Meet Leah Loose, who turned a career in baking into a stint on Netflix’s Sugar Rush.
As more and more new neighbors move into the homes at Walsh, we are spotlighting some of the friendly faces you might see around town. First up is Leah Loose, former owner of the successful Fort Worth bakery Leah’s Sweet Treats.
A wife, mom and successful pastry chef, Loose attended culinary school in San Francisco before returning home six years ago to be closer to family. Beginning her career by baking cakes for friends from home, her delicious creations gained her enough notoriety to open her brick and mortar shop in 2012.
“We rented one space, and three or four years later took the space next door, and it became a destination spot,” she says of the Leah’s Sweet Treats, which was located on Camp Bowie Boulevard. “Everyone would come and hang out. During the course of the six years we were open, we had lots of people pitching us for (baking) challenge shows, then Sugar Rush happened.”
Applying with her head cake decorator, Loose was accepted for the first baking competition to air on any streaming network. Coming in second on the seventh episode in a competition judged by Sprinkles founder Candace Nelson and fashion designer Betsey Johnson, Loose nonetheless was happy with the experience.
“It was really fun. We were only supposed to make a two-foot cake and we made a three-foot cake, so we ran out of the time—but we’re not bitter about losing. A lot of people were rooting for us.”
For Loose, the experience was also valuable as she hopes to ultimately expand her career into culinary instruction through videos of tips and tricks she shares on social media. Because Loose bakery’s lease was up earlier this spring, she decided to close Leah’s Sweet Treats around the same time she moved into Walsh with her banker husband, Aaron.
“We closed the bakery the same weekend we closed on the house,” she laughs. “Originally we were living in Fort Worth, and my parents were in Aledo and we decided to check out the model homes in Walsh with no intention of ever moving. We toured them all, and really loved Drees who we ended up building with—we fell in love with it on a whim and decided to go for it!”
Choosing a Tudor-style model, Loose embraced the same design philosophy that inspired her to create her beloved sprinkle confetti cakes to create what she calls a “rainbow-tastic” interior for her new home.
In her new life at Walsh, Loose says she enjoys spending time with her young daughter and exploring all the community has to offer, including creating custom cookie cutters on the Walsh Makerspace’s 3-D printing machine and getting to know other local families.
“We’re in a neighborhood, but we also have a country feel,” she says of her new home. “A lot of younger couples are moving out here and we have more friends that are planning on moving. It’s going to be fun with so many young people with kids our age.”
