After growing up in Baguio City in the Philippines, where dessert often meant treats like fresh mangoes, sticky rice or coconut candy, Elisa Sunga became entranced with baked desserts like cakes when her family moved to Antioch in 2001.
But it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that Sunga decided to make up for lost time and dove into the world of baking herself. With YouTube and Christina Tosi’s cookbooks as her guides, Sunga worked her way through new recipes and connected with a community on social media in the process. She also co-founded the Bucket List Bake Club, a virtual community for baking.
In March 2024, she posted on Instagram an invitation to her first Cake Picnic at Potrero del Sol Park in San Francisco. By the end of the free April 2024 event, 183 people had shown up, each with their own cake and story to share.
Since then, the event series’ popularity has grown significantly, and with that has come the need for things like event permits and ticketing fees. Today, Sunga says, she receives daily requests asking to bring an official Cake Picnic event to new cities around the world.
“As a part of growing Cake Picnic and the event to welcome as many cake lovers and friends, the event itself has also grown from venue size, infrastructure, operations and processes that make this possible,” the former UX program manager at Google says. “It’s been such a wild adventure of learning how to do all of this!”
By the time she brought the event to the Legion of Honor in San Francisco in March 2025 — as part of a thematic celebration of a Wayne Thiebaud exhibition at the museum — the event, with $15 tickets, was reported to have sold out in under a minute. It had 1,387 attendees, each of whom brought their own cake to share, per the event’s “no cake, no entry” rule. Then, in October, she brought the picnic back to San Francisco again, this event yielding 2,068 cakes.
San Francisco was just the start. Sunga took the show on the road, bringing Cake Picnics to cities like Los Angeles, New York City, San Diego, Minneapolis and London. In 2026, her route so far has included international stops in Mexico and Australia, with a much longer selection of cities to come.
Now, Sunga’s put her ideas into a book, “Cake Picnic: Recipes for the Love of Cake and Friends” (Chronicle Books, $30) — in part a guide on how to throw a cake picnic, in part a recipe collection — which comes out May 19.
“I’ve learned that happiness often comes frosted, shared and cut into generous pieces. It’s about choosing joy, one cake at a time, and surrounding yourself with people who understand that life is sweeter when we celebrate together,” she writes in the introduction.
Sunga answered our interview questions over email.
Q: Why build this event series around cake in particular, rather than another dish or dessert?
A: Cake is meant for sharing, to be sliced and shared with those around. Also, cakes, typically, are quite involved and have multiple layers and flavors. It’s a dessert that takes time, planning and lots of love. With so much work that goes into each cake, there is joy in sharing that with others and seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces.
Q: Tell me more about your Bay Area connections. Were there any local spots in particular that inspired your love for cakes?
A: I was born and raised in the Philippines, so my initial concept of desserts was actually fruits and sticky rice. When my family and I moved to the Bay Area in 2001, my first introductions to cakes, brownies, doughnuts and desserts were from classroom treats brought in by my teachers.
Q: You did a world Cake Picnic tour. You wrote a cookbook. What’s next for you and Cake Picnic?
A: I’d love to continue to bring Cake Picnic to as many cities and countries as I can! That has been one of the most delightful parts of going on a world tour for cake: learning about the regional varieties and types of cake. Each country has its own unique cake culture and story that I want to learn more about and experience! In London, I saw a lot of Earl Grey and lavender cakes, in Mexico City, flavors like passion fruit, coconut and mango were strong, and in Australia, I was introduced to the very traditional duck cake!
Q: What’s your go-to favorite cake to bake and why?
A: Triple chocolate cake! I swoon for anything chocolate cake. At each Cake Picnic, most of my cake box ends up being chocolate cake slices! I love the flavor and how moist chocolate cakes are!
Q: You share tips on how to throw a cake picnic in the book. Why do you think people should throw cake picnics?
A: To me, Cake Picnic is bringing magic into a world that needs it. It is my hope that smaller towns and areas that might not get a Cake Picnic tour stop can come together in small ways to make their own magic. I also think that life is too short to not be eating more cake! I think that cakes are too special to only enjoy during birthdays or weddings. More cake, more magic.
Q: Cake Picnic has obviously grown into a big thing — did you know it would be like this going in? Or what has been most surprising about its success and your journey with the concept so far?
A: I had no idea that Cake Picnic would become so huge, viral or a global phenomenon! I think back a lot to how I started this because I wanted to eat a lot of cake with my friends. I didn’t realize that this was a universal desire and need, too.
It’s been wonderful to meet so many new friends along the tour – friends that I have Cake Picnic-bonded with and have become my best friends. I also love hearing about everyone’s stories of what brought them to Cake Picnic and how so many travel across state and country borders just to join! Anyone that is willing to travel for cake is a friend of my heart. Through Cake Picnic, I’ve found my people!
Q: I actually got to see and participate in last year’s Legion of Honor Cake Picnic for myself — and the turnout was amazing! Why do you think so many people baked elaborate cakes, dressed up and showed up from around the region well ahead of noon to share their cakes with a bunch of strangers?
A: I think that in our day and age of AI, there is a widespread calling for nostalgia, for analog, and for moments to touch grass. As much as we rot, doomscroll and get lost in the frenzy of AI, we crave moments that make us feel alive.
With how whimsical and delightful Cake Picnic is, it’s a strong contrast to our daily lives. With Cake Picnic, we are forced to bake a cake for a random weekend (no cake, no entry), pack a picnic basket and head to the park to spend a day outside. Once there, Cake Picnic is for all of the senses: hundreds of cakes, creativity and self-expression on full display, and the magic of a wholesome day with our friends and loved ones.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share or highlight, especially with a Bay Area audience?
A: I am proud to say that San Francisco is Cake Picnic’s home. For a long time, San Francisco was/is known primarily for tech and Silicon Valley. But, there’s so much more, and we have so much creativity and passion for sharing, community gathering, mutual aid, and artistic expression to put out into the world. To date, San Francisco holds the record for biggest Cake Picnic at 2,068 cakes! No one does it like the Bay Area, and I love that for all of us.
Recipes from ‘Cake Picnic: Recipes for the Love of Cake and Friends’
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