Welcome to Sugarologie! I'm Adriana.

I make videos and tutorials exploring the intersection of baking + science.

I'm a pretty unconventional baker. I've been a home baker for several years, but I'm also a scientist (MS in Micro/Immuno, PhD in Biochem/Mol Bio).

I've spent many years studying biology, biochemistry, microbiology, and chemistry and so I look at recipe development through that lens. I love researching the functions and interplay of all the macromolecules (proteins, starches, sugars, fats) in a recipe and using that knowledge to build recipes for us.

In addition to my videos, I've also built the Cakeculator, which is a custom cake recipe app that's free for you to use on my website. I designed it because I felt limited as a home baker for customizing cake recipes. So my app does all the math for us, you just have to choose the flavors you want.

science videos

Sugarologie is for the curious home baker. On this site you'll find:

home kitchen-tested recipes explaining why they work;
video tutorials showing my exact methods;
actionable answers to baking problems; and
The Cakeculator.

In addition to what you'll find on this site, I post unique baking science videos on social media:

YouTube
Instagram
TikTok

(For business inquiries, please contact: adriana at sugarologie dot com)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Cakeculator? How did you make it?

The Cakeculator originates from my idea that baking cakes should not be restricted to a singular pan size and frosting combination.
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‍I love a good recipe book but I feel it's restrictive and makes it difficult for bakers to be creative. You are often confined to the singular recipe that's been written with limited customizations - this applies to size and well as flavor modifications.

My Cakeculator project started in 2018.

I was bored and pregnant then, and my brain felt underused. For fun, I taught myself how to code and decided to write an application for my cake recipes.

It started incredibly simple; the app would just present a text box on my computer with a recipe. It began to gain functionality as I consistently added calculations. It got to a point where I thought, hey, I think this would be helpful for other bakers!

The Cakeculator has been live on my website since 2019.

Since then, I've added more cakes, frostings, and pans. Currently, I have:
19 Cake Flavors
13 Pan Sizes
14 Frosting Flavors
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‍There are 3458 potential cake combinations you can bake with my Cakeculator.

Right now, I'm the only developer working on it. I am slowly revamping the interface and adding more useful stuff as I get feedback.

‍So far, the feedback has been encouraging - I get thousands of people messaging me worldwide using The Cakeculator.

Bakers use it for family celebration cakes and their home baking businesses. Wow! That blows me away. And that makes the hours and hours of coding completely worth it.

What is your degree? How did you get into studying food science?

I have an M.S. in microbiology and immunology from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

I love reading food science books written for the general public to textbooks and peer-reviewed papers for specialists.

There's quite a bit of overlap (particularly between biochemistry and food science) that allows me to digest baking science topics easily.

This allows me to understand the mechanisms behind baking so that I can create unique recipes and troubleshoot common issues.

Will you ever make vegan/eggless/gluten-free recipes?

When I develop recipes, I do tons of research. There's the process and ingredients - everything has a specific purpose, and I try to figure out what they are.

When it comes to vegan ingredients and gluten-free flours, I'm still learning and experimenting. It's definitely on my to-do list and something I'm looking at featuring in The Cakeculator in the future.