Cynthia L. Herzog 
Paige Reineke loves a good cardio routine and a weightlifting session, especially when the reward is a piece of cake.
By day, she works as a fitness coach at Orangetheory Fitness in Ames. In her spare time, Reineke owns Cake First Then Cardio, where she orders custom cakes from her home kitchen in Boone.
“Those are two things that I find important in life,” she said. “I realized I was getting good and wanted to learn more about baking; the irony of me being a personal trainer. The name (of the bakery) is linked to my fitness background. I’m 100% eating cake before doing cardio. The name wasn’t supposed to stick – I found it randomly with a business card, but it works.
A native of Wilmer, Minnesota, Reineke studied video production in college but didn’t end up putting that degree to good use. She lived in Ames for a few years before moving to Boone. While studying for her personal trainer certification (initially for personal use and not to become a profession), she was looking for a fun way to take a break from her studies.
“Pastry took me away from books,” she said.
All of its baked goods are made from scratch and require a few days notice. She offers pickup, delivery and meet-and-greet options in the area with notes available to attach to your order.
If you can imagine it, she can make it. Therefore, it does not offer a formal menu.
“I also really like the decoration,” she said. “Let your imagination run wild. I can make any flavor, any candy (within my ability), and any dietary restrictions. I can put cereal in the cake batter. The possibilities are endless. “
Reineke finds it helpful to work from a photo and admits that she is not only a self-taught baker, but also a self-taught decorator.
“My drawing abilities are stick figure (when it comes to art),” she laughed.
But in the form of frosting, its decorating ability is strong.
“I like whimsical and elegant designs. I make frosting and I also work with fondant,” she said.
She enjoys creating floral designs and characters, which are time-consuming but a lot of fun, she said.
Her most popular requests are for the richly decorated round cakes, and the chocolate is a top-notch flavor selection. Cookies, cookie cakes and cheesecakes are also some of her specialties and the most frequently ordered treats.
“I can make sheet cakes, but I don’t get many of those orders,” she said. “Also, cut out cookies and cupcakes aren’t as popular. I make wedding cakes. The price depends on the cost of the ingredients, the level of difficulty and the time spent on your order. You are more than welcome to discuss the price with me so that we can discuss the details.”
She especially likes to create birthday cakes for children.
“They definitely lean more towards the whimsical decoration: the classic unicorn cake is always fun,” she said.
Initially, she tried tweaking some of her recipes to be more “diet-friendly,” but got mixed results.
“I tweaked recipes and found it was hard to do. Baking is a science,” she said. “The more cardio you do, the more cake you eat.”
For more information or to place an order, Reineke can be contacted at: [email protected] and via her Facebook page.
