How Milk Bar Went From Baking in the Basement to Making Taylor Swift’s Birthday Cake

Christina Tosi, the chef and founder of “modern American” bakery Milk Bar, has never shied away from a challenge.
Tosi, 42, has loved all things sugar and baking since she was a kid in Ohio. Her summer job after freshman year of college brought her to a tiny island off the coast of New Hampshire, churning out baked goods in an industrial kitchen with no professional experience. That was her a-ha moment that drew her away from a career in math and into the baking world for good.
But it was working as a pastry chef at Bouley, a sceney restaurant in downtown New York City, that introduced her to the actual work of professional baking. After meeting and working under David Chang of Momofuku fame, Tosi honed her craft, made countless experiments, and with his support, spun her dessert menu into a standalone business: Milk Bar. And she did it without a graphic designer; that curly neon pink logo you may be familiar with? She made it herself on Microsoft Word.
In an interview with Fortune, Tosi revealed her secrets to success and walked through all of Milk Bar’s biggest failures-and why she “drinks them up for breakfast.”
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[@jacobryanpaul2897]

That was my 29th bday cake. I love love love Milk Bar!

[@aubrynboyd3472]

I hope when Taylor Swift gets married she uses a Milk Bar wedding cake haha

[@cynthia4326]

Fantastic

[@umafa1645]

Very interesting and beautiful story! Want to try Milk Bar now hehe (:

[@NatashaEstrada]

It was not as good as I hoped but that's because I took the online baking course with Cristina Tosi during the pandemic where she taught us how to make versions of stuff they sell at MilkBar and the home made version tastes better. So my expectations were skyhigh for the real thing :D

[@chardizard]

This video would've been more compelling if they'd shot the interview in one of the Milk Bar facilities instead of in a generic conference room...

[@ritugarg2625]

The one time I ordered a birthday cake from Milk Bar, and they sent me a red velvet cake a couple of years ago.

[@anamarieph8597]

She's so healthy with all that carbs and sugar. Obviously it works.

[@abul9052]

Compost cookie? What a gross name

[@Onlythenarrowroad]

Just like all the others, it’s overhyped and over priced. Nothing special.