Hi! Thanks for visiting my website! Perhaps you have checked out my cakesicle or my cake portfolio and now want to learn a little about the baker behind them. Or maybe you navigated to this section first. Regardless of what you have viewed, I am thrilled you chose to visit my website and so excited to share my baking with you!

I am a midwesterner through and through. I grew up in Spring Arbor, Michigan. I lived and studied in Michigan through earning my first graduate degree, Doctor of Optometry, at the Michigan College of Optometry.

I joined the Air Force while in optometry school and upon graduation was stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, Clovis, New Mexico. After that tour, my Air Force career took me to MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida. Next up, back to the Midwest! I attended The Ohio State University to earn my second graduate degree, a PhD in Vision Science, as an Air Force sponsored student. My dissertation focused on imaging retinal cells with adaptive optics, to include the transparent retinal ganglion cells, and retinal vasculature in living humans with diabetes without diabetic retinopathy in pursuit of detecting retinal changes before the onset of diabetic retinopathy. After my PhD I was assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio and I am currently stationed there.

If you can’t tell, I love the eyes, they are truly so fascinating! My love runs deep, as I knew I wanted to be an optometrist when I was in eighth grade. I also just love science and learning. However, my interests span further than eyes and science.

I love baking, and despite my graduate degrees, I have always dreamed of owning a custom-order bakery. So, I decided to make that dream a reality. I haven’t gone to any formal baking classes, but my love of learning has inspired me to continually challenge myself in the kitchen and try new techniques and desserts.

At the end of the day, eyes, science and baking aside, I find the most joy in my family roles. I get to be the wife to an amazing husband of 12 years and the mommy to four little boys, hence the name Four Joys Bakery 🙂 I love spending time with my family, whether it is trips to Kings Islands, swimming at the pool, playing at parks, doing crafts and science experiments, watching a movie, playing video games or cheering for my boys at their sporting events, soccer and football for now.

My family gets to experience all my baking pursuits and are my first taste testers. A tradition we do for every birthday is to have the boys pick out a birthday cake theme. I spend countless hours planning it and then baking and building it on the eve of their birthdays. They always are so excited on their birthday, they make their way to the kitchen first thing in the morning to see what amazing cake awaits them.

Hopefully by now you can tell that I am passionate about baking. Like my family, I hope you can experience joy in every crumb from one of my custom-ordered bakery items baked and prepared just for you!

May your day be filled with joy!
-Danae