{"id":8718110,"date":"2023-01-17T08:45:17","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T16:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8718110&preview=true&preview_id=8718110"},"modified":"2023-01-17T09:22:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T17:22:28","slug":"hayward-cake-sensation-and-food-network-winner-opens-first-bakery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/17\/hayward-cake-sensation-and-food-network-winner-opens-first-bakery\/","title":{"rendered":"Hayward cake sensation and \u201cFood Network\u201d winner opens first bakery"},"content":{"rendered":"

When most high school freshmen were playing Fortnite with their friends, Hayward native and Mexican-American baker Max Soto was running a thriving custom cake business. His first creation: A square red velvet cake with pink and purple buttercream for a couple\u2019s 10th anniversary. The 14-year-old got to know them and modeled the dessert after their wedding cake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re still my customers,\u201d says Soto, now 22. \u201cThey liked seeing a young entrepreneur doing his thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the road to pastry stardom wasn\u2019t always sweet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI faced a lot of stigma when I was younger,\u201d he says. \u201cIn school, I was told this was a job for a female, and that I should become a doctor or lawyer. That hurt a lot. But I never let it deter me.\u201d<\/p>\n

You might say he showed them. In 2020, at the age of 19, Soto became the youngest contestant ever to win a \u201cFood Network\u201d competition when he took top prize for a four-foot architectural masterpiece on \u201cBig Time Bake.\u201d Now, he\u2019s just opened a brick and mortar bakery, Max\u2019s Cakes<\/a>, in downtown Hayward, selling his cookies, cupcakes, cake pops and classic layer cakes.<\/p>\n

\"HAYWARD,
At age 22, Max Soto is the youngest person to win a Food Network competition and the youngest business owner \u2014 he owns Max\u2019s Cakes \u2014 in the city of Hayward. (Aric Crabb\/Bay Area News Group) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the ribbon cutting, the city honored Soto for being the youngest homegrown entrepreneur and business owner downtown Hayward has ever had.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to open in my hometown and break these boundaries and stigmas has really been the cherry on top,\u201d Soto says.<\/p>\n

Located inside a former ice cream shop at 1007 B St., Max\u2019s Cakes is polished yet distinctively old-timey. The interior is decked out in hardwood floors with black accents, including a monochromatic chandelier dripping with whisks. There\u2019s a giant picture frame for selfies, historic photos of downtown Hayward and an overall family vibe, from the party-hatted baby pictures of Soto eating cake to the gaggle of Soto relatives working the cash register.<\/p>\n

In the pastry case, snickerdoodle and chocolate chip cookies are displayed alongside horchata cheesecake, cinnamon-scented cafe de olla cupcakes, massive brownies and brick-sized slices of coconut cream, speckled confetti, luscious lemon and burnt almond layer cakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to create an old-fashioned bakery with classic recipes and feel-good food,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The \u201cwe\u201d is his family, including mom, Monica, and dad, Mario, who co-own Max\u2019s Cakes and have always encouraged their son. Soto announced he wanted to be a professional baker when he was 9 years old. He started taking those custom orders at 14 and grew his skills, eventually mastering everything from a two-tier vanilla \u201cEncanto\u201d cake with strawberry filling to cakes replicating objects<\/a>, like Air Jordans, a Louis Vuitton bag and a 1964 Chevy Impala.<\/p>\n

\"HAYWARD,
Salted Caramel Cake, left, a brownie, Hummingbird Spice Cake, Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake are among the sweet offerings at Max\u2019s Cakes in Hayward, Calif. (Aric Crabb\/Bay Area News Group) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAny type of material I needed, any time of night, my mom would take me to Michael\u2019s or Target, no questions asked,\u201d he says.