Cake Man Raven

Raven Patrick De’Sean Dennis III, known professionally as Cake Man Raven, was born in Harlem, New York City, in 1967. His early baking interest was nurtured by his grandmother, Evelyn Nowlin Murrelle, during his formative years in South Carolina. Dennis baked his first cake at age nine and sold his first at 13. While attending Mount Pleasant High School, he participated in cake shows and entrepreneurship competitions, winning top state awards in 1984 and 1985 and earning a scholarship. He studied at Johnson & Wales University and Brown University, both in Providence, Rhode Island, before returning to Harlem to start “All Occasion Cakes,” focusing initially on children’s birthday parties. His grandmother’s passing in 1989 led him to pursue a master’s degree in education at Johnson & Wales University, though he also briefly worked in a stockbrokerage firm.

Cake Man Raven’s career is marked by several notable achievements beyond baking. He has created ice sculptures featured at the World Trade Center’s Windows of the World and during the Grammy Award ceremonies in 1986 and 1988. In 2000, he opened the Cake Man Raven Confectionery in Brooklyn, quickly establishing himself as a prominent baker, particularly for his red velvet cake. His unique creations and baking expertise garnered attention from celebrities and media, leading to appearances on national shows like The View and Good Morning America. He became known for crafting large-scale, sculpted cakes for significant events and public figures. In 2012, due to a rent dispute and increase, he moved his bakery operations from Fort Greene to his Cypress Hills facility in New York.

Over the years, Cake Man Raven has baked for a diverse clientele including Bill Cosby, Jay-Z, Oprah, Katie Couric, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Morgan Freeman, Patti LaBelle, and Jesse Jackson. His work includes a cake shaped like Brooklyn Borough Hall for Borough President Marty Markowitz’s inauguration in 2002, a seven-foot-tall Brooklyn Bridge cake for its 120th anniversary in 2003, and a four-foot-wide cake for Mary J. Blige’s birthday. In 2005, he created the world’s tallest wedding cake, a 15-foot-high, 5,000-pound sponge cake capable of feeding 30,000 people, unveiled on Good Morning America. He also appeared on Food Network’s “Throwdown! with Bobby Flay”. In 2012, he achieved a Guinness World Record for the largest sculptured cake, a 31.5-foot-long red velvet cake in the shape of Kappa Alpha Psi’s coat of arms, which fed 15,000 people.