I could take you to the first, second, third stop and I promise none of this is a metaphor. I just want you to join, what’s mine is now yours.

I’m so excited to share that the CAKE PICNIC cookbook tour is finally here — and we’re taking this celebration on the road! With sweet little gatherings, signed copies, and cake-tinted moments across the country, there’s a lot to get excited about. Let’s gather for cake, for friends, and for sweet moments.

How am I feeling? Excited, nervous, honored, and incredibly grateful to be here. If you asked me if I saw any of this happening, I wouldn’t believe you. After having spent months writing and photographing the book, part of me still doesn’t believe it. So much of CAKE PICNIC is a fever dream and the cookbook also feels that way. And with the cookbook tour, every stop is also so special to me. Smaller gatherings and cake-inspired pastries by some of my favorite bakeries. To me, these are opportunities to chat a little bit more and linger together in sweetness.

If you haven’t yet, pre-order the cookbook and bring them to any of the exciting events below. Come to all of them, a few, or one. I’d love to see you! Thank you for being a part of this journey and being here.

Follow me, there will be cake,

2026 cookbook tour

May 16: San Francisco, CA - CAKE PICNIC x Parachute Bakery | 10-12PM

Chef Naseer celebrates the CAKE PICNIC cookbook at Parachute Bakery with special and limited edition pastries inspired by the book! Come by to grab some of the pastries, buy an early copy of the book, and get it signed by Elisa. You won’t want to miss this!

May 17: Santa Monica, CA - CAKE PICNIC x Sidecar Doughnuts Pasadena | 12-2PM

To celebrate the launch of the CAKE PICNIC cookbook, Sidecar has created a special cake donut inspired by the CAKE PICNIC cookbook: Golden Hour Grey donut. A beautiful orange blossom spiced cake donut, Earl Grey glaze, orange juice and zest whipped cream, and a candied orange peel to round out the celebration. This is for the cake AND donut lovers combined. Join us at the Sidecar Pasadena location on May 17th to get early copies of the book and have it signed by Elisa! Note: the Golden Hour Grey donut is available at all Sidecar locations throughout the month of May.

May 19: San Francisco, CA - Omnivore Books talk and signing | 6:30PM

Join for an evening with Elisa and Dominick to chat through the cookbook, CAKE PICNIC, and more at Omnivore. Elisa will also bring a cake to share (while supplies last!). But, what is a CAKE PICNIC book talk without cake?! Everyone is invited and encouraged to bring a cake to share! Elisa will randomly award 3 bakers who bring a cake a special CAKE PICNIC prize. RSVP here.

May 31: Brooklyn, NY - CAKE PICNIC x La Cabra Brooklyn | 10-12PM

What better way to celebrate the CAKE PICNIC cookbook than with more sweetness in new forms? Join us for a special event at La Cabra Roastery in Brooklyn for a special event. The team at La Cabra Bakery will present special edition pastries (Guava & Cream Cheese Pain Suisse and the Pistachio & Rose bun) inspired by the book. Grab some pastries, get a copy of the book, get it signed by Elisa, and come hang out!

June 7: Long Beach, CA - CAKE PICNIC x Moonbridge Doughnut Studio | 10-12PM

Anabelle and Elisa started Bucket List Bake Club years ago for friends and the love of baking. Today, Anabelle now runs Moonbridge Doughnut Studio and is excited to celebrate the CAKE PICNIC cookbook with donuts! Come by for special edition donuts that are inspired by some of the cake recipes in the book. Cookbook copies will be available for sale and Elisa will be around to sign them. Let’s have our cake and eat donuts too!

June 13: Larkspur, CA - Copperfield’s Books | 11:30-1:00PM

A North Bay stop is here! Join Elisa at the beloved Copperfield’s Books in Larkspur for a midday signing. Pick up a copy of CAKE PICNIC, get it signed, and chat with Elisa about all things cake. A lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

August 7: Menlo Park, CA - Kepler’s Books | 5-7PM

The CAKE PICNIC tour makes its way to the iconic Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park! Stop by to grab a signed copy of the cookbook, partake in a mini cake picnic, and spend some time with Elisa. Details on timing coming soon — stay tuned!

