Junior Baker Creates Desserts & Smiles

Will Thayer has the baking skills to satisfy every sweet tooth.

Whether it’s a crumbling coffee cake with just the right amount of cinnamon or a pecan pie just like grandma made, when it comes to the kitchen, this 11-year-old is doing it all from scratch.

“My great aunt got me into baking because she is a baking fanatic,” he said. “When I was four, we’d always go to my grandma’s house and just bake all of the time.”

Thayer of Regent Square is a sixth grader at Falk School in Oakland. His desserts have become a staple at the auction, where people bid to have their favorite pastries created by the young baker.

“That’s really cool because when they buy it, that goes to the church,” he said. “It’s really fun making them.”

He already has plans to attend the Pittsburgh Culinary School in his college years and hopes to attend a local arts high school for writing.

“I want to be a pastry chef and own a bakery,” he said.

His favorite things to make include pies, sugar cookies topped with coconut and other savory sweets. Thayer finds his recipes in an old and cherished recipe book that has been passed down from generation to generation in his family.

He enjoys cooking for family and friends, which is part of what is most rewarding about his hobby. The neighborhood kids always look forward to one of his specialties—candied bacon.

“The end result is definitely up there,” he said of his favorite aspect of baking. “I also try to expand and try new foods to put in there.”

In his baking process, he gathers the ingredients, checks all of the expiration dates and follows the directions.

At the Thayer house, the kitchen and surrounding dining and living room areas are filled with a sweet aroma that implies something incredibly delicious is on its way to the table—lucky for his mother, Molly Thayer, and his dad, Scott Thayer, along with his brother, Ben.

“It’s wonderful,” Molly said. “We have been in other parts of the house or outside, and we’ll come in and there will literally be something in the oven—he whips things up very quickly.”

She also added that he has been baking since his very early years in a family that has a tradition for creating the tasty treats. Her favorite desserts include wantons filled with apple cinnamon or nutella, along with a long list of others.

“We have some pretty talented bakers in the family,” she said.

His dad has his own preference.

“The coffee cake you made was pretty awesome,” he said.

For Will, there’s only one downside to his favorite thing to do.

“The only thing about baking that I don’t like—is doing the dishes,” he said.