high tide jan. 27, 2023
features 6
Cooking with cups of creativity Aivah Kassabian makes gluten-free cakes and showcases them on instagram by Lauren Greene
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ife is no piece of cake, but for senior Aivah Kassabian, baking makes life a little bit sweeter. Kassabian bakes and decorates elaborate gluten-free cakes and desserts, sharing her treats on her Instagram platform, @ aivah_bakes. Inspired by her grandparents, Kassabian began baking around the age of nine. Today, she specializes in making cakes, but also bakes other treats 2 such as cookies, cupcakes and banana bread. “My Armenian grandma owns a restaurant, and I used to bake a lot with my grandparents as a kid,” Kassabian said. “I also watched a lot of baking shows, and I wanted to try to make what I saw on TV.” Kassabian began making gluten-free sweets when her mom, Rye Kassabian, became
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1. Gluten-free chocolate cake with red roses. 2. Gluten-free chocolate cake with buttercream and strawberry filling. PHOTOS COURTSEY OF AIVAH KASSABIAN AND CAN BE FOUND @AIVAH_BAKES ON INSTAGRAM
gluten-free around four years ago. Mrs. Kassabian recalled the difficulty in finding gluten-free treats “that were simple and tasted good,” so her daughter became like her “personal little baker.” Kassabian herself later stopped eating gluten, focusing her work solely on specialized gluten-free recipes. “I make most of my cakes for my family and friends or for birthdays. I always bring leftovers to school for people to come and eat,” Kassabian said. “I also sell some c a k e s through my Instagram DMs or per requests from my m o m ’ s friends.” Kassabian spends, on average, 6-12 hours making each cake, depending on its complexity. Her creations are inspired largely by online images, videos and recipes that she adjusts to her own baking style. “I've always been pretty creative,” Kassabian said. “I started watching YouTube videos and I would try to figure out how to make [interesting designs]. I also get a lot of inspiration off of Pinterest.” According to Mrs. Kassabian, her daughter has expressed her artistic abilities since she was a toddler, and consistently determines how to create her work simply by looking at an image of her inspiration. “When she was two years old, she was already drawing little happy faces when
most kids were only drawing scribbles,” Mrs. Kassabian said. “She just kept practicing and each cake that she baked and decorated got better and better, and she would look for different techniques and different frostings to use.” While her personal favorite is her red velvet cake, Kassabian’s “go-to recipe” is chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, as she has now “perfected” its technique. “Her chocolate cakes and cupcakes are one of my favorites because they're so light and fluffy and moist,” Mrs. Kassabian said. “Gluten-free pastries and cakes can often be dense, but she has mastered the techniques and they aren’t overly sweet.” Both Kassabian and her mom note her dedication to detail during the baking process, especially when decorating. “The most frustrating part [about baking] is when [the treats] don't turn out the way that I want them to, appearance-wise,” Kassabian said. “If the frosting isn't cooperating, that really annoys me and I have to try again and again because I want it to look as perfect as possible.” Kassabian bakes on the weekends and after school several times a month, depending on the quantity of orders she receives. While she would “love” to
run a bakery when she is older, Kassabian realizes the challenges of simultaneously “owning a business and baking,” due to the time commitment it requires. “I hope to keep improving and perfect my skills over time. But for the most part, I just want to see where baking takes me,” Kassabian said. Mrs. Kassabian would also love to see her daughter open a bakery, but supports her with any career she decides to follow. “Coming from a line of family members on her dad's side that all own businesses, I know she'd have support and guidance in that area,” Mrs. Kassabian said. “She's always going to need baking as an artistic outlet, so even if she does keep it as just a side hustle, that's fine too. I want her to continue to bake and to maintain that passion for baking and whatever she chooses to do in the future.” PHOTO BY MARIN CANTRELL
Piper Flaherty and Kiana Yantz coach youth lacrosse teams while balencing commitments in school and on the varsity team by Luca Artiga
