mini cakes do you think you're making because that's your weekly cadence, and then how many commission cakes you think you're making on top of that?
Aimee France:
Every week I make three to eight or nine custom cakes. If it's a week of eight or nine, that's going to be a rough one.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Don't call, don't text.
Aimee France:
And then mini cakes, probably 30 to 40 a week. But I'm also a workaholic and I overbook myself, so it's totally my issue. Honestly, sometimes I think about it, I'm like, I don't even know how the heck I'm doing that. I'm just going through the motions.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How do you find times to rest in order to recharge and have the creative energy to make more cakes?
Aimee France:
It's really hard. That's another thing that I'm still working on and my mom is trying to ingrain this in my mind that I need to rest because ever since I was a child, I'm a go go go kind of person. I don't stop. And I'm also a perfectionist, so that adds to it. I feel like I've been going nonstop ever since I started. I haven't taken a rest. It's really hard to say no when you own a business and there's demand for it. People are like, you're going to get burnt out. You're going to get burnt out. I was like burnt out. I'll never think that, but I've definitely hit a point where I think anyone that works in food, when you're working in a kitchen all day, obviously I love what I do and I'm so grateful to be in this position, but when you work in a kitchen all day, the last thing you want to do is cook again for yourself. And just cooking becomes hard.
I think about back to the pandemic, when I would have all these ideas to make food for myself, and it was so much fun, and now it's at the end of the day, I'm just eating, I don't know, a snack plate because I'm exhausted and that's the only thing that I have the energy to even eat or make. And then with the cakes too, you do it so often that it kind of becomes not enjoyable anymore. Something really weird that I always think about is like I'll eat something I make and I'm like, I hate this. This does not taste good to me. Why doesn't any of this food I'm making taste good? But then another person will taste it and they're like, "Wow, this is really awesome." And then I'm like, oh, maybe I'm just really burnt out.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
But the taste buds ain't working.
Aimee France:
Yeah. So I feel like that's kind of where I'm at right now, but hopefully taking a break will help with that, but I think that I really need to chill and lighten the workload because I do too much. I really do.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Because you have so much going on between emailing, baking, ordering, how do you think about scheduling out your weeks and what does a typical week look like when you're busy baking?
Aimee France:
So every day I write a to-do list of what I want to get done for the day, an outline. I used to be a big planner person writing physically, but then I got introduced to Notion, which is literally the best thing I've ever used because it's all on my phone. And you can create so many little templates, but it's all there. So I have one thing that's my weekly cake to-do list where I write everything I need to do that week, my weekly cake grocery list, everything I need to do that week. And then if I'm feeling really motivated, I have another one that's every day of the week where I write down just my entire schedule. So like this day I make this buttercream this day. Yeah, I don't know. I've always been super organized, so writing lists is just most helpful for me. I know that's not for everyone, but highly recommend notion for sure. It's like the best thing I ever did for myself organization wise.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
But you recently posted on your Instagram that you have decided to stop making custom cakes until further notice.
Aimee France:
Yes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And I know I was talking to another food friend about this, but I love when you said, please respect my decision. You were putting that spatula down and driving that home. Congratulations.
Aimee France:
Thank you.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's a really big decision. How do you think the industry and consumers can be respectful of people like you who have these one man, one woman businesses, but still want to experience your products?
Aimee France:
I'd like to start this by saying when you follow someone on social media, they almost become immortal to you and not real. They're almost like this figure of your imagination that you've created an idea about, and they're just not human to you. So I feel like when you follow someone, you just forget that they're a real person. You see them doing something and you're like, oh, well, they just do this all the time.
I actually have emotions and words hurt, if you send me a mean message or something like that. People need to remember that everyone online is actually a real person and the cake's not going anywhere. If I'm gone for a month, I'll be back and when I'm back, the cakes are probably going to be better than what I'm doing now because I'm going to have a creative break and actually have time to think and come up with new ideas because I feel like I'm at a standstill right now, where I've just been doing the same thing over and over and over again. I have no time to do any experimenting because I'm so busy and I'm looking forward to being able to do fun stuff. So, just know the cakes are going to get better with the break.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How do you find community with other makers and with the greater food creative creator space in New York City?
