Battling Breast Cancer, Anjuli Webster Baked for Therapy
By Jill Brooke
Baking can be therapy.
After getting diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018 at the age of 36, Anjuli Webster didn’t want to spiral to a negative place. And let’s face it- that’s hard to do.
“In an effort to stay positive and work on healing physically, emotionally and mentally I decided to concentrate on my baking,” recalls Webster who is based in Seattle.
Learning about techniques, combing the web for inspirations, asking “generous bakers who shared their tips and tutorials,” Anjuli Webster found her mojo along with some fab frosting.
In life, there are few things we can control. But cooking can give an instant boost of satisfaction because you see the fruits of your labor. Plus you get to eat it too. Also, baking offers so many opportunities for creativity visually.
“Following my breast cancer treatments I gravitated even more to this idea of finding beauty where you think there’s none,” she says. “It helps me to stay grounded and give myself the time to heal because I know at some point in my journey I will feel beautiful again.”
Her motto became, “Kick cancer’s ass and celebrate with cake.”
She also found herself gravitating towards creating cakes with lots of flowers for her budding business called, Almas Buttercream Dream, in Seattle.
“Flowers inspire me every day,” she says. “On cakes, they add so much elegance and as a cake artist choosing the right colors and blooms are so important because they convey so much and definitely set the mood. Recently I’ve been using fresh flowers as my muse to create palette knife buttercream blooms.”
It’s not a total surprise that Webster is finding success as a baker. Her mom is the owner of Pam’s Kitchen in Seattle and was even featured on Guy Fieri’s show.
“I learned to cook from her, but baking is something I taught myself,” she says. “I started baking ten years ago, starting with my son’s first birthday. Throughout the year I would bake for my kids birthdays or close family.”
The positive responses motivated her – along with her diagnosis and subsequent cure. With so much gratitude, she is now not counting the calories but counting new customers who love her cakes.
Her mom and family have been incredibly supportive which helps immensely.
Like there are many types of apples from gala to Cortland, there are many ways apples fall from a tree. For Anjuli Webster, it may not be whipping up a Caribbean stew, like her mom, but stewing apples for pies and cakes.
And for anyone eating at their tables – the food is delish and full of both heart and soul.
Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD.
Photo Credit: Anjuli Webster