Four Inane Questions with SugarChat Cookie Studio’s Cynthia Raven
Courtesy photo
If you think you can only use the word cookie as a noun, think again, says cookie maven Cynthia Raven.
“I use ‘cookie’ as a verb,” she says. “I am a cookier!”
Raven tells us she’s been a lifelong baker who studied art in college, along with HR. Her two worlds began to collide when she started creating decorative birthday cakes for her daughters when they were little.
Along the way, Cynthia discovered she had a knack for creating hyper-detailed, wildly ornate cookies that look almost too decorative to consume. (Note: We said almost.) Today, she owns and operates SugarChat Cookie Studio in Lee’s Summit and has become somewhat of a celebrity in the burgeoning Midwest cookie community.
After the pandemic, Raven adds that she “merged my love of training and development with my love for decorating cookies and began offering cookie decorating classes, including hosting corporate team building cookie classes.”
Thanks to her talents and robust social media following, Raven has also become an instructor at several CookieCons—yes, it’s a thing!—and has taught at numerous events around the country.
Her motto, you ask? “A little bit of sugar makes everything better!” she says. “It’s trademarked.”
If Raven looks vaguely familiar, it’s because earlier this month, she was chosen to compete in the fifth season of Food Network’s show Holiday Wars.
“For the first time ever, cookie artists were included on the teams,” she says. “My next goal is to develop a library of cookie decorating tutorials—and be on TV more.”
Given that the holiday season is particularly hectic for Raven, we were surprised she got our pitiful questionnaire answered so quickly. Then, we remembered her deadline-oriented background in HR. Bless her lil’ frosting-filled heart!
Cynthia Raven. // Courtesy Amber Deery
The Pitch: What’s a topping or frosting flavor that absolutely does not belong on a cookie?
Cynthia Raven: Hands down, at least for me, banana. I love real bananas, but not banana-flavored things. Kind of like peanut butter. I love peanut butter—on toast, pancakes, apples, or on a spoon! But I do not like peanut butter-flavored things. Ew.
I’m sure people might disagree on both of these items, and there probably is the perfect cookie for which a banana-flavored icing would work, but I cannot think of it!
Who’s playing you in the TV movie of your life?
Hannah Waddingham. She plays Rebecca on Ted Lasso and, interestingly, the shame nun in Game of Thrones. I love her sassiness and fire, the way she dresses, and her smile. Unfortunately, her beautiful singing voice would go to waste portraying me as I cannot—and do not—sing!
Oh, and I’ve seen recently that she is the new spokesperson for a brand-name cookie company—so there you go.
You can only listen to one TV theme song for the rest of your life. What is it?
“Bad Things” by Jace Everett from the show True Blood. I watched the first couple of seasons and then kind of lost interest, but I loved the opening theme song. It’s bluesy, a little rock and rockabilly altogether. Plus, it has an edge to it that I like.
If you were a gemstone, what gemstone would you be?
Alexandrite, which is actually my birthstone. It changes color in the sunlight and has a beautiful green color. Under regular lighting, it will turn a light reddish or purple color. I think it represents how change can be lovely, and given the right circumstances, we can really shine, but at our core, we’re still the same little rock.
Bonus 5th Question: What’s the most risqué cookie you’ve ever made?
I have had requests in the past for cookies shaped like certain body parts, but that’s a hard no for me. (No pun intended.) I have made some pretty elaborate lingerie cookies that were so fun to create. I made each of them unique in color and design, adding textures, tiny flowers, and piped lace.
