Elisa Strauss founded Confetti Cakes in 2000.  She is a graduate of Vassar College and the Institute of Culinary Education, where she received a degree in pastry and baking arts.  Elisa also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. Prior to culinary school, she worked as a designer for Ralph Lauren. In fact, it was a cake she made for Ralph (in the shape of a Bugatti, his favorite sports car) and the heaps of praise it received from fashion industry notables that inspired her to bring her design talents to the kitchen full time. Her creations have appeared on the Today show (one of her cakes was selected as the winner of the “Today Throws a Wedding” series), Sex and the City (she made Charlotte and Harry’s wedding cake during Season Six), The View, and Martha.  Elisa has also been featured on The View, and has appeared over ten times on the Food Network, including the “Extreme Cake Challenge” where she won the grand prize.  Confetti Cakes has also been featured in InStyle, Martha Stewart Weddings, Marie Claire, Seventeen, Elle, Vogue, Modern Bride, New York, BRIDES, Elegant Bride, and The Knot. In 2008 Pastry Art and Design selected Elisa as one of America’s Top Ten Pastry Chefs. In 2020 while the world shut down due to the Covid outbreak, Elisa turned her dream of having a line of cake kits into reality with the launch of a business that delivered all the ingredients and instructions to make a replica of Elisa’s extraordinary creations at home. In 2023, Elisa appeared as a contestant on the debut U.S. season of Gordon Ramsey’s Food Stars on Fox, where she battled it out with fellow entrepreneurs in the food and beverage space. Click here to see more press.

Elisa’s first book — The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes and Cupcakes from New York City’s Famed Bakery — is in its seventh printing, while her second book entitled Confetti Cakes for Kids has a similar format highlighting all the tools needed to bake and decorate in the kitchen.

In 2010, Elisa stopped making cakes for clients to focus her business on online tutorials, teaching, product design, and special consulting projects. She is busier than ever working with manufacturers, culinary schools, and television producers. Besides television and publishing, Elisa has provided insight and has stayed connected to the cake decorating world as a mentor and speaker at high schools and colleges.

In addition to her work in the kitchen she is an advocate of Icing Smiles, an organization that provides critically ill children with custom cakes. She also serves on the advisory council at the Institute of Culinary Education and is part of the school’s Alumni Hall of Achievement.

Elisa lives in Larchmont, New York with her husband and three children.