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and high school girls through coaching and wo hour classes during the school through the years, [the younger girls] start day, two hour practices for five to look up to them.” The seasons include fall, winter and days a week, along with subsequent homework and games. This became spring for Leverage Lacrosse, and excluthe routine that varsity lacrosse players Pip- sively spring for Redondo Lacrosse. Yantz er Flaherty and team captain Kiana Yantz and Flaherty both coach during the spring commit to during the season, in additon to season, but until then, Flaherty still holds dedicating their time to coach youth girls private lessons for anyone interested. Box la- crosse is held in the fall, lacrosse teams. Through the lacrosse (indoor) while field lacrosse is held in winprograms Leverage ter and spring, both Lacrosse and RedonPHOTO VIA types of lacrosse do Lacrosse, girls in CREAZILLA in which Flaherty fifth through eighth and Yantz have grade are able to coaching experilearn and play laence. crosse, as well as compete ¨As far as trying to find that balagainst other teams. ance, I think it's going to be better “It's a different dynamic because this year than last. With coachwe're also being coached at the ing on Tuesdays, I know same time [on varsity] and when I should be doing still learning new things my homework and while coaching other I can plan it ahead people, so it gives us a better the weekend. But I perspective on what works and of time on do think spring is going to be the hardwhat doesn't,” Flaherty said. An opportunity to start coaching pre- est,” Yantz said. Yantz and Falherty have had to learn sented itself first to Yantz last year, through a recommendation by fellow junior co-cap- to balance coaching the youth lacrosse tain Kyile Thompson to their coach Tomas team and handling workloads from classBorgia, who also is the head coach and ad- es as lacrosse season comes nearer. They viser for the youth teams. Flaherty soon both coach during their Varsity Lacrosse’s started to fill in for Thompson or Borgia’s on-season, committed to teaching their absences, which soon led to her regularly girls, which has proven to be a challenging task. starting to coach. “When we have after school prac“Lacrosse is relatively new compared to soccer. I mean, every parent thinks they tices until 5:00 pm during the season, can coach soccer, when they really can't, that's when things get hard because we because lacrosse is really a technical sport,” have coaching right after, and I only have Borgia said. “I like to empower my captains a few hours before it's time for me to go to
sleep,” Flaherty said. Having played lacrosse since sixth grade and participated in their fair share of club teams, both girls pull from their experience from previous practicing club lacrosse drills and apply them at practices with the middle school girls they coach. “When you first start playing lacrosse it is so hard. It is like learning how to walk. It's so frustrating at the start but then it just gets easier,” Yantz said. “Don’t get down on yourself and just enjoy it because middle school is so fun.” Flaherty and Yantz started their lacrosse journey through Redondo Lacrosse, and it all came full circle when they found themselves as juniors, coaching the future wave of Redondo Beach’s lacrosse players. “Kiana and I have been really close for a while, so I feel that makes it easier for us to have an open dialogue about what we can do for practice drills and stuff. We don't need to be scared about hurting the other person's feelings or stepping on each other's toes when it comes to drills,” Flaherty said. “We've been on the same team so we have a lot of the same drills and a lot of the same knowledge of lacrosse, so it's easy to work together.” Yantz and Flaherty took over some of the empty spots left by last year's coaches. Lacrosse captain alumni Asjia Roberson and Natalie Kokes served not only as teammates, but also as mentors to both the youth girls and to fellow varsity players like Yantz and Flaherty. Now, there are high expectations as Kokes attends the University of Washington and Roberson earned a scholarship to play for USC Lacrosse. “It's hard to fill those shoes because a
lot of the advice I have is from Asjia," Yantz said. "I feel, even as a captain and a coach, it's hard to communicate what you want people to do, especially younger kids.” With coaching the ages that they do, “different perspectives” are shared when coaching these girls. Both enjoy talking to these girls and sharing about not letting their frustrations get the best of them. “When first starting to play, just k n o w that it will get easier and you will get better at it, and it will take a while but it will eventually happen,” Flaherty said. “And always remember: how you play and how you practice does not determine your worth as a player.” Lacrosse defense player Kiana Yantz poses for her media day photo. PHOTO COURTSEY OF KIANA YANTZ