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Does Gonzo from Bake Squad have a shop?

By: Author Color With Leo

Gonzo from Bake Squad is one of the talented pastry chefs featured on the popular Netflix baking competition show. Though she rose to fame on the show, many fans are wondering – does Gonzo have her own bakery or shop outside of Bake Squad?

Introducing Gonzo

Christina “Gonzo” Gonzales is a pastry chef based in Dallas, Texas. She grew up in a family of bakers and found her passion for creating incredible custom cakes and confections. Gonzo brought her self-taught skills and artistic flair to Bake Squad, impressing judges and viewers with her unique cake designs and flavors.

On the show, Gonzo wowed with cakes like a sushi box cake, Halloween ghost cake with chocolate spiders, and a unicorn piñata cake. She has a knack for making cakes that look almost too good to eat. Her cakes don’t just look beautiful – they taste amazing too. She cares deeply about texture and balance of flavors in her cake and buttercream recipes.

Does Gonzo Have a Bakery?

So does Gonzo have her own bakery or cake shop outside of the Bake Squad kitchens? The answer is yes and no. Here are the details on Gonzo’s businesses and shops:

  • Gonzo does not have a traditional physical bakery location that is open to the public. Many fans have wondered if she has a bakery in Dallas they can visit.
  • However, she does run a baking business filling custom cake orders. After rising to fame on Bake Squad, Gonzo experienced high demand for cakes.
  • Gonzo bakes out of licensed commercial kitchens in the Dallas area. This allows her to legally produce cakes for sale without having her own storefront.
  • She takes orders for custom cakes through her website and social media pages. Clients can order for pickup or delivery in the Dallas region.
  • For nationwide shipping, Gonzo partners with the online bakery Goldbelly. Customers across the U.S. can order her signature cake flavors and designs through the Goldbelly website.
  • In addition to cakes, Gonzo creates cake truffle flavors, macarons, cake jars, and cake pops for pickup and delivery.

Why Gonzo Doesn’t Have a Traditional Bakery

Gonzo has shared that there are a few reasons why she does not currently have her own traditional retail bakery location:

  • Cost – Opening a full bakery with a storefront, kitchen, staff, and seating is very expensive. Renting and operating a space in Dallas can cost over $100,000 to build out.
  • Time commitment – Running a full bakery requires enormous time and effort. Gonzo found more success focusing on what she loves (baking) rather than hiring staff and running operations.
  • Demand uncertainty – Prior to Bake Squad, she did not have the name recognition to be confident a bakery would thrive. The show allowed her to build a following and gauge demand.
  • Less risk – Operating a licensed kitchen and online model allows her to scale up gradually. She can grow her team slowly without as much financial risk.

For many bakers, going the licensed kitchen to online sales route is much more achievable than jumping right into a full bakery. Gonzo has shared she made the strategic decision to start her business this way. But she has dreams that perhaps someday she will be able open her own store.

About Gonzo’s Baking Business

Even without a traditional bakery, Gonzo has found major success with her baking business model. Here are some details on how Gonzo’s cake business operates:

  • All custom cakes are baked to order in commercial kitchens in accordance with Texas cottage food laws.
  • Most cake sales are from the Dallas/Fort Worth area where she offers pickup and local delivery.
  • For nationwide shipping, she partners with the company Goldbelly to offer her cakes and other treats across the U.S.
  • Her team includes several part-time bakers and decorators who help fulfill orders. She does not currently have a full bakery staff.
  • Clients can request custom designs, flavors, shapes, etc. when ordering a cake.
  • Popular designs include 3D sculpted cakes of objects like sneakers or animals. She brings them to life with airbrush colors.
  • Signature flavors include flavors like horchata, honey cornbread, and strawberry basil cake.

Gonzo and her team bring an artistic touch to cakes that set them apart. Even without having a store, she has found a way to bring her unique cakes to her growing number of fans.

Where to Order Gonzo’s Cakes

Wondering where you can get your hands on one of Gonzo’s incredible custom cakes? Here are the main options:

Gonzo’s cakes are in high demand and her order calendar fills up quickly, so be sure to inquire and order as far in advance as possible. It’s best to contact her directly through her website or social media for the fastest response on availability.

Gonzo’s Bake Squad Fame

Gonzo has won over audiences with her bold personality and standout skills on 2 seasons of Netflix’s Bake Squad. Here are some of her Bake Squad highlights:

  • During season 1, Gonzo was personally selected by Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi to join the Bake Squad team of elite bakers.
  • Her unicorn piñata cake was a big hit and one of the most memorable cakes from the first season.
  • Gonzo’s team won the season 1 finale carnival cake challenge with their incredibly detailed carousel cake.
  • For season 2, Gonzo returned along with Maya-Camille, Ashley, and Christophe as squad captains.
  • One of her biggest season 2 cakes was a giant, realistic peregrine falcon sculpture.
  • Gonzo made it to the season 2 finale but her squad’s magic lamp cake ultimately lost to Maya-Camille’s team.

Both fans and the Bake Squad judges have fallen in love with Gonzo’s kind heart, humor, and fierce talent. She has built a national fan base through Bake Squad that has allowed her business to thrive.

