Dessert wonderland created at KC’s Cake Picnic: Cannoli, piña colada and more

Kansas City’s first cake picnic brought a collection of confections to Southmoreland Park on Saturday.

Peach cobbler, watermelon and key lime pie were only some of the unique flavors gracing the tables of the grassroots event. With a turnout of around 60 cakes from local bakers, the event was a chance for they and a few others to connect and explore each other’s creativity.

Those in attendance were impressed by the array and the communal feeling at the event. Jalyn Glasco Duru organized the event after seeing similar parties online.

Before the event began at 5 p.m., cakes and other sweet treats began to fill the tables lining the park walkway. Some bakers brought multiple cakes; others brought sample sizes of their main cakes. All in all, the park was transformed into a dessert wonderland.

Pauline Berndt owns Paulie’s Pretty Pastries, a bakery run from her home. She made a layered lemon blueberry cake with blueberry filling and lemon buttercream.

The cake had a white exterior with accents done with baby blue colored frosting. The butterfly appliqués — with dollop of frosting — topped the cake, adding whimsy to the decoration. The matching blue flowers add to the effect.

“Lemon blueberry cake is the best in the summer. It is incredibly light and fluffy,” said Berndt.

This type of cake is one of the first that she made when she began baking. It’s something she enjoys a lot, making it perfect to bring for others to try, she said.

She also made Lucky Charms-themed cookies. With a vibrant pink color and topped with the cereal’s famous marshmallows, they brought a fun, childlike display to contrast the mature and whimsical lemon blueberry cake.

“I had so much pride and happiness at the fact that people were enjoying it,” Berndt said midway though the picnic. “I’ve already gotten compliments, so it feels amazing.”

The picnic was a place to enjoy different kinds of cake, but also a place to connect over baking. Many business owners came to the event to meet other local bakers.

Danielle Brice is the owner of Bitefully Sweet LLC, and she brought an old-fashioned hot fudge brownie bread. Although it’s very similar to cake, she said, it’s more dense.

“A lot of people have never heard of it and have never seen it,” said Brice. “I’ve seen it when I was growing up, but a lot of people just don’t bake like that anymore.”

Her cousin, Brandy Clemons, encouraged her to come to this event. When the event flyer came across her feed on social media, she knew for sure that she wanted to be there. She, of course, brought her cousin who had been baking before she was even born, according to Brice.

“I’ve always wanted to do a cake picnic because I’ve seen them in like L.A.,” Clemons said.

The two taste-tested cinnamon roll, chocolate cherry and focaccia bread cakes.

Clemons likes cake, but due to her lack of patience, isn’t much of a baker. She still found a way to participate by having someone bake a cake for her, she said. The strawberry lemonade cake flavor was a hit among the crowd, according to Mark Boos, who used his sister’s baking as a ticket into the event.

Bakers of all kinds came to participate. Some had only tried out the hobby for the sake of attending the event.

Kristina Romero and Alexandria Lopez wouldn’t consider themselves bakers, but they still whipped something up to share at the picnic.

Romero unintentionally baked a vegan strawberry cake, not knowing it was vegan before giving the recipe she found on Instagram a try.

Also trying something new from Instagram, Lopez brought a tropical, piña colada cake.

They tried an array of flavors from the selection of cakes, including cannoli, orange juice, strawberry and Biscoff.

All with great reviews, but their favorite was the cannoli cake because it tasted just like the traditional Sicilian pastry.

“I didn’t think it was going to taste exactly like one, but it tasted like biting into a cannoli,” said Romero.

They nailed the flavor, Lopez agreed.

Cake was the reason behind the get-together, but the purpose was bigger than that. Connections were created at the picnic.

“Everyone has been incredibly kind. I’ve met amazing people who have done crazy things that I’ve never even dreamed about. So all in all, it has been a fantastic time,” said Berndt.

The picnic has a communal, chill but under-control vibe, said Clemons.

“I have gotten, already, 25 new Instagram followers,” Berndt shared excitedly. “It’s just really the connection, small businesses talking to each other. We all learn from each other every day.”

Lopez initially thought the event would be small and local, but contrary to her assumptions, the event had a great turnout, she said.

After seeing the viral event in bigger cities, when Aimee Chezem saw the post on her social media, she was excited that someone stepped up to do the event in Kansas City, she said.

The casual afternoon picnic lived up to Chezem’s expectations. It felt like a block party to her, giving chances to meet new people and try homemade goods, she said.

“I always say it takes one person to initiate it, and that’s how festivals start. So, hopefully it’ll be a tradition going forward,” Chezem wished.

This story was originally published July 19, 2026 at 5:00 AM.