Pastry Chef David Benton

730-plus pastry designs, decorations and executions gave David Benton the confidence to transition from jaded food chef turned architectural librarian into the owner of Sugarsweet Cake Studio in the Bay area. Sugarsweet has been many things at different times but has evolved into a studio that focuses solely on large and small wedding and special occasion cakes.

“I am (for the most part) a self-taught cake artist. I never baked growing up nor had any interest whatsoever in it for most of my life.”

Pastry chef David Benton moved to the Bay area from Portland, Oregon with his family when he was 7 years old. During his teen years he enjoyed the reputation of being a sought-after club kid whose influence and popularity was parlayed into a stint as a club promoter. As maturity settled in, Benton enrolled in the California Culinary Academy with his sights set on becoming a food chef; it was during this time that he began experimenting with pastries. After graduation, he spent over 2 years as first an intern and then an assistant in a bakery. He even plated desserts for a local hotel.

Benton’s design style is as quirky and unconventional as that club kid. His style is heavily influenced by fashion, pop culture, time periods, music, films, patterns and his own eye for what’s cool.

In early 2012 David Benton launched Sugarsweet Cookies. Sugarsweet Cookies' focus is a twist on the traditional. The cookies are made from organic ingredients like their Sugarsweet Cake cousins.

Pastry chef David Benton currently resides in the Bay area and is an editorial advisor and contributor for Cuisine Noir magazine.