1 of 2
Siblings Alice and Patteson Branch of PAC Sweets
2 of 2
Like many around the world, Patteson Branch, a 17-year-old rising senior at St. Christopher’s School, experimented with baking back in 2020. Inspired by the success of a rainbow layer cake, Patteson regularly tried new recipes and gifted the results to family and friends. “It was just a cool, creative process,” he says in a school press release. “I became kind of obsessed and started making new stuff every day.”
Patteson recruited his sister, Alice, now a rising sophomore at St. Catherine’s School, and younger brother Charlie, a rising seventh grader at St. Christopher’s who has since stepped away from the business, to found PAC Sweets. The trio used their home kitchen to make and sell fudge, safe-to-eat cookie dough and custom cakes.
PAC Sweets’ elaborate decorations include piping, college logos, fruit, cookies and sugar art.
Their break came in May 2022, when a friend requested a cake for a school event. The cake was a hit both at St. Christopher’s and on Instagram (@pacsweets). The siblings have made over 300 cakes, decorating them with traditional roses and piping but also college logos, sugar art, swirls of fruit, cookies and more.
Running a business has been a learning experience, Patteson says.
“We learned a lot about perseverance and resilience. We have learned from our fair share of mistakes.” Throughout, the siblings’ goal has been satisfying their customers, he adds. “We will bake until 2 a.m. if that’s what we need to do.”
Patteson says he enjoys the creativity of making cakes and the flexibility of owning a small business. Out of necessity, though, he’ll step back next year when he goes to college, and Alice will lead PAC Sweets. “I’m excited for the marketing and communication side of things, as well as planning out and executing everything,” she says.
“I don’t know if I will continue baking as a business, but I will definitely use it as a hobby,” Patteson concludes. “My sister and I joke that we’ll never have to buy a birthday cake ever again.”
