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This Kansas City baker's cakes need a content warning: 'It doesn't take itself too seriously'

Three small cakes are seen from above. They are frosted in pale pink icing and decorated with flakes of edible gold foil, fresh flowers and the word "MILF."
The C Word Cakery
Savannah Brady's cakes often feature swear words or funny phrases. She started her business, The C Word Cakery, in 2021 after relocating to Kansas City.

C Word Cakery owner Savannah Brady specializes in “good cake, bad words” — vintage-looking, classic, floral cakes that feature messages with swear words.

The C Word Cakery is a reflection of the baker behind the business, Savannah Brady shared.

“It doesn’t take itself too seriously,” she explained.

Brady — a southwest Missouri native who moved to Kansas City during the pandemic — specializes in, as she puts it, “good cake, bad words” — vintage-looking, classic, floral cakes that feature messages with swear words.

“I love the contrast of something beautiful and funny,” she said.

After working at several bakeries across the country doing sugar work and edible painting, Brady launched The C Word Cakery in spring 2021 after relocating to Kansas City.

“I really like the community of small businesses,” said Brady, who also co-owns and works full time at The Fix, a plant-based comfort food restaurant in Midtown.

She makes everything from wedding cakes — “get your cold fucking feet off of me” — to birthday cakes — “birthday bitch” — to first birthday smash cakes — “patriarchy.” (But she also makes cakes without swear words and clever messages if the party is PG.)

A single-layer, white wedding cake is seen from above. It's decorated with strawberries, fresh roses and the words, "gotcha bitch."
The C Word Cakery
A wedding cake from The C Word Cakery features fresh flowers and a swear word. “I love the contrast of something beautiful and funny,” Brady said.

“As far as style goes, I love anything really colorful,” she explained. “But I have two sides. I love just an all-black,edgy cake or a cake with flowers and fruit and glitter. I’ll just throw shit on it and make it really fun and colorful.”

Brady is also all about seasons and sustainability, she noted. In the spring and summer, she likes to use flowers and greenery from her garden to decorate her cakes. Then she partners with local florists to use dried flowers during the fall and winter.

“I love using flowers,” she continued. “Sometimes I’ll use really weird stuff on a cake (like radishes) and I’m like, ‘These people are gonna think that’s weird; like why would you put that on a cake?’ But I like messing with different textures and weird stuff.”

She also offers a rotating menu of seasonal flavors like pumpkin chai (spiced pumpkin chai cake, pumpkin cream cheese buttercream filling, cookie crumbs, spiced cream cheese buttercream) and cranberry orange (orange cake, citrus spiked cranberry curd, whipped orange buttercream, orange zest).

“I’m always trying to experiment with new flavors,” she added.

A woman with pink hair and clear-framed glasses smiles directly into the camera.
Nikki Overfelt Chifalu
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Startland News
Savannah Brady is a southwest Missouri native who moved to Kansas City during the pandemic. She opened her bakery, The C Word Cakery, in 2021.

Her cakes are also vegan and made without any artificial flavors and dyes; plus she uses eco-friendly materials like compostable piping bags.

“I’m trying to make cool, fun cakes but also be environmentally conscious,” added Brady.

While she’s currently a cottage baker, Brady hopes to move her cake operations into a commercial kitchen space in the next year, and then eventually into a storefront, she said.

This story was originally published on Startland News, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.

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