From a very early age, Kalina Cross knew she wanted to be a pastry chef. Born and raised in Alaska, she was inspired by her mother, who owned a baking business and made several birthday cakes throughout Cross’ adolescence. 

Cross went to school in Colorado for environmental science. She was about to transfer to pastry school when the coronavirus pandemic began. After that, Cross decided not to attend pastry school and instead started her baking business from home — originally named Kalina’s Creations. 

Cross mainly baked cakes and cupcakes for her friends for a few years before she moved to Champaign-Urbana in 2022. She didn’t restart her business in C-U until recently, when she knew she wouldn’t relocate. 

Cross’ business is a cottage bakery, meaning the food is made from a home kitchen abiding by cottage food laws. 

Since restarting her business, Cross has made appearances at the Urbana’s Farmers Market selling cupcakes and cookies to customers. 

But Cross made one notable change by renaming her business to Bunnings Bakery. The  name change was in honor of her mother, Emily, whose nickname among her loved ones was “Bunny” before she died last year.

Bunnings Bakery hasn’t been without its challenges. Cross said re-establishing her business in the area wasn’t easy at first since she didn’t know as many people in C-U compared to Alaska. However, after her appearance at the Urbana Farmers Market, Cross says her nerves about people not knowing her business have eased over time. 

“Everyone was super nice,” Cross said. “A lot of people have been reaching out to me wanting to order for the future or for events they’re having.”

While Cross had her sister, Keirin Cross, help prepare for the market, some of her friends advised her on making sales pitches to customers. But some baking influencers, like Marisha’s Couture Cakes, assisted Cross when preparing for the market. 

“(Marisha) does a lot of farmer’s markets,” Kalina Cross said. “When I decided I wanted to do the farmer’s market, I was watching a lot of her videos because she was talking about table setup and packaging and going through how much do you sell? What should you expect? Everything like that.”

Keirin Cross regularly helps Kalina with the business. While she doesn’t bake, she helped design the logo for Bunnings Bakery and says that she’s learned a lot from her sister. 

“It’s definitely a lot more work than I thought it was,” Keirin said. “Just watching her throughout the process. I’ve never had my own business or anything like that. Seeing her calculate what to do for the farmers market, or coming up with prices and things like that, she’s definitely taught me a lot in that respect.”

Making logos hasn’t been the only thing Keirin Cross has helped her with; she has also recommended friends and colleagues to the business when they plan on hosting events. As a result, those friends have bought from Bunnings Bakery for events such as weddings and children’s birthdays. 

“My sister’s making a wedding cake for one of my friends, who used to be my coworker,” Keirin said. “Another one of my friends went to her a couple times for their kid’s birthday cake. A lot of people like her stuff because it looks different and tastes really good.”

Besides baking cakes for her clients, Kalina Cross is working to expand her business beyond her home.

“I want something in Urbana,” Kalina said. “I’m always looking at spaces, but I don’t really know the timeframe. If I can’t have a bakery where people can come in, I definitely want to have my own commercial kitchen that will just allow me to make more things.”

Kalina Cross plans to return to Urbana’s Farmers Market on May 31 and make an appearance at the Pride Market, hosted by Uniting Pride, on June 8. 

Anyone who wants to follow along to see Bunnings Bakery’s progress can visit their Facebook and Instagram pages. Customers can place orders on baked goods by following the instructions pinned on Bunnings Bakery Instagram. 

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