I WROTE A COOKBOOK! How wild and amazing is that? After almost a two-year journey into this, it’ll be out in 37 days. If you haven’t yet, please pre-order a copy so we can have fun together!

pre-order the CAKE PICNIC cookbook

I’ve been wanting to sit down to reflect and journal about the process for such a long time but I’ve kept putting it off. (though lately the desire to do nothing and rot has been overwhelming and winning). But, after punting it for months, it’s finally time to just sit down and do it. I also just worry that in pushing it out, I’ll forget some of the details that I want to capture with the feelings I want to remember for a long, long time.

I am honored, floored, and humbled to have gone through this journey. Never in the wildest did I imagine that I would write a book and share it with all of you! Me? Me?! I started baking as a creative outlet, started hosting monthly pastry box fundraisers, meeting some of you at parks, and fast-forward to so many incredible moments and memories, I can share a little bit more of myself and loves with you.

Thank you for being a part of this journey and being here.

Your friend,

How it started

In the summer of 2023, two literary agents had reached out to me. It was surprising and exciting! There’s always something so special when you don’t expect something like this happening. It was such an honor.

All of the feelings of imposter syndrome creeped in – I’m not a pastry chef, I haven’t been trained formally, I don’t own a restaurant or bakery, why me? But, I remembered my life motto: the ruthless pursuit of wondering, tasting, and creating. If I could somehow pull it off, writing and publishing a cookbook would be a massive adventure into all things wondering, tasting, and creating. After a few conversations, I signed a contract and I had a literary agent!

A personal writing retreat

I had been baking for 3 years and sharing it all on Instagram mostly as an art project. To me, saltedrye has always been (and will always be), a portfolio for my creative work. Ingredients are colors to paint with. Each bake is an expression of a feeling, a desire, a curiosity. As I scrolled through my Instagram feed, I felt immense pleasure, joy, satisfaction, and pride in all of the little moments and days where I looked towards baking as my therapy, meditation, and release. For everything going on in my life, baking was that outlet and space. I think of all bakers as artists with so much to share. I was excited at the prospect of capturing the essence of saltedrye into a book to share with the world.

I’ve always operated on the fact that my surroundings affect so much of the work I do. I do so much better when I am surrounded by beauty, inspiration, quiet joy, and peace. I wanted to make sure that as I wrote my cookbook proposal, I set myself up for a really good flow state. So, I planned a solo writing retreat for myself. I booked a weekend at Dawn Ranch in Guerneville.

It was a lovely time and everything I could have asked for. I was able to fuel my soul and, in turn, pour it into my proposal. Between walks on the property, a mineral bath, quiet meditations, and frolicking between the apple trees, pages were born. It felt exhilarating. I was so excited about the work I was doing and where it was heading. I emailed the final proposal to my agent, packed my bags, and went home. A wonderful weekend well spent and nourishing on so many levels.

Getting rejected everywhere

We had sent my cookbook proposal to all of the publishers we could. After a few days of waiting, the rejections all poured in. The reason? I didn’t have a big enough following.

I was disappointed and sad. I was sad about losing the opportunity to share my proposal with the world. I spent a few days mourning it, but ultimately, because the imposter syndrome was so deeply rooted within me, I moved on rather quickly. I said to myself, “It makes sense! You’re not a trained chef and there are other bakers out there who could write a better book.”

I closed this chapter accepting that it wasn’t in the cards for me. While it would have been amazing to write a cookbook, I accepted that my path would lead to somewhere else.

Did I regret writing my proposal or embarking on my writing retreat? Not at all. These moments gave me the opportunity to dig deep and write a proposal that I was so proud of. My weekend at Dawn Ranch is one of my favorite life moments with myself, for myself. It felt like a really long, good date. I look back on it so fondly. In writing my proposal, I was able to wonder, taste, and create something new. I am grateful for trusting in myself, giving myself the time and gift to explore something new. Between you and I, I still hope that my initial proposal for a more saltedrye-style cookbook will make it out into the world. Maybe? Hopefully.

Do what you love, they say

I closed the chapter on the cookbook. I went back into my normal routines of life and baking. There was still so much to bake and so many sweet moments to create in the kitchen.

