Raven Patrick De'Sean Dennis III (born 1967), better known by the alias Cake Man Raven, is an American baker and owner of the Cake Man Raven confectionery bakery formerly of Fort Greene, and now of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

. DNAinfo.com called him "the foremost red velvet baker in America," and the ''

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'' wrote that he "turned Dixieland dessert red velvet cake into a Brooklyn thing."

Early life and education

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, to Raven Dennis Jr. and Ruth Murrelle Dennis, he was inspired to start baking by his grandmother, Evelyn Nowlin Murrelle, with whom he lived in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in his youth. Dennis baked his first cake when he was nine, and sold his first cake when he was 13, when his school secretary bought two coconut pies for $2.50 each. He attended the Mount Pleasant High School, from which he graduated in 1985. Before he graduated, he participated in cake shows and competitions throughout South Carolina. He participated in Marketing & Distributive Education Clubs of Americas competitions in the area of entrepreneurship, and his business plan won the top state award in 1984 and 1985. He went to the national convention in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

in 1984, received honors in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

during the 1985 finals and earned a scholarship. He received the nickname "Cake Man Raven" from an article in ''The Lee County Messenger''. Cake Man Raven attended Johnson & Wales University and

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, both in

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Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Early career

He then returned to Harlem and started baking cakes, mostly for children's birthday parties. He started a cake business called "All Occasion Cakes" and planned to go to graduate school at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, but his plans changed with his grandmother died in December 1989. He returned to Johnson & Wales University to pursue a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

. He spent some time working at a

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

age firm, but found he did not enjoy the work. He has also carved

ice sculpture Ice sculpture is a form of sculpture that uses ice as the raw material. Sculptures from ice can be abstract or realistic and can be functional or purely decorative. Ice sculptures are generally associated with special or extravagant events because ...

s, which has been featured in the

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's Windows of the World and during the 1986 and 1988

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

ceremonies.

Career

He baked full-time in Harlem and then opened the Cake Man Raven Confectionery in 2000, at 708 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, where he sold his signature red velvet cake, among other cakes. Former employees now run the bakery in its place. His fans often refer to him as "Cake". Raven has served as a culinary artist to such celebrities as Bill Cosby,

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

, Katie Couric,

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

, Whoopi Goldberg,

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

, George Pataki,

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

and

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...

. He has been featured on several national magazines and cooking shows, such as '' The View'' and ''Good Morning America''. When Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz was inaugurated in 2002, Raven baked a cake in the shape of Brooklyn Borough Hall for the inauguration party. He has baked several other large cake representations, such as of the

Columbia University Library Columbia University Libraries is the library system of Columbia University and one of the largest academic library systems in North America. With 15.0 million volumes and over 160,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources ...

and a giant wedding cake for the television reality series '' Bridezillas''. In 2003, he baked a seven-foot-tall, 12-foot-long cake of the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...

in honor of the structure's 120th anniversary. The cake required 20 people, five days of assembly and 22 hours of decorating. In 2003, for

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

's birthday party, Raven baked a four-foot-wide, 26-inch-tall cake celebrating all of her decisions, including with edible approximations of a CD, several fashion symbols, a life-size baby symbolizing Blige's spiritual rebirth and other factors. Raven baked a cake for Al Sharpton modeled after a

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; for

Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...

, he baked a cake shaped as a grand piano; and when Jam-Master Jay died in 2002, he baked a cake in the shape of a large

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sneaker. In 2005, Dennis baked the world's tallest wedding cake, a

sponge cake Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated ...

stood 15 feet high, was 16-by-16 feet, weighed 5,000 pounds, and was large enough to feed 30,000 people. The cake was unveiled to the public on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

''. In 2008, Raven appeared on the Food Network series ''

Throwdown! with Bobby Flay ''Throwdown! with Bobby Flay'' is a Food Network television program in which celebrity chef Bobby Flay challenges cooks renowned for a specific dish or type of cooking to a cook-off of their signature dish. At the beginning of each show, Flay rec ...

.''

Rent hike and move

George Kaisotis, the owner of the building where the popular Fort Greene bakery was located, took Dennis to court in a rent dispute in 2012: Kaisotis wanted to raise the rent from $3,000 a month to $5,100. After a 12-year run, Dennis moved his store into his Cypress Hills baking facility and has been operating out of there. Former Cake Man Raven employees opened up another red velvet-cake-focused bakery in the same Fort Greene storefront in late 2013.

References

External links

* (Defunct) * (Defunct) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cake Man Raven Living people 1967 births American bakers American food industry business executives People from Harlem African-American businesspeople Brown University alumni People from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina 2000 establishments in New York City Companies based in Brooklyn Food and drink companies established in 2000 Johnson & Wales University alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people