This former teacher turned her passion for baking into success. Now she's serving up cupcakes for the Super Bowl.
Only one NFL head coach is bound to be on the receiving end of a Gatorade dunk, countless pats on the back and a champagne spray or two come Sunday night, but as far as consolation prizes go, there's nothing quite like an delictably sweet cupcake to soften the sting of a Super Bowl loss.
Those invited to the Super Bowl LVI after-party for NFL coaches will find that out for themselves thanks to the treats baker Karolyn Plummer has cooked up as her hometown of Inglewood, Calif., prepares to host the local Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals. As the owner of Inglewood's Sweet Red Peach Custom Cakes and Pastries, Plummer has been chosen to prepare some 2,000 cupcakes for the event — a challenge she likens to "our baking Super Bowl."
While Plummer's spread will include cupcakes adorned with Bengals-themed toppers, it's little wonder which team she's cheering on. As the NFL Network vendor who's been whipping up treats in the lead-up to the big game notes, Sweet Red Peach is just a "stone's throw" from SoFi Stadium, home of both the Rams and the Chargers and site of this year's big game.
"I can walk out my front door of the bakery and go right into the stadium," she tells Yahoo Life.
"We are part of the Rams house," she adds. "So we are going to be a little biased when it comes to that, because, hey, we have to represent our home team. I'm quite sure their bakeries out there in Ohio are representing [their team], but we won't leave our Bengals customers out."
Video Transcript
KAROLYN PLUMMER: I was born and raised in Inglewood. And to have a bakery there and the Super Bowl there and just be right across the street, you can't write a better story.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
My name is Karolyn Plummer, and I'm the owner of Sweet Red Peach Custom Cakes and Pasteries in Inglewood, California I always say there's two things I can do well. That is bake cakes and teach children to read.
[SOUND EFFECTS]
Before I started baking, I was a teacher in Compton Unified School District. I had the privilege to teach children that wanted to better their situation. It was heartbreaking, but it was also rewarding. When you see them, when they got it, seeing that child's face light up after they've accomplished something that they didn't think they could accomplish, it'll bring you to tears.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I decided to leave teaching to pursue my passion of baking. After 17 years, I said, you know what? Life is short. So we set out to get a couple of accounts at local eateries, and they started selling my products.
I got an opportunity to move the business to Las Vegas. I thought I was set. I was like, oh my gosh. I've made it. I'm no longer teaching. And unfortunately, foot traffic wasn't coming through, so I ended up coming back to LA.
[SOUND EFFECTS]
I said, I'm not baking anymore. My spirits were a little down. And I said, you know what? I'm just going to focus on becoming a vice principal then a principal. I thought that's where I wanted to go. So I was all in doing that. But there was still something in me that could not get rid of the baking bug.
[SOUND EFFECTS]
I thought it's time to write the next chapter of my life. [? I took ?] that retirement and took those insurance policies and bet it all on Sweet Red Peach.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We were privileged to be a part of some of the Super Bowl events. We have the coaches afterparty-- almost 2,000 cupcakes. This is our Super Bowl, so our baking Super Bowl. We have our Rams Do Velvet cake with our lemon cake. Of course, we're going to throw in some Bengals cupcakes. But we are part of the Rams' house, so we are going to be a little biased when it comes to that. But we won't leave our Bengals customers out.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
In the future, I would love to open a baking school for underprivileged children when they actually say, you know what? She used to teach in Compton. So now she's this baker and it just-- like, to give them some hope, like, you don't have to be a product of your environment. Follow your dream. It'll work out for the better.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
