Ever since she was a little girl, Alicia Inch’s first passion was baking. Early memories include making cookies, cakes and pies with her Grandma Stella and mom. Her love of baking continues to this day.

As is the case with so many of us, Alicia didn’t follow her passion until later in life and instead focused on a career to pay the bills, but after suffering a heart attack in December 2013 (followed by a year of treatments, hospitalizations and second opinions) she decided to take action and follow her dream.

After many a sleepless night, she created The Little Home Baker, a company focused on providing baking, cooking classes and parties to children and adults alike.

Her goal with The Little Home Baker is to provide a fun experience for her clients and she does just that. I recently caught up with this local entrepreneur—read on–

Tell us a little bit about your company and when you launched?

The Little Home Baker NY launched about 6 months ago (although I have been teaching and baking on and off for year). I saw a need for busy moms who also wanted affordable priced classes and baked goods. Many of my friends sent their children to classes and paid a decent sum for one child who ended up not learning very much due to the large class size or sadly did not like what the class was making. My classes provide hands on experience creating foods that are appealing for kids directly from my client’s homes.

When did you discover your love of baking? 

Even when I was working in corporate America I always came back to baking. While I have studied and crafted my techniques, some of these skills just seemed to come naturally.

What is the best part of your job? 

I love working with children. There’s nothing like watching their faces light up when they learn a new skill and see what they can create. Today many kids spend a large amount of time in front of a screen and baking gives the opportunity to be hands on, learn a skill and feel a sense of accomplishment.

Tell us a little more about a typical birthday party set up

I try to make each party as unique as possible and work directly with the parents to decide on the theme of the event. Parties are based on the age of the children, the amount of children and the amount of time the client has in their schedule.

On the day of the party I arrive early to set up. Each child receives a disposable chef apron and the tools they will need for that particular class. I provide all the clean-up!

I hear that you also host classes?

My classes are for adults and children. I have also started doing a mom’s night in class, where guests make a dessert and drink wine. My kids classes are for ages 3 and up and as previously mentioned are usually done in the clients’ home, but I have done a few classes at preschools and day cares too.

The Little Home Baker birthday parties start at $250 for up to 10 children. Click here for more information and to book your next party with a 5% Booked Parties discount.  For private classes and custom orders, prices vary.  For more information please contact Alicia at thelittlehomebaker@gmail.com