The pillars of great sports communities like New York City are found at local businesses. There is no greater example of this than Don Donneruno, “The Cake Don,” whose shop that goes by that very nickname is located at 605 West Jericho Turnpike, Huntington, NY.
Donneruno and his team have made specialty cakes for New York Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen, New York Giants legend Michael Strahan, and NBA Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal, to name a few. While the business is thriving, it is all built around Donneruno’s deep passion for art.
Growing up, what would develop into a passion for cake design began as a love for art, mainly graffiti. Taking the 7-train every day helped Donneruno focus on that love.
“I learned more on that train about pop culture, hip hop, graffiti, break dancing, music than anywhere in my life,” he said.
After making a successful living after moving away from his childhood passion and working in an office for 18 years, Don moved his family out to Long Island. That’s where things changed in March of 2010, as the former nanny of his children reached out requesting his artistic talents to help make a cake.
“We made a King Tut cake, and it came out great,” Donneruno said, “I was shocked at how easy it was. I took a picture of the cake and did nothing with the picture. For whatever reason five days later, I posted it on Facebook…90 seconds after I posted it, my friend Chris Falco commented, ‘You’re the Cake Don.’”
A star was born.
Things took off in a hurry after that.
“Later in the day, a few people contacted me for cakes on Facebook instantly,” he said. “I started just posting pictures of these cakes…Little by little, I became the cake guy in my neighborhood.”
For all the problems social media can cause, the Cake Don is a shining example of its virtues, especially for artists.
“Once I found that I could actually sell my art…and people were gonna pay for it, I wasn’t gonna go back to that other life,” he said, “I think with social media…this is the quickest way that you can make your dream real…if you love it and you’re good at it…you could become the guy who people know, and people who love the same thing you love will gravitate towards that…I think now is the time for creative people to go all in.”
And “all in,” he did go. Even when COVID-19 came along and wrecked so many local businesses, Don wasn’t going back.
“When COVID hit, I [had] never made cupcakes before,” he recalled. “A day into the COVID announcement, we started making cupcakes…I just needed to generate money and interest. I posted it on all my platforms…News 12 did a story on how I pivoted in the first week of COVID…They announced I was doing free delivery once an hour all day. And once News 12 did that for my cupcakes, the phone calls never stopped…In a week, I had a cupcake business. My customer base was super-supportive.”
The support didn’t stop there. Donneruno’s Long Island community came through in a major way for both his business and the front-line workers during a very panicked time in Spring 2020.
“My customers would order and pay and tell me, ‘deliver it to the firehouse, to the emergency room, to the doctor’s office,’” he said. “We started delivering to the front-line workers, and that was just because my customers were supporting me…and I’m forever grateful to the Long Island community…Hopefully, very soon, we’ll be opening up some spots on Long Island.”
While not originally from there, Donneruno has clearly been welcomed and accepted as a Long Islander, and it will always be a special place, no matter how far cakes take him.
“I moved out here to raise my kids…the Long Island people have embraced me with my business, my cupcake business, my artwork,” he said. “It’s become my home base, and it will always be the home base for the Cake Don, no matter where we’re heading…these people are the reason I went from making some cakes in my kitchen to having a successful brick-and-mortar spot.”
A major part of Don’s success with his business and on social media has been his authentic persona.
“The thing about this cake journey is that it’s been organic. I don’t have a ton of publicity, an agent, a manager. I’m figuring it out as I go. I run my own social media.”
This has led Don to see business grow to heights he never would have imagined.
“I’m in rooms that I never would have gotten in before because I went all in on what I love. People can sniff you out. People can smell authentic.”
His authenticity has made him a go-to guy for cakes, even for celebrities.
“I did a cake for Strahan that they brought out for him on Thursday Night Football on air,” Don recalled. “I got to do a cake for [Shaquille O’Neal]…I got to do [Jennifer Lopez’s] birthday cake. It was everywhere, and I got to do it for J-Lo.”
The Strahan cake stood out as a marquee moment for a lifelong Giants fan, but Donnerunno is also a long-suffering Mets fan, which has led to one of his favorite moments: Getting to make a cake for Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen for Opening Day.
“The Mets cakes I get to make…every one will be special for me,” he said. “The first one I did for Alex Cohen, on my way out of Citi Field… I said, ‘This was the bucket list cake for me.’”
At the end of the day, it’s all about his love for the art and willingness to go the extra mile for the customer, as a thank you for letting him chase his passion.
“I don’t have bakery in my blood…I’m not running it like a traditional bakery. I’m selling my artwork out of the shop.”
While not being the most traditional bakery could have put his business behind the eight ball, Don makes up for that with impeccable customer service.
“I want to make that experience for everybody, something that is not the norm in the birthday cake business,” he said. “I want it to be something that you equate to buying a car or a watch.”
It’s worth noting that while we spoke to Donneruno, he was driving a cake to the Hamptons.
In the end, Don is nothing short of grateful for the life he has carved out for himself. “Sometimes we’re sitting around in the shop, and we’re going, ‘I can’t believe we’re getting paid for this…I’m just creating art like I have been my whole life, and now it’s become a brand…I [have] a blessed life that the artist figured out a way to make a living with the art.”
As a message to people who are too scared to use social media to chase their passion for fear of public disapproval, Don sent a simple message: “I think people struggle with that. They don’t want to post stuff and they don’t want to get no likes and no comments…It’s free, man, it’s free advertising…Just post it, and if nobody responds. Who cares?”
You can follow the Cake Don at @the_cake_don on Instagram.