Simple Biography

Creativity and artistry have been a part of life for Èlan Church from an early age. From sketching cartoons and comic book figures at age 10 to studying the great artists in Europe at age 19, she has always been intrigued by the expansive world of art.

Graduating from Duke University in 2005 with a double major in Visual Arts and Spanish, her degree allowed her to study costume design, printmaking, sculpture, painting, graphic design, and creative writing.

Thankfully, those skills have transitioned into the kitchen perfectly; now, the cupcake is the canvas and the icing is the paint.

Baking with her relatives at an early age helped Èlan understand an important lesson: the homemade version always tastes better than the boxed version. Her Caribbean family takes pride in cooking almost everything from scratch, which allowed her to witness (and taste) flavor combinations that her many of her American school-friends had not even considered.

She uses that knowledge to her advantage, combining flavors from her studies of other cultures around the world and working them into a recipe.

The most distinguishing feature about Looking Glass Cupcakes is the combination of innovative flavors with unexpected decoration.

“You eat with your eyes first, but it doesn’t matter how good it looks, it’s food, and the bottom line is it has to taste good,” she says with a smile, knowing her products exceed both of those requirements.

Though Looking Glass Cupcakes offers a “menu” with a wide range of classic, organic, vegan, gluten-free, and signature flavors to choose from, Èlan prefers to work closely with her clients and use her creativity to custom tailor each order.

“I’d love to go an entire year without repeating a recipe!”