Aimee France:
Lucie [Franc de Ferriere], shout out to Lucie in everything she's done because literally, I can't imagine going brick and mortar. That's one of my biggest fears. But so long ago, we both did popups at Alimentary in Essex Market when that was still open. And I remember meeting her and I was like, wow, there's someone else doing the same thing as me. This was so long ago when not so many people were making cakes, but it's just really cool to see how much she's grown. I don't know. We both were in the same position. Same with L'Appartement 4F, similar situation and now they're brick and mortar. It's insane. And I mean there's so many other makers and people that are doing the same thing as me. I'm always like, I know what you're going through. It's always fun to chitchat in the DMs.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's nice that you found that community. And you recently did a popup too with Pierce Abernathy at Madora. How are you thinking about collaborations as well too down the line, not just being a one woman show, standing at a market or doing your mini cake popups. How do you want to collaborate more with the food world at large?
Aimee France:
Honestly, that's something I haven't really thought about that much because I'm so used to doing things by myself. It was definitely really fun to work with Pearson and his team though, just because I'd never worked in a kitchen before, so that was a whole different experience versus me just showing up with the little boxed cakes and selling them. So that was really fun and I think I would definitely want to do something like that in the future. I just don't know what that will be. I'm kind of like a go with the flow with what's going to happen in the future, so we'll see what happens.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What are your favorite restaurants or food brands in New York that are sparking joy these days?
Aimee France:
I don't really frequent restaurants that often. I always want to try something new and I never really convenience eat. I always save my money so I can go and have this nice dining experience. But I would say the best restaurants I've been to within the past year, more in Brooklyn than Manhattan, I think Rolo's is really good in Ridgewood, which is a cool vibe. Roman's in, where is that in-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I guess it's Fort Greene, Clinton Hill.
Aimee France:
Yeah. That was a really good restaurant. La Cantine is a place that I will go and get lunch or something that's just a cute spot in Bushwick.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And you've worked with a few brands. I know you made cakes for the underwear brand, Parade as well as some others. How do you think about your philosophy in terms of working with brands? How do you think about brand partnerships helping leverage you as a creator?
Aimee France:
I feel like I did that a lot more when I was starting out because they were reaching out to me. But I feel like I haven't really done any brand work in a long time. Maybe because people see me more of a business on Instagram versus an influencer just because I don't really post myself all the time. I also just did little quotations around influencer because I can't see, I don't know. I'd love to do more brand work just like brands don't really reach out to me and I don't have any management, so there isn't that person. Maybe I need to go to more events or get invited to more events and network, which is something I'm really bad at doing.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
We can go together. I'm going to networking. I'll entry to everyone. We are huge manifesters on the podcast, so I have-
Aimee France:
Manifesting.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
This is manifesting minute. Are there two or three dream brands that you'd love to work with?
Aimee France:
Maybe Kerrygold, because I love their butter. King Arthur because I like their flour.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Cakes are not your only passion. You're also a huge forager. And I remember when you were at the Cooks and Books event, you talked a little bit about how you incorporate foraging into your bakes. Where did that passion for foraging come from?
Aimee France:
I feel like I've always loved being outside and in nature, especially since I was a child. I was always the kid that was running around in the woods. My house had a lot of trails in the backyard, so my friends and I would just, we'd be outside for hours and there's a lot of plants in New Hampshire, obviously, because it's like a suburb in the woods, berry plants, things like that. I just would go and pick them as a kid. But as I got older, I wanted to learn more, so I got the Seek by iNaturalist app on my phone and taught myself what and what isn't edible. And I think with foraging, once you identify a plant, you can never unsee it and it's everywhere.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's so cool.
Aimee France:
Yeah. Now when I walk around I'm like, oh, there's that mulberry tree, there's the cherry tree, there's the blackberry bush. This is one's wine berries. My mom's always like, "How do you know?" I'm like, I don't know. I just know.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Just pulls up the app.
Aimee France:
Yeah. And every year you just learn more. I feel like every year you just discover new plants. So I was doing it over the pandemic too because again, nothing to do. But there's these prolific blackberry bushes near my house in New Hampshire, multiple places. And one of those moments where you're not thinking about anything, you're just living, what do they call that? Like living in the moment. When I am picking the blackberries, I'm in there suited up in absolute bliss, and that's one of my favorite things in the summer. And then I'll like take all the blackberries, use them in cakes. I'll freeze a ton so I can bring them back to New York and make jams. Always make a fun bake while I'm home too, doing that.
