Flag LIVE! March 19, 2026
Written by Gail G. Collins
It’s in difficult times that we discover what we’re really made of. A challenge spurs us to dig deep, motivating us to nurture that wondrous seed that is within awaiting the right moment to flourish.
In the summer of 2020, uncertain times by any measure, Victoria Thompson was pushed out of her job security at Northern Arizona University. She wondered, “How do I move forward? How to make a living? I took matters into my own hands, took advice from friends and started baking. I joined Mix and began selling pastries there, and it just started blowing up. Name recognition, serendipities, Viola’s adding me to their vendor list–it was a lot of great momentum.”
More than five years on, Thompson’s business, Honeycomb Pastries, continues to grow, having catered cakes and treats for 63 weddings in 2025 on top of others events, such as birthdays, bridal and baby showers plus graduations.
Thompson was a small girl with big dreams. In fact, her earliest memory is baking brownies with her Nonny, a painter.
“I knew from a young age and was drawn to pastries and would suffer to enjoy the desserts,” she said, noting a need to be dairy- and gluten-free from five years old. After graduating from Robert Morris University she went from Buttercream Princess, frosting cakes, to designing them. “I had lots of hands-on learning from professionals and great guidance.”
Thompson studied abroad in Italy and worked in a James Beard award-winning kitchen, moving from Chicago to Naples and Flagstaff.
Wedding season requires Thompson to gear up in April, and finally, wind down in November.
“October is huge. I had 18 weddings because it’s so gorgeous,” she said. The current trend is to supply a six-inch cutting cake—a two- to three-tier masterpiece—with dessert treat options for guests. “Crème brûlée is easy, yet escalates any event,” she hinted.
Other sweet treats range from brownies, cookies, cinnamon rolls and cupcakes to chocolate-covered strawberries, cake pops, cookies, cream puffs and scones plus vegan or gluten-free choices.
Flavors tend to follow seasonal trends with lemon lavender in spring, pumpkin spice in fall and red velvet in winter. Frostings are available in American buttercream or meringue-based Swiss buttercream. Cakes come in six, eight and ten-inch sizes, ranging from $90- $240.
“Each cake is custom, one-of-a-kind,” Thompson enthused.
Her photo gallery is a testament to that. They are works of art. Some are nature-inspired with fanciful mushrooms, flowers or succulents. One revealed the crystals of a geode. Others follow childhood inclinations, such as Lego construction or “Zootopia” characters.
Breaking the tasks down to days for cake baking, stacking, producing fillings, and then, frosting, creates efficiency. Depending on how many hundreds of times Thompson has crafted a cake, frosting it can take 10 minutes to three hours for a novel idea.
“I am blessed with awesome clients,” Thompson said. “They put trust in me, and I run wild with it.”
Read more: Baked with heart: The sweet success of Honeycomb PastriesStill, how can anyone cut into such showstopper cakes?
“I put my soul into it, and it breaks my heart to cut into a cake. No, no, I won’t. I send it home and you can do what you want with it.” But after fashioning a stunning cake for her father’ retirement, Thompson had no choice. “No one else was going to cut it,” she said with a laugh.
Honeycomb Pastries derived its name from the sweetness of honey and the layered, airy design of a croissant when pulled apart. Her popular sourdough starter-based dough makes sweet or savory delights, like cinnamon rolls, pizza pockets, sticky or breakfast buns. All goods, including lemon curd or compote fillings, are made from scratch with recipes perfected by Thompson for high altitude conditions with premium ingredients, like butter, local eggs, fresh Mexican vanilla and paste.
Honeycomb Pastries recently transitioned to a home cottage kitchen, allowing more flexibility. Box Drops are the latest, stylish product to emerge, targeting holidays and occasions. Valentine’s Day boxes featured a choice of a couples cake, chocolate-covered strawberries or two each cinnamon rolls, strawberries and sugar cookies.
Honeycomb Pastries shares a sense of love and community in her custom creations. “Thank you for all the support, trusting me with your visions,” Thompson said. “I am honored to be part of these celebrations. I appreciate you.”
And as Julia Child would remind us, “A party without cake is just a meeting.” FLGLive!