She was raised on spicy Thai. Now her cake-making business is a hit in KC
Kannika Costello grew up in Thailand and spent most of her adult life working in offices, either as a secretary or in human resources. That changed in 2020 when a cousin was getting married and Costello volunteered to handle the cake. She quickly realized that finding a beautiful, elegant cake would be more difficult than she expected.
After reaching out to local bakers, none could provide what she envisioned, so she decided to make it herself.
There was just one catch: Costello had never baked before. In Thai culture, baking isn’t especially common. Spicy dishes typically take center stage over sweet ones. Undeterred, she started researching.
Within a week of experimenting, Costello had baked a three-tier cake that earned praise from both her family and the wedding guests. She was hooked. With extra time during the pandemic, Costello threw herself into baking and continued to refine her skills. She eventually moved to Kansas City, Kansas, from Thailand with her partner, where they got married—and where she committed to baking full time.
Today, Costello, 42, has turned her passion into a profession as the owner of Mooyueibaker, an online business creating cakes, cookies, and other desserts infused with her unique cultural touch.
Costello recently sat down with Kansas City Star culture and identity reporter J.M. Banks to talk about finding her passion, using her culture in her baking and the importance of Asian creatives working together.
Banks: Can you begin by telling me about your life in Thailand and how you came to Kansas City?
Costello: I was born in Chanthaburi. Then I lived in Bangkok as an adult. I worked as a secretary and in human resources. I grew up with a big family and had a good childhood. I had actually lived in Kansas for a year when I was 26, a long time ago, then I moved to New York for four years before I moved back to Bangkok. I came back here in 2021. I had gotten married after the pandemic so I flew from Thailand to here in Kansas.
When did you discover your love of baking?
In 2020 my cousin in Thailand was getting married. My aunt has her own resort that is beautiful where we were going to celebrate my cousin’s wedding. I wanted to find the cake for my cousin. She didn’t ask me to, but I wanted her wedding to be beautiful so I wanted to try to find one. So I called around to different shops but our location at the hotel was not easy for them to deliver it. That is when I decided to try to make a cake for the first time. I had maybe a week to practice and learned by watching YouTube. That is the first time I baked.
It took a few tries and I did not think I would get it right but I ended up making a three-tier cake for 150 people and also made two cakes on the side. I made a vanilla layer coffee cake. Everyone loved it and I was surprised because I told my cousin I didn’t know if it would taste good.
When did you decide to pursue baking as a career?
When the pandemic happened I had nothing to do so I started baking. So learning about how to make something and hearing a recipe on YouTube and changing it so it fit me. So that is the way I found out for myself. In 2024 I made my own wedding cake on top of everything else and made a chocolate and coffee.
A year or two later, when I moved to Kansas, I felt like I had to do something that was my own. I felt like I wanted to have my own business. First I started selling cakes and cookies on marketplace on Facebook. Then I started to do pop-up events. After that I decided to be a full time baker.
Is baking a big aspect of the Thai culinary culture?
No, not really. My mom always asked how did you become a baker because we really don’t do sweets. My family loves to cook and we love to eat spicy foods. Before I started baking I didn’t eat dessert that much. In Bangkok they have many coffee shops, like a lot, and there are baked goods they have with that. I love cake with my coffee. In Thailand we have desserts. We have ube, which is made from sweet potatoes. But when I started baking I made ube jam which came to become my ube halaya cake. I didn’t really see many different assortments there growing up but when I went to Bangkok recently I saw more so maybe more baking trends are catching on there also.
What are some of the things that you make at your bakery?
The ube halaya cake, I am having to make that every week because there is always someone who is asking for it. Another one is my cheesecakes. I get a lot of requests for custom cakes also.
What is your favorite part about the work you do?
I get to be creative. I get to challenge myself and it can be stressful but it is fun. I use my heart to do it and do all the drawing and designing of the cakes.
What’s the most difficult aspect of being a baker?
My husband says I get no sleep. I am usually really busy. Last year I was waking up early, morning until midnight. Some cakes are a process. You bake then you have to let it cool, then you have to go back to it again. So, a cake could take all day. I have to find my balance to be able to bake and still be able to sleep and be in a good mood.
How does it feel to be a part of this tight knit Asian community here in Kansas City?
There are so many great people in the Asian community here. The first popup I did was at Cafe Cà Phê and Jackie (Nguyen) created a place where we can come together. A lot of us have met there and become friends. I have a friend who is another baker and we support each other and we never have to compete or be jealous. When we work together we have a better community. When you have a good community even the customers begin to be your friends.
What are some things you would like to see within the local Kansas City Asian community in terms of collaboration and progress?
I want to see more events. I would love to see us do a night market where we can invite people in so they can see how much of a good time we have together. I think a lot of us are in the food industry in some way so I would like for us to have something surrounding all of our different foods. I feel like here we don’t have as much street food as in Thailand. There, it is everywhere. Most people eat there than go to a restaurant because it is cheap, easy to find, and good. I would like to see us start to find ways to do more events like that, where we can set up on the street and give people options.
What are your plans for your baking in the future?
I want to have a physical shop but it is tough right now because of everything going on with money and the economy. I feel like it is risky too right now because I see a lot of businesses struggling. But I do want a small shop to build up little by little to be a happy place where people come in and have a good time together.
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This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
