Cheesecake goes from hobby to lifestyle for 306 Cake's Brady Fornwald
He has no baking or culinary training, just the motivation of his mother and grandmothers
By day, Saskatoon's Brady Fornwald sells farm equipment but by night, the 28-year-old is in his kitchen expressing his passion: that would be cheesecake.
He has no baking or culinary training. What he does have is creativity and an Instagram account that has made him a social media star in Saskatoon.
Fornwald is the man behind the 306 Cakes Instagram account. He started the business three years ago and has seen the account grow to 4,600 followers.
"I started to just post pictures of cakes and I wasn't into anything fancy," Fornwald explained. "I try and just keep it about the cakes. I do it to make people happy."
Surrounded by bakers
Fornwald grew up in a family of bakers in Wawota, Saskatchewan. His mother and two grandmothers loved baking.
When he was 13, Fornwald found a Crock-Pot recipe book and tried making a cheesecake.
He remained focused on cheesecakes throughout his time at the University of Saskatchewan.
His College of Agriculture classmates were blown away at how unique and delicious his cakes were.
Sometimes, Fornwald would post pictures of his cakes on his personal Facebook and Instagram accounts and loved the jubilant responses from friends and family.
That gave him the confidence to start 306 Cakes.
Two or three cheesecakes every day
Now, baking cheesecake has evolved from hobby to lifestyle.
"Every day, I have to think about cheesecake, to some level. So it's cool. There's some days where I'm just like 'oh man, I do not want to go home and do this,' but I turn on some music and I get into the zone. I'm efficient now. It's quick and painless."
On weekdays, Fornwald bakes two or three cheesecakes between 6 and 8 p.m. before heading to the gym. When he comes home, his wife Natalie has taken the cakes out of the oven and they are ready for decorating.
Fornwald's followers marvel at his wild and extravagant creations. From Cookies 'n' Crème to a half-and-half cheesecake of Rolos and Oreos to his top selling Mini Egg, fans from across the province are sending orders to satisfy their cravings.
"I think it's something that's become part of our life," said Natalie.
"It's not just something Brady does on the side anymore. We plan our lives around it, but in a good way. I'm excited all the time because he's got new ideas. He's so creative and makes it look so easy."
The big reveal
Fornwald purposefully keeps his face out of his Instagram pictures. That way, the focus remains on the cakes. It also lends him a cloak of anonymity.
None of his Canada West Harvest Centre co-workers have any idea he runs a cheesecake business, let alone bakes in his free time.
How are they going to react to this story?
"Well, they're going to be blown away," Fornwald laughs.
"I'll get razzed for a little bit but then I'll have to take them a cheesecake. If anyone ever gives me a hard time about it, I'll give them a piece of cheesecake. They kind of flip to the other side right away."
What the future holds
Business is booming for 306 Cakes.
Fornwald is booked solid for the rest of March, and April is quickly filling up with orders.
Natalie talks about one day having a store front in Saskatoon, but said setting up a booth at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market this summer is more realistic.
Whatever the future holds for the business, Fornwald will never lose sight of why he spends time in his kitchen baking cheesecakes — his mom and grandmothers.
"I don't know if I do it for them, but I'd like to say I do it because of them. They motivate me. I still think that if you put the four of us in a room and we had a bake-off, I would get in fourth place every time."