After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, a Baking Blogger Uses Cake to Tell Her Story

On Oct. 8, readers at baking-centric blog Coco Cake Land were treated to a pair of cakes unlike the whimsical, chocolate-draped creations usually featured on the site. Shaped like a set of breasts, the pink-hued cakes were accompanied by a post explaining blogger Lyndsay Sung’s recent breast cancer diagnosis and the ensuing treatment that had thrown her life for a loop. As she put it, “My happy, pretty-pictures, cake-filled life screeched to a weird halt.”

Sung pulled no punches. In full detail, she described her diagnosis, the exhaustive treatments that followed, and the whirlwind of emotions that accompanied each painful step. “So that’s where I’m at now,” Sung concluded at the end of the post. “An eight-month blur of mind f*ckery, body changes, depression, anxiety, and happy days, too. I’ve slogged through a lot this year so far. But I’m still here.”

Cancer had derailed Sung’s career as a baking blogger of significant note. A fourth-generation Chinese Canadian, Sung grew up with a mish-mash of Chinese and North American culinary influences. Cooking and eating always played a huge role in her life, but it wasn’t until adulthood that she began baking.

“Baking became my thing I guess around 2007,” Sung told Yahoo Food. “I got a KitchenAid stand mixer as a wedding present, [although] it sat there for quite a while because I was quite intimidated by it. I was making cookies with a wooden spoon, and my husband was like, ‘Why are you doing that?’ But when I turned it on for the first time, I was like, ‘Oooh.’”

By her own admission, Sung’s first creations were “pretty gross.” A batch of “healthy” muffins turned rock-hard in the oven, and early attempts at cake decorating fell flat. But Sung was determined, turning to YouTube baking tutorials and cookbooks like Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook for inspiration. Soon she was tackling difficult dishes like French macarons — and succeeding.

“I made those before I got intimidated by the thought of them,” Sung said with a laugh. “And they turned out pretty awesome.”

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