Baking with Nivaaz Dhillon
Ready, set, bake!
Although she only discovered her passion for creating sweet treats in March of 2020, Nivaaz Dhillon (‘25) found herself debuting her baking skills on the world stage in episode 3 of season 1 of Disney's Magic Bakeoff series in April of 2021.
Given the elaborate and colorful homemade cakes featured on Nivaaz’s baking Instagram account (@bakedbynivaaz), it’s hard to believe that Nivaaz started off making store bought cookie dough and box cake mixes. When unable to participate in her previous extracurriculars of swim and dance due to the Covid lockdowns, Nivaaz began pulling out the Betty Crocker boxes from the pantry to bake for her friends and family. This casual pastime soon transformed into a full-fledged passion as Nivaaz quickly progressed to following online recipes from scratch and ultimately experimenting with her own flavors and methods. Nivaaz found it exciting to try new flavors and ways to decorate her cakes, noting, “Cakes for me are like my canvas for artists.”
As Nivaaz baked more and more, however, her family faced one problem: they had too many cakes and didn’t know what to do with all of them! As a solution, Nivaaz began selling her creations to her family friends, marking the beginning of her baking business endeavors. Apart from cakes, Nivaaz also started making hot cocoa bombs, selling over four hundred during the holiday season: a festive treat, a cocoa bomb is a chocolate ball filled with hot cocoa mix and marshmallows that “explodes” when placed in hot milk. Yum!
The opportunity to bake as a contestant on Disney’s Magic Bakeoff presented itself on an unassuming day last February when one of Nivaaz’s cakes on Instagram caught a casting producer’s eye. After Nivaaz chose her best friend Sidak as her baking partner, both girls underwent an intense interview and audition process. Throughout eight or nine rounds, approximately 3,000 talented young bakers were narrowed down to the 90 who were ultimately featured on the show.
A month later, team BaKaurs (the name of Nivaaz and Sidak’s baking team) set off to Burbank for the exciting day. On each episode of Disney’s Magic Bakeoff, three teams of two bakers compete and their creations are judged on presentation, taste, and creativity. Nivaaz and Sidak had the opportunity to practice their Disney Princess themed cake twice beforehand, but once on the show were surprised with the challenges of incorporating a pastry cream filling made from fresh fruit and a flower arrangement. Overall, Nivaaz remembers her time on the show as an incredible experience.
These days, Nivaaz sells 3-4 cakes a week and donates the proceeds to charity. In total, Nivaaz has raised over $3,500, donating the money to the Humane Society of Silicon Valley and the farmers' protests in India.
Make sure to check out Season 1 Episode 3 on Disney+ to watch team BaKaur’s compete! To see more of Nivaaz’s impressive baking, check out her baking Instagram @bakedbynivaaz and her website https://www.bakedbynivaaz.com/.
5 Questions with Nivaaz Dhillon
Pixel Journal: What is your spirit animal or the animal that you would say best represents you?
Nivaaz Dhillon: Probably a dog! First of all, I really like dogs. Also, dogs are very energetic and lively, and I think that in a similar way I’m always ready to do the next thing.
PJ: What’s the first thing on your bucket list?
ND: I really want to go on a world trip and visit many different countries. Also, I love going to Disneyland so I would want to go to all the different Disney locations. For example, there’s one in Paris and one in Hong Kong, and I hope to see them all!
PJ: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
ND: I think probably Tokyo! I feel like it’s a super fun place and very cultural. I think it would be a fun place to go!
PJ: What is a new skill that you would want to learn in the near future?
ND: I want to get more into sewing and knitting! I was doing a bit of sewing many years ago so I would love to get back into that. And knitting seems like a cool thing to learn!
PJ: What’s your favorite song currently?
ND: All Too Well (10-minute version) by Taylor Swift!