Around the beginning of 2024, I wanted to eat a lot of cake with friends but I didn’t want to bake it all by myself. And so CAKE PICNIC was born. A Partiful invite later, 300+ RSVPs, a ton of fear/hesitation/excitement, we had the first CAKE PICNIC in San Francisco with 183 friends and cakes. I went home that day supremely happy and filled with cake and new friends. I didn’t know this back then, but that day changed my life. My DMs were flooded with requests for CAKE PICNIC throughout cities across the US and other countries. I was shocked but I was buzzing from the adrenaline and literal sugar high so I said yes to bringing CAKE PICNIC to LA and NYC that year.

I didn’t know that I could or that I would go on tour for cakes. I’ve never been a Coachella girl, but this version of it was all me. I would definitely travel for cake. And, I’m so glad to have met so many people who would equally do the same. By the end of 2024, I had seen ~1350+ cakes on tour. HOW WILD AND BEAUTIFUL! There is no reason to eat that much cake, ever, but, WHY NOT? Life is too short for not enough cake! I was absolutely thriving and eating the most cake I have ever had. Along the way, I had also met so many new friends who I’ve been able to develop such great friendships with.

If you needed/wanted a sign to go for something, this is it! You too could have your own version of “eating more cake than you could’ve ever dreamed of.” I want that for all of us, in all the variations, versions, remixes, and takes of it.

The opportunity came back

A month after the first CAKE PICNIC, an editor from Chronicle Books had sent me an email. She wanted to get coffee. I’ve been heartbroken by this before so I knew not to get my hopes up.

After a coffee date and a few emails later, they asked me to write another proposal. This time the proposal would focus on CAKE PICNIC. I felt that since I had already written a proposal and worked through revisions on it, I could take another stab at it.

We shared the proposal and I waited anxiously. As much as my defense mechanisms instructed me to expect the worst, there was still a little part of me that wanted to hear good news. A few days later, I received a call from my agent sharing the news that Chronicle was so excited about my proposal. Insert a billion exclamation points and question marks here. I received the green light to start writing my cookbook. What a dream! I spent the most of winter 2024 on my computer, wracking my brain for recipes and what I wanted to share. I remember the moment that my timeline dawned on me and I felt my soul leave my body. I haven’t felt that bone-numbing sort of stress and anxiety in a very, very long time. Could I do it? I had to. I leaned in a lot on Ginger for emotional comfort. I ate a lot of cakes from testing. It was an intense period. By some miracle (and fueled by holiday cookies), I was able to complete my manuscript in early 2025.

37 days from now

I know I’m skipping a few chapters in this story, but I promise I’ll come back to it. The actual process of writing and shooting the cookbook is full of wtf moments that I want to dedicate a space and journal entry for all of that processing. Let me just say that there was a point in the process where I went in to re-read my contract to see if I could get out of it…

But, yes, 37 days from now the CAKE PICNIC cookbook will finally be out in the world for all to taste and create with. It’s so frightening, but also so exciting. I am so excited to bake with everyone, see all of the themed picnics, and so much more.

I didn’t know that I would ever write a book. I probably never even allowed myself to think that, to save myself from the heartache and pain of rejection. But, I’m glad I tried twice. I’m glad I poured myself into what I was inspired by and believed in with all of my heart. Throughout it all I just wanted to wonder, taste, and create. I’m glad that I saw it through and continue to do so.

Thank you for being on this journey with me. Thank you for supporting my baking portfolio and cake-eating dreams. I love that with CAKE PICNIC, I can truly share the love for cake with you everyone. CAKE PICNIC brings cake lovers together in a moment so magical it feels unreal. Thank you for saying yes to cake and friends. To many, many, many more!

If you haven’t yet, please pre-order the CAKE PICNIC cookbook. Let me know if you do so I can shower you with my love and gratitude.

pre-order the CAKE PICNIC cookbook

I’m working on a few cookbook events and collaborations in SF, LA, and NYC. Of course the CAKE PICNIC cookbook also has to have its own tour. It’d be lovely to meet, hug, and eat cake together.

Current hyperfixation: hand laminating croissants. Lately all I’ve been baking are croissants. All I want to bake and spend time in the kitchen doing. That journey has been full of ups and downs but very glad to report that croissants seem to be more forgiving than I initially thought? For one of my rounds, I could visibly see the little islands of crac…

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Can I still say happy new year?! A bit of me is still in the new year mood, filled with a desire to do better and be better. The year just started, the canvas still quite empty! As of late my days have been filled (and consumed by) my hyperfixation with croissants, multiple visits to Arsicault, making a massive dent on my reading goals, making sure to spend a few minutes in my garden each day, juggling my journal stack (new to me), reeling from good news to bad news, and taking it easy.