Gonzo’s Other TV Appearances

Besides Bake Squad, Gonzo has appeared on several other food TV shows over the years including:

  • Halloween Baking Championship – Competed in season 5 of this Food Network favorite.
  • Winner Cake All – Joined this popular cake competition series on the Food Network.
  • Sugar Rush Christmas – Brought her holiday cake skills to this Netflix baking contest.
  • Vegas Cakes – Appeared as a guest judge on several episodes of this Food Network cake show.

Gonzo’s charismatic personality combined with her amazing cake skills made her a standout competitor and judge across multiple TV shows. Bake Squad finally gave her the bigger platform she deserved.

Gonzo’s Skills and Specialties

So what all makes Gonzo such a phenomenal pastry talent? Here is an overview of her skills and cake specialties:

  • Cake flavors – Gonzo has an incredible palate and creates unique flavor combinations like horchata, cinnamon toast crunch, and strawberry basil.
  • Decorating – From piping to modeling chocolate, she excels at cake decorating. Her cakes look picture perfect.
  • Sculpted cakes – She sculpts incredibly realistic 3D cakes shaped as animals, objects, people – you name it!
  • Airbrushing – Gonzo airbrushes directly onto cakes for amazingly lifelike colors and designs.
  • Texture – Her cakes have perfect smooth textures and buttery moist crumbs.
  • Fondant work – From ruffles to cutouts, she has masterful fondant skills.
  • Buttercream art – Her piped buttercream flowers and textures are stunning.

It takes immense talent and technique to create Gonzo-quality custom cakes. She clearly has a gift for knowing exactly how to bring a client’s cake vision to magical, delicious life.

Gonzo’s Background and Training

So how did Gonzo go from average home baker to master cake artist? Here is a look at her background and training:

  • She grew up in a large family that loved food and baking. She learned the foundations from her grandmother.
  • After high school, she started a photography program but struggled with the math classes.
  • She made and sold some cakes on the side for fun. The joy of baking led her to switch career paths.
  • Gonzo is a self-taught baker – she does not have any formal training or culinary degree.
  • She started working at bakeries to learn more skills on the job from experienced bakers.
  • After a few years she began to specialize in custom cakes and focused on techniques like modeling chocolate.
  • She took online classes from Expert Express to boost her cake decorating skills to the next level.
  • Her natural talent plus hands-on practice is how she developed her impressive expertise and style.

Like many great bakers, Gonzo’s skills came from natural ability plus tons of practice. Fans love that she is a relatable self-taught baker who chased her cake dreams.

Fun Facts About Gonzo

Here are some fun facts that fans may not know about the colorful Bake Squad captain Gonzo:

  • Her real middle name is Renee.
  • She is left handed.
  • Gonzo loves drag shows and used to perform in them.
  • Purple is her favorite color.
  • She enjoys baking fast-to-eat treats like cake balls as much as giant custom cakes.
  • Her favorite non-bake hobby is gardening and tending to plants.
  • She has several tattoos including a Frida Kahlo portrait.
  • Her go-to late night snack is ice cream.

Learning fun tidbits about Gonzo’s life and personality lets fans connect with the talented pastry chef on a deeper level. She’s clearly much more than just an amazing cake master!

Why Fans Love Gonzo

It’s easy to see why Gonzo won over so many fans during her Bake Squad seasons. Here are some of the key reasons viewers fell in love with Gonzo:

  • Her kindness – Gonzo has a huge heart and warm personality. She is constantly lifting up those around her.
  • Her humor – She brings lots of fun and goofy humor to baking situations that people adore.
  • Open about struggles – Gonzo has shared vulnerable stories about her personal struggles that supporters rally behind.
  • Creativity – Fans are wowed by her nearly endless creativity with cake flavors, designs, etc.
  • Fierce competitor – She brings passion and fire as a competitor which is entertaining to watch.
  • Advocates for Latinx community – As a proud Latina, she uses her platform to inspire more representation.

Gonzo is the whole package – an insanely talented baker who uses her platform for good. Her supporters will surely continue cheering her on in all her future baking endeavors.

What’s Next for Gonzo?

Looking ahead, Gonzo clearly has an incredibly bright future in the world of baking. Here is what could be next for her:

  • Continue growing her custom cake business in Texas and through nationwide shipping
  • Keep expanding her merchandise, like her new colorful bakewear line
  • Potentially open her own bakery if the timing and resources align
  • Share more recipes so fans can bake like Gonzo at home
  • Host baking and decorating classes/workshops for aspiring cake artists
  • Return for Bake Squad season 3 and continue dominating cake competitions
  • Write a baking book filled with her cake secrets and life stories
  • Create fun baking content and build her brand across social media

No matter what she does next, it’s clear Gonzo has the talent and determination to keep succeeding. Her future in baking looks very bright!

Conclusion

Gonzo from Bake Squad has already made a huge impact in the baking world, and she is just getting started. Even without a traditional bakery, she has found major success with her licensed kitchen model and online cake delivery business. She has leveraged her self-taught skills and creativity to build an in-demand brand known for amazing custom cake designs.

Thanks to her Bake Squad fame, Gonzo has won over legions of fans with her kindness, humor, vulnerability and exceptional talent. She is proud to inspire more diversity in the baking industry. Though operating a full bakery is not currently in Gonzo’s plans, she clearly has an incredible career ahead as demand for her custom cakes continues to grow. The future is very bright for this rising star baker!