Stoney Creek's Piñata Smash Cake breaks down barriers, finds success

Stephany Rasmusson's online business was a smashing success in 2020.

On July 7, the Stoney Creek resident celebrated the second anniversary of Pinata Smash Cake.

Popularized in Mexico, smash cakes are made with layers of chocolate and are usually filled with an assortment of candy. Rasmusson's smash cakes come with a wooden mallet used to break the chocolate shell, like a pinata, and reveal the goodies inside.

Rasmusson made her first smash cake for her son Ashton's second birthday. Over the course of a few months, she perfected the process and now ships her smash cakes across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas.

Rasmusson originally got the idea from her sister in Texas, who made a smash cake for her daughter. After seeing Ashton break open his first smash cake, Rasmussen decided to turn the idea into a full-time business.

Seeing his reaction, when smashing a cake, it was something so new," said Rasmusson. It's quite the experience and there was nothing like it when I started."

When my sister made one for my niece, that's when I started looking everywhere," Rasmusson added.

She looked around and found that no one in the area was selling smash cakes.

We really started a new trend," said Rasmusson.

Today, Rasmusson is as busy as ever, making each smash cake by hand and offering same-day shipping.

Most cakes are made with white chocolate, which can have colour added, but milk chocolate is also available. Smash cakes are typically filled with candy, but other items, like popcorn, can be used.

Rasmusson's smash cakes have been popular for birthdays, Mother's and Father's Day, gender reveals and corporate events.

On one occasion, Rasmusson created a custom smash cake containing a ring box that was used in a marriage proposal.

Rasmusson used e-commerce solutions from GoDaddy to build her online business. Her business was recently featured in a GoDaddy marketing campaign, called Don't Stop Being Unstoppable," that highlighted local small business owners.

Looking ahead to the fall, Rasmusson plans to open her first brick-and-mortar retail store in Stoney Creek, giving customers an opportunity to browse and purchase some of her most popular smash cake designs in person.

I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur," said Rasmusson, who previously worked in immigration services. It's always been in my blood and something that I wanted to pursue. When I started doing this, it became a passion."

While the business took a hit in the early days of the pandemic, Rasmusson created an online store with GoDaddy, which helped to simplify the ordering process for customers.

It just created a seamless e-commerce experience, and we were able to do social media integration, payment options and flexible shipping. So that really helped us boost our business during the pandemic," said Rasmusson.

Rasmusson has made smash cakes for Citytv's Breakfast Television and teamed up with CHCH TV's Tim Bolen for a demonstration on CHCH Morning Live in early 2020.

Once families got settled in with lockdowns, the orders started rolling in.

Popular cake designs can be shipped out in as little as five business days and custom creations can be made for clients who order a few weeks in advance.

Rasmusson is looking forward to opening her retail store in the fall and hiring two or three employees. She estimates the store could produce about 100 smash cakes a week.

I think the important thing for us is starting to build out, locally," said Rasmusson. I live in Stoney Creek, so it's important for me to start building in the community where I live. People like the option of going into a store and picking out the items themselves."

Customers can browse smash cakes or request their own custom creation by visiting Rasmusson's business website at pinatasmashcake.ca.