Also, my mom is a huge gardener, so I've learned a lot about flowers from her, and then I taught myself to learn the native edible flowers and then what she grows that are edible. My mom grows a lot of viola pansies, things like that, and then she'll press them for me. So I use a lot of those on my cakes and then I'll either forage flowers that I find that I know are edible and I'll press them or dry them and bring them back to New York, and then that's what I use on my cakes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I wish people could see how much you lit up in here when you were talking about the blueberries. I feel like you should get a bunch of homies together. I mean, I would love to do a foraging Friday with you or something. Because of the rampant, consumption of ramps, I had to do that, people have been thinking a lot more critically about the overconsumption too, that's coming with foraging. How do you think people can get interested in foraging and also be mindful of the overconsumption? Because again, it's a relationship with nature. You're not going to get things consistently because nature's unpredictable.
Aimee France:
I think you just need to be respectful of it. Don't take everything. If you have a spot that you know, don't tell everyone about it, take your pick of what you want and leave some for the birds. Leave some for the squirrels too. I don't know. Just don't try to damage it. Give it respect and yeah, follow the foraging rules. If you're going foraging, make sure you're wearing protective clothes so you don't get ticks. Make sure you know what you're doing because you can get poison ivy, you can seriously get really sick. Or if you don't know what you're doing, you need to do prior research. You can't just go out and be like, is this berry edible? And then you pick all of it, you destroy the plant and then you end up because you know, you get sick off of something. So I think it's just to be mindful and respectful.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What was the app that you recommended, again, just so, and for anyone that's interested in foraging,
Aimee France:
It's called Seek by iNaturalist. So basically what it is is you're able to take a photo of a plant and it does its best to identify it for you, and then from there you can obviously go on Google and figure out more, which I recommend doing because obviously it's not always accurate. Seek by iNaturalist and then Google and the internet is your best friend with any of that stuff to learn.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Amazing. Where do you hope to see yourself in the next five years?
Aimee France:
I actually have absolutely no idea what the next step is. Like I said, I'm just going with the flow of what's happening now because I feel like I'm in a very unique situation of how this all ended up working out. It's like I don't really have a business plan or this five year plan of what's going to happen next. We'll see. Maybe I'll still be in my apartment, maybe I'll be doing something else. I really don't know.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
We'll definitely continue to root for you. Do you have any dream cake testers or anyone that sparked joy recently that you want to get a YungKombucha cake?
Aimee France:
Ina [Garten], I feel like she would hate my cakes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
No. Why would she-
Aimee France:
Because she's like a simple gal. I feel like she would think I have too much going on, but that's okay.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I don't believe that for a second. You can give her a mini cake. I feel like your mini cakes are simple enough.
Aimee France:
Yeah, I think she should like a mini cake.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Well, Ina if you're listening, we have some cake for you in New York. Aimee, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. We're about to do our fun Future Flash Five. Are you ready?
Aimee France:
Ready.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Let's do it. The future of popups?
Aimee France:
I think they're good as it is.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of farmer's markets?
Aimee France:
Also good as they are.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of cake?
Aimee France:
Simplicity.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of buttercream?
Aimee France:
Salt.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of foraging?
Aimee France:
Sustainability.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Aimee, thank you again so much for joining us. If we want to keep supporting you, we're the best places to find you.
Aimee France:
You can find me at YungKombucha420 on Instagram, and if you want to order a cake, you can email me at same thing YungKombucha@gmail.com and I also have TikTok. It's YungKombucha420 as well.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Amazing. Thanks so much. Before we go, our guest is going to leave a voicemail at the Future of Food mailbox, just talking to themselves 10 years from now. You have reached The Future Of Food Is You mailbox, please leave your message after the beep.
Aimee France:
Hey, Aimee, not sure where you will be at in your career at this point, but I hope you're not still baking cakes out of your apartment and that you have allowed yourself to rest and figured out your workaholic tendencies. Have you hired anyone yet, or are you still a control freak who wants to do everything themselves? I hope you were able to take a step back to acknowledge and appreciate your accomplishments instead of being overwhelmed and caught up in the moment. Whatever you're doing right now, I hope it has something to do with your love for making and sharing food with others. I also hope you've moved into a space with more counter space, a better oven, an actual dining table, and that there's a window in your kitchen.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's it for today's show. Do you know someone who you think is the future of food? Tell us about them. Nominate them at the link in our show notes, or leave us a rating and a review and tell me about them in the review. I can't wait to read more about them. Thanks to Kerrygold for sponsoring our show. The Future Of Food Is You is a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Thanks to the team at CityVox Studios, executive producers Kerry Diamond and Catherine Baker, and associate producer Jenna Sadhu. Catch you on the future flip.