Back in 2020, I had started my pastry box fundraiser project. A few of you might still remember those days. A monthly menu and a new social justice organization to learn about and support. 2 years and many pastry boxes later, we had fundraised around $30,000 for various social justice organizations.

I remember those days with such fondness. It felt rewarding knowing that even though I wasn’t an activist of any sort, I could make my own tiny little difference in helping the causes that I believed in through baking. I wasn’t a professional baker or an activist, but, in my own way, I was doing something I believed in. If you remember those days and picked up a box, thank you for being a part of the journey and doing something – anything – that felt like moving the needle towards the right direction.

Much of what has happened in Minneapolis and currently happening all over the US breaks my heart. As an immigrant, I empathize with so many families that are living day to day in fear of ICE and just being in America. I’ve spent many hours doomscrolling and questioning how any of this is happening or possible. I’m sad that I’ve even become desensitized to some of the things.

But, I don’t want to be consumed by despair or hopelessness. I want to believe that we still have power. I know that something is better than nothing. Inspired by my friend Carlos of , I wanted to also organize a community fundraiser for NWIRP.

I hope you’ll join the raffle! It’ll be very sweet. Also, if you’ve been missing my baked boxes, this is probably the only opportunity to get a pastry box from me any time soon. If you’re not in the Bay Area, we also have 2 incredible virtual prizes. As a baker, I think of these as such treasures.

As always, thanks for being here,

NWIRP fundraiser

A community fundraiser for NWIRP. @n.w.i.r.p is an organization that provides free legal help to immigrants facing detention and deportation.

In partnership with friends, small businesses, creators, fellow allies, and incredible human beings, we are able to offer 4 prize packages. Two are for local pick ups in the Bay Area. The other two are virtual. Wherever you are in the world, we hope you can join in.

HOW TO ENTER

• 🌼 $10 per entry on Venmo to elisasunga. All proceeds will be donated to the NWIRP. Raffle closes on February 9 5PM pst.

• 🌼 Add “virtual” or “Bay Area” in the note to share your prize preference. Leave it blank if you don’t care which prize you get.

• 🌼 Enter as many times as you’d like to increase your chances (and support!)

• 🌼 Share, repost, or DM this to your networks and encourage everyone to join in.

2 BAY AREA PRIZES

So honored to be doing this with the best bakers and artists of the Bay Area. Such a line up! Such an incredible group of humans to support and love. Two prize offerings that combine florals, art, and sweetness. Perfect for literally anyone! You’ll probably have pastry boxes and cakes for the next few months if you win either of these. For more information on the prize offerings, check out this page.

2 VIRTUAL PRIZES

And we even have 2 virtual prizes! A collection of the best of the best of Substack writing I know of from the best recipe developers and storytellers I know. Bronwen of is also offering a choice of her online classes. So grateful for these friends who have offered to share their knowledge and craft with all of us. Wherever you are in the world, these resources are absolutely essentials for anyone that loves baking.

Full details of the prizes are here.

Please forward this to anyone who might be interested in supporting this community fundraiser, too! If you’ve reached this and haven’t joined the raffle yet, do it now! x

2025 was a big year for me for too many reasons. It was a year of incredible highs and incredible lows.

I’ve been sitting in burn out, crash outs, self care rituals, and moments of rotting for the last few months trying to catch my breath. I personally don’t do well with self-reflection or introspection. I feel like I am in the perpetual netherworld of a…

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The first time I had Christmas crack was a few years ago. It was a magical moment of various realizations ranging from, “Wow a no bake cookie!” to “Oh my gosh, salty and sweet is truly supreme.” Since then I’ve tried to make my own versions of this cookie like a gingerbread Ritz recipe each time. Maybe my signature move for my holiday cookies is to alwa…

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Has it already been 12 months since the last letter? This year was not what I was expecting by a long shot. Did I know I was going to go on tour for cake? Not at all! Did I know that I would experience some of the most incredible highs and the most despicable of lows? What a year, what a year. There’s still so much that I am processing, sitting with, and soaking in from all of my adventures and misadventures. I want to fast forward so fast but I don’t have that super power. For now, I’ll let it all marinate, ferment, and sink in.

