Meet the 9-year-old who rakes in dough with her own bakery

By Hannah Van De Peer via SWNS

A nine-year-old "baking genius" already runs her own business and makes up to $7,200-a-year in tips alone.

Lola Niski has been baking her own treats since she was three years old - after watching her mum, Corinna, 37, rustle up cakes.

She became “transfixed” with TV show ‘Kids Baking Championship’ on the Food Network - and decided she wanted to try making “gravity-defying” cakes of her own.

After seeing her first extreme bake - an illusion cake which featured sweets pouring into a cake - orders came pouring in from friends and family.

Now, she earns up to $600-a-month with her own bakery, Sweet Honey Bakes by Lola - despite baking cakes for free and only ever asking for voluntary tips.

Corinna, a special education teacher, from Long Beach, Long Island, US, said: “Lola’s ability to pick up baking skills has always been uncanny.

"We never intended for her to start a business - we both just love baking and did it for fun.

“Lola has even had requests from friends and family to teach her how to bake.”

Lola had been watching Corinna baking cakes for as long as she could remember.

At three years old, when she was old enough to join in, she was asking to bake cakes on her own.

She already has a “signature” bake she’s spent the last six years perfecting - her peanut butter cookies.

But at the age of eight, she started watching "Kids Baking Championship" and wanted to try making more extreme cakes.

Lola said: “I wanted to start baking because I’d been watching ‘Kids Baking Championship’ and I loved it so much.

“One thing I love about baking is you can experiment with math and science and still have fun.”

Corinna added: “Lola got into baking because she saw me doing it and wanted to help.

“She started at about three or four - once she got a bit older, she was really motivated to take more risks on her own.”

Lola’s first extreme solo bake was a self-titled “defying gravity cake” - which included an illusion of a bag of sweets falling onto a cake.

From there, several friends and family members began asking if they could place orders with her - sparking her to start a tips-only business.

“We’ve never thought to calculate how much money Lola gets,” Corinna said.

“As a lot of times we don’t charge our family and friends.

“But they will tip her out of generosity.

“During the summer, when school is closed, she can take multiple orders a week.

“I’d say she earns around $250 to $300 in a standard month - but when she goes to do a pop-up bakery, she’ll earn $600.”

Corinna says the most popular occasion for Lola’s bakery is birthdays but she’s also designed and baked cakes for weddings and baby showers.

Lola’s friends often ask her to make them a birthday cake - which she says is her favorite part about running her own bakery.

Lola said: “It makes me feel very special when my friends always ask me to make their birthday cakes.

“One of my favorite things to bake for them is my signature peanut butter cookies - a chocolate fudge cookie base with a chocolate ganache and peanut butter cups on top.”

Corinna says she doesn’t know whether Lola will stay in the baking business when she grows up - but a number of her school friends have asked her to teach them how to bake cakes.

She said: “Lola has gotten requests from friends to teach them how to bake.

"She’s certainly capable of leading a class, and I’d trust her to do so.

“Whether Lola decides to continue baking or not is totally up to her.

“I just want her to be happy with whatever path she chooses, whether that’s baking or not.”