About the Owner

Meet Tanya

My first memories of cooking include a small copper skillet and an egg. I was the master of making a fried egg and cheese sandwich at 8 years old, and I haven’t stopped cooking since. My mother (Mamma Jean) always encouraged me to cook and, when it was time, passed on family recipes from baked macaroni and cheese and collard greens to old-fashioned pound cake. I began cooking for our family on a regular basis including holidays (Thanksgiving has always been my favorite). Looking back, our family embodied the phrase “Food is Love” without ever saying it. It was just the Southern way of life!

In 1996, I graduated with a B.S. in Accounting from George Mason University, married my high school sweetheart and began my accounting career with a Fortune 500 media company. Ten years later, I left corporate America and pursued my passion for cooking by launching my home-based pastry business and attending culinary school full-time. In June 2007 I graduated summa cum laude with an AAS in Pastry Arts from Stratford University. After graduating, I worked for various catering companies and local bakeries while growing my business. I also spent 2 years as an adjunct Chef/Instructor professor at Stratford University where I thoroughly enjoyed inspiring our future chefs.

I started Soul Cakes by Tanya by selling my family’s pound cake recipe; I am now more likely to be asked to make a custom celebration cake, cupcakes or a fruit tart. Whatever the request, I thoroughly enjoy bridging my home-grown cooking skills with the finer techniques I learned in school. Baking and cooking from scratch is a way of life and it comes through in each product I create; you’ll taste the difference.

Indulge yourself, feed your soul.

-Tanya

In the press