Hi! I’m Danielle, the owner/baker/decorator behind A Will and A Whisk. I have been baking since I was 6 years old when I asked for an E-Z-Bake Oven and my ever practical mother replied “Just use the real one.” Growing up in Naples, Florida I started working in restaurants at 16 and quickly fell in love with the foodservice industry.

I received a bachelor’s degree from the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. After graduation I worked at a variety of restaurants including Dixie Cream Café in Windermere. When the restaurant needed a new baker, I rediscovered my love of baking and thought maybe I’d rather just bake than manage the restaurant. I was then hired as a pastry chef at Cinderella’s Royal Table, located in the castle at Walt Disney World, where I created thousands of desserts daily.

After moving to my husband’s native New Hampshire, I started in pastry  decorating cupcakes and glazing fruit tarts at Frederick’s Pastries in Amherst and Bedford, NH. For the next five years I worked her way up to lead cake designer and manager of the Bedford location.

In 2019 I planned to open a bakery in NH, but life had other ideas. My son Will was born prematurely at the end of 2019, and I took a step back from pursuing the bakery and stayed home with him through the Covid pandemic, although I continued baking from home for family and friends. In 2022 I went back to work part time at Starbucks, a bit of a family tradition as my mom worked for Starbucks for 18 years.

In 2024 we decided to move back to Florida to be closer to our family and friends. We chose Fernandina Beach, where my husband’s parents had relocated to from Naples. We love the community here and the small-town feel that is reminiscent of what Naples was when I was a kid. You might have seen me pouring coffee at the Starbucks on the island until recently!