It all began in Grandma Vera’s kitchen, where a young Akiko White would sit perched on the counter, tossing handfuls of ingredients into her grandmother’s 30‑year‑old KitchenAid. “Grandma always knew how to tweak a recipe until it was just right,” Akiko recalls. It was in that cozy kitchen that her love for baking—and for sharing it with others—was born.

Years later, Akiko’s artistry with cakes took her far beyond Grandma Vera’s cooking space. She went on to win the Best in Show at Austin’s famed That Takes the Cake competition and she earned a place on the Food Network’s Cake Wars, where her creation was praised as “the best-designed cake in Cake Wars history.” And most recently, Aloha Bites’ Tutu’s Calamansi Marmalade won the 2023 Good Foods Award and the 2024 Dalemain World Marmalade Award. But for Akiko, the joy of baking has always come from sharing—sharing flavors, stories, and a little piece of aloha.