While I go through all of that, I would also like to end the year with the most festive cheer. I want to get together and share our love for sugar in cookie form. I want to end the year with you. I want to see all of our cookies together. I want to try so many different cookies. Let’s get together for my third annual cookie exchange! Please read more for the details below.

There’s so much I want to share and write about. Maybe I’ll get to it this winter holiday in between the cookie marathons or I’ll put on the holiday yule log on YouTube and channel my inner writer. Maybe. Maybe.

Whether I see you at COOKIE PICNIC or not, I hope you have had an incredible year full of joy, growth, smiles, great food, rest, and peace. I hope you spend the next few weeks seeking out cozy, singing a holiday carol or two, complimenting a stranger, trying a new bake, pouring into your self-care rituals, and filling your cup with what makes you happy. You deserve it all.

As always, thank you for being here,
Elisa

COOKIE PICNIC 2025

I love and hate how much cookies take over my life every December. Ever since I started baking in 2020, every December has been a maelstrom of cookies of all shapes, forms, sizes, colors, and textures. For better or worse, I daydream and have nightmares about cookies. One moment I’m dreaming up a new flavor combination, the next I’m back on my Notes app furiously trying to deprioritize which cookies aren’t making the list. More often than not, I find myself adding to the to-bake list rather than deleting a few. Because of this tendency, I’ve spent every Christmas baking thousands and thousands of cookies. It seems frantic but also so full of festive energy and cheer. I love that the whole globe seems to be all about cookies. We’re in it together. I’ve found that what makes this even better is coming together to share, to trade, to exchange, and to taste.

And for the third year, I am excited to share my annual cookie exchange! I’ve rebranded it COOKIE PICNIC (because what else am I but predictable and obvious?)! Please join me at COOKIE PICNIC 2025 in Oakland this coming December 20, 2025 12-1pm.

A few things to note about COOKIE PICNIC:

• I’ve had a crazy year so I am yearning for something small and intimate. This is a much smaller event compared to all of the CAKE PICNIC events this year. I’m not sure how fast tickets will go. Please know that it’s not because I want to turn anyone away (I really hate that!); it’s just that the venue is small and very limited.

• No brown or beige cookies! I want a colorful spread of cookies for all of us. I want a variety of colors across the table. I don’t want a see of beige cookies. That means that no chocolate chip, no plain vanilla shortbreads, etc. See video here from last year’s colorful spread. If that’s not for you, that’s totally okay! Feel free to skip this event. If you want to double check your cookie idea with me, please send me an email at elisa@cakepicnictour.com.

• We will be awarding prizes to cookie categories! Zoha and Hetal will be joining us as judges. 2025 categories are: most festive cookie, most colorful cookie, most unique cookie, most labor of love cookie, most creative cookie, most unique ingredient, best savory cookie, and crowd favorite cookie. Totally optional and just for fun!

• Proceeds from this event will be 100% matched & donated to baby Jojo. Jojo has a life-threatening rare disease called SCN8A. It’s a devastating illness that attacks a child’s brain, stealing their ability to walk, talk or even eat on their own. Far too many do not survive childhood. Proceeds will help with the path to a cure, one that explores how to deliver gene therapy to the brain safely and efficiently. More info at https://www.rarebreak.org/.

Tickets will drop on Friday, December 12 at 10AM PST. Please make sure to read the entire page before buying a ticket.

saltedrye cookie recipes

• toasted flour & strawberry almond buttercream cookie bars

• ube halaya Ritz treat

• earl grey clementine mooncake cookies

• apricot & pine nut spelt thumbprints

• pineapple passionfruit almond linzers

2025 saltedrye recipes, in case you missed it

I developed a few recipes this year and wanted to share them with you! It was a fun year of leaning into more breads and easy cakes. My favorite from the year? Either the sweet tomato cake or the guava mochi milk bread babka! I’ve also been using the dough from the brown butter cinnamon rolls as my primary dough for almost every bread I make now!

