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Braxton Harst began baking about two years ago
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After baking cookies, the Sylvania, Ohio, native began experimenting with cakes
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One day, Braxton decided to take on a more intense cake. His mom posted it to TikTok, where it went viral
Braxton Harst still remembers the very first thing he ever made in the kitchen: a Betty Crocker box mix of chocolate chip cookies.
It was about two years ago when the Sylvania, Ohio, native first felt a spark to try baking. With no one to teach him, Braxton simply dove in — learning through trial, error and a lot of persistence.
“I baked that cookie mix a few more times,” Braxton, now 13, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Then I baked my first-ever cake, and I was just obsessed with it.”
His curiosity only grew from there. One day, Braxton decided to take on something a bit more ambitious: a vanilla rainbow cake — a six-inch, five-tier creation, with each layer a different color. His mom, Lisa, filmed the process and posted it to TikTok.
It didn’t take long for the video to go viral.
David Moncur
Braxton Harst baking in the kitchen
“That was the first video we ever posted of one of his cakes,” says Lisa, 37. “When he cut into it, his genuine reaction was caught on camera — he was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ He just couldn’t believe it turned out. It was so cute.”
“I was really excited,” Braxton adds. “A lot of people at school saw the video, so everyone was talking about it.”
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From that moment on, Braxton’s baking journey took off. He started experimenting with more complex designs and techniques, often pulling inspiration from Pinterest. These days, he prefers baking late at night or after school — always with music playing in the background.
On average, he makes about five cakes a week, with each one taking around two days to complete. One of his personal favorite creations? An ocean-themed octopus cake.
“It was for school, and my teacher actually ordered it,” he says. “We designed it in art class. It was a blue ocean cake with an octopus on top and tentacles going down the sides.”
“I was like, that’s the coolest art teacher ever,” Lisa adds with a laugh.
David Moncur
Closeup of the octopus cake
But not every bake has gone smoothly, though. The most challenging one to date? A heart-shaped, Wicked-inspired cake, complete with elaborate piping and dramatic decorations.
“That cake was so over-the-top,” Lisa says. “He’d never done some of those borders before, so he actually practiced piping at my office for a few days.”
“There were two moments when he got really frustrated and said, ‘I don’t think I can do it.’ But he stuck with it.”
Braxton’s TikTok page has since racked up millions of views and led to collaborations with major brands like Barbie, Betty Crocker and even Wicked, the musical. However, despite how polished the cakes may look online, things behind-the-scenes are often a different story.
“It gets really messy,” Braxton admits, laughing. “Frosting ends up everywhere. I use a lot of spatulas and random tools I don’t even know the names of. I usually have one white plate where I put all my dirty stuff — so that’s usually what it looks like when I’m baking.”
As Braxton’s popularity has grown, so has the demand. He now receives cake orders from across the country — and he and Lisa are currently working to figure out how to ship them safely. In the meantime, fans are going to great lengths just to get a taste.
“People have been wild,” Lisa says. “Someone’s driving in from Kentucky to pick one up. Another person from Pennsylvania messaged saying they’d make the drive. It’s incredible.”
Along the way, Braxton also discovered the idea of culinary school and as soon as he heard about it, he was hooked. To help make it happen, he began fundraising for a summer culinary camp in New York City through bake sales and donation-based cake orders.
Thanks to generous support from fans and followers, Braxton has raised nearly $3,000 and will get to attend this summer.
“I feel really good about it,” he says. “It just makes me happy that people are cheering me on, all over the world.”
David Moncur
Braxton Harst holding up a cake
For Lisa, the support came at exactly the right time.
“He’s had a tough year,” she shares. “He dealt with a lot of bullying at school, and we ended up transferring him to a private school. So to see him find this community, to have people encouraging him — it’s been such a gift, especially when he needed it most.”
One of the most touching moments came when a local family hired Braxton to teach their young daughter how to bake. Together, they made a cake for her grandmother’s birthday.
“It was just this really beautiful full-circle moment,” Lisa says. “He’s found his confidence again. He gets to be himself. And now, he’s excited about school again and excited about what’s next.”
David Moncur
A closeup of the ‘Wicked’ cake
As for the future, Braxton has big plans.
“I want to be an entrepreneur in baking and own my own brand and business,” he says. “I already have a name picked out and everything: it would be called Braxton Bakes.”
But no matter where this journey takes him, Braxton will always make time to bake just for himself.
“Last week, he finished five or six cakes for other people,” Lisa says. “And the next day, he was already back in the kitchen. I asked what he was making and he goes, ‘Oh, these are for me.’ ”
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