About Celebrity Pastry
Chef Dawn

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Instagram @myravycakes

Dawn Alston of Ravy Cakes, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native, grew up in Northern Virginia. She developed her passion of baking at the age of six, thanks to her Uncle David.

Uncle David was well known for his southern cuisine and cakes made from scratch. Every opportunity she had with him, she tagged along in the kitchen, especially during cake baking time! Her last and most fond memory of time spent with her Uncle David was very sweet: He baked the family a mouthwatering lemon pound cake that the family lined up in the kitchen eager to taste. It’s amazing how a freshly baked cake can bring joy, happiness, and the togetherness to family, it is what will forever motivate Chef Dawn to create the most delicious cakes imaginable.

During a season of unemployment and managing a single-parent household, Dawn recalled the love and happiness that a cake could bring; this was her call to action! She started by making frequent visits to the community library and reading a plethora of baking as well as pastry books. She has spent long nights in her kitchen studying, practicing, baking cakes from scratch, for her daughter Raven’s birthday and perfecting a Rum Cake for her mom. Her family and friends became her taste testers and first customers. This is where it all began! At that point, Dana, Dawn’s sister suggested that she start Ravy Cakes. Ravy Cakes is named after Dawn’s daughter whose name is Raven. People often raved that the cakes were "orgasmic"!

Dawn continued to bake for her family and friends, while enrolled in culinary school full-time for Culinary Arts with a concentration in Baking & Pastry. While in culinary school, Dawn was assigned to create a unique biscuit recipe that was indeed a hit! She was then given the name “Baker Dawn.”

After graduating from culinary school in 2012 with an Associate Degree in Culinary Arts with a concentration in Baking & Pastry, Dawn continued to make a name for herself by baking cakes for church events, birthday parties, weddings, corporate events, and any occasion that a cake was requested.

Chef Dawn’s accolades and accomplishments are vast and many
to include;

• Zoofari Cake Competition at the National Zoo in Washington DC. Dawn enjoyed the opportunity to compete.

• Competing in a local 2014 Cupcake Challenge Competition, in 2017 Pastry Chef Dawn entered an Extreme Sweets Cake Competition in Washington DC; where she won 1st Place; this organization raised a large amount of funds to benefit homeless men in Washington DC.

• In June of 2018, Pastry Chef Dawn Competed on Food Network’s Wedding Cake Championship. Pastry Chef Dawn currently instructs private and group cake baking and decorating classes for both children and adults.

Ravy Cakes specializes in custom cakes and pastries. Cake Jars have also been added to Ravy Cakes ' list of delicious delicacies, thus Pastry Chef Dawn is affectionately referred to as “The Cake Jar Queen”. Pastry Chef Dawn has the high honor of creating cakes for Celebrities, Politicians, Beauty Queens, and well-known corporations.

Chef Dawn works effortlessly to continue to express her love of baking. One of Chef Dawn’s goals is to have her creations available internationally.

Ravy Cakes proudly serves the DMV area and beyond!