• red velvet brownie & peanut butter roll

• lychee milk snacking cake

• toasted flour & strawberry almond buttercream cookie bars

• smoked biscoff apple cake

• chai tea sugar Bundt cake

• lychee & cherry cake with yogurt whipped cream

• sweet tomato & plum cake with olive oil buttercream

• guava mochi milk bread babka

• brown butter cinnamon rolls

Realizing that sometimes experimenting in the kitchen is just a repetition of the same ingredients, with different ratios. For this month of September all I wanted to eat and bake was variations of sweet rolls. For every baking opportunity I had, I dove into preparing doughs. This month I played around with guava sweet rolls, carrot cake sweet rolls, an…

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When I was in Singapore a few years ago I marveled at all of the bakeries. There were so many different breads and buns. They were filled with all of the things from pork floss, taro, cream, meat, and a lot of things that I can’t even ID. As I bit into each one, I deemed every bite perfect. How does Asian bread stay so soft, supple, moist, and just all …

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This cake was inspired by a challenge I put onto myself: savory tomato cakes have been done before, what about a sweet tomato cake? What about it?! I had to take it on. It felt like a calling back from my french fry cake experimentation days. It was time to head back into the kitchen.

For weeks I dreamed of this flavor profile – as I pruned my tomato plants down or as I harvested the day’s tomatoes, I knew it would be such a wonderful summer cake if I could make it happen. But also have you smelled the tomato leaf candles? They smell so good. With some creativity, I could see this landing really well on a sweet cake. Right?

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The whole point is to eat cake. One of my most favorite parts about the cake world is the moment of running my fork down a cake slice. I live for that moment. Maybe second only to the moment where I put said cake into my mouth to eat it. It’s the best part!

For this cake, I’ve been thinking a lot about how do I get cake into my life faster. I don’t want …

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Writing a cookbook was very cute until it wasn’t. When April rolled around, shit started hitting the fan and the reality of the task again became so much more clear: it was a LOT and it was going t…

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Apple cake with smoked Biscoff buttercream. Where does this dream come from? A lot of it came from scrolling on Instagram too much and following an influencer (@caloriecarnage) who always, always goes on about his love for Biscoff. After countless videos watching him devour anything-Biscoff, I too decided that I must hyperfixate on my love for Biscoff.

…

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I had my first sugar cookie bar in December 2024. Since then they’ve crossed my mind a handful of times. Why are they so good?! That might be a controversial take since most people don’t seem to get as excited about them as much as me. But, but, but why not?! They’re so easy, comes together so quickly, lasts for days, has almond extract (a favorite ingr…

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Whenever I come across or think of lychee I find myself always wishing for its cake form. Lychee is one of my favorite flavors - whenever I think of it, a little flutter goes through my heart and soul. But, I don’t want the fruit, I want it in its cake form. I’ve played with this concept before but have never fully or successfully brought it to reality.…

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Looking back three or four weeks ago, I remember being so excited. I was buzzing about the fresh start to the year. The possibilities. Everything wonderful that lay ahead. Grand visions of sparkling waters, creamy buttercream waves, a reclaiming of time and productivity, learning how to create art, all of the spring flowers, red velvet everything, eatin…

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I hyperfixate on a lot of things. Within baking and outside of baking. I’ll find my thoughts consumed by a particular thing for days or weeks, until it’s released, expressed, or replaced by a new hyperfixation.

My current hyperfixation is this brownie roll. Ever since Courtney posted about it a week or so ago, I’ve found myself thinking about it. I want…

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Before anything else, I wanted to thank you for being here. Thank you for following along with my journey. Thank you for baking through the recipes I share. Thank you for indulging me in my monthly letters. Thank you for supporting my work in this way. Thank you for being here.

Reflecting on 2024

I don’t have it in me to fully recap the year for each mont…

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One of the things I love most about being a member of the Bucket List Bake Club on Instagram is that it keeps me on my toes. While I’m quite comfortable with baking and have dabbled now in most forms of pastry, I do have my favorites. Left to my own devices you will find me baking the same things on repeat – the ones that I love to eat, the ones I find …

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Admittedly, I had no idea what a thumbprint was until I started seeing them all over my feed. But, with FOMO kicking in full force, I had to jump in and make them too. I made some for my holiday pop up back in 2022 and loved them so much. I was also quite surprised that most people did too - it was my first cookie to sell out! At that time, I said, “not…

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