Hi! I’m Sherlonya, and I’m obsessed with intensely interested in the Presidents of the United States.

When I tried to describe the concept behind Head of State Cakes to my son, he looked at me with the bold-faced incredulousness that only a child can pull off.

“You’re going to make president flavored cupcakes?!?”

No, son. No.

Instead, Head of State Cakes is a chance to think about the President of the United States through a different lens, considering him through a pantry. I’ve long been interested both in baking and the presidents. Back in elementary school I broke the binding of a book about them, looking through the book so often. Later, this hungry curiosity was rekindled and I embarked upon a project to read a biography about each president. When I finished that project, despite a related one to write a poem about each president, I felt a little lost. That’s when this idea came to me.

My love for the presidents is all consuming and, I suspect, overwhelming to those who know me. Here, at Head of State Cakes, I’ll talk about the things that strike me about these men and their times, their nicknames, and their habits. Maybe doing this will allow me to spare my friends from random  history lessons…or at least make those musings go down a little easier with cupcakes.

Finally, my goal here is to create a delicious cake for each of the presidents. There will be no cottage cheese and ketchup cupcake for Nixon because that’s something he liked to eat. These cupcakes are like a little gift for each of them, a thank you for the hours of enjoyment reading about them has given me.

When I am not thinking about the presidents, I am writing Open Letters, taking pictures of my food, occasionally tweeting, and generally trying to maintain a life in balance when I’ve not allowed myself to get sucked into pinning things.

-Hail to the Chief & Bon Appetit!