Taking the Cake: A Sweet D.C. Exchange
By • July 24, 2025 2 1154
By Caroline Woodward
Imagine this: You walk into an event at one of DC’s many museums and are greeted with the delicious smell of a bakeshop and the sight of 300 cakes sitting before you. The only rule for this land of sweets comes to life? To try as many of these confectionery creations as possible.
Courtesy Instagram/@thebigcakeexchange.
The Big Cake Exchange is an event originally conceptualized by Elisa Sunga, a homebaker and social media personality based in San Francisco. The idea was brought to the D.C. area by Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s 2x best pastry chef award winner, Tiffany McIsaac, and Jill Nguyễn, also known as ‘capitoljillbaking’ on her Instagram account with over 15,000 followers.
“There was a woman out of SF doing something called a ‘cake picnic,’” said McIsaac. “Jill and I are both bakers and cake fanatics, and we saw that and said, ‘Oh my god, D.C. absolutely needs one of these.’ And that’s how the cake exchange was born.”
Courtesy Instagram/@thebigcakeexchange.
The rules of the event are simple: participants bring their own cake as an entry ticket and are sorted into groups once they arrive. Each group has a 10-minute window to fill up the provided to-go boxes with as much cake as they can manage. Drinks and other activities, such as a temporary tattoo station, are provided.
Participants who do not bring a cake can pay a fee as their ticket, the money from which either goes back to the event space or to local charities such as N Street Village
“I have this belief that I don’t really want to profit off community events. I want this to be so much more, and I want it to be a space where people just have fun and try a new recipe,” said Nguyễn.
Courtesy Instagram/@thebigcakeexchange.
The team started out with a small, local event, hosted at Dauphine’s around late March of this year. However, with growing demand and social media attention, McIsaac and Nguyễn knew they needed a larger, more open venue. The National Museum of Women in the Arts was a clear pick for this next location.
“I actually used to own a bakery called Buttercream Bakeshop, and I did a ton of weddings at this museum,” said McIssac. “I really loved it here. I always dreamed of having an event where people could look down on all of the cakes and see them, so the venue’s perfect. And they have been such amazing partners to us.”
While not only serving as D.C.’s premier opportunity to try as much cake as possible, the event also offers bakers, participants, and locals the chance to connect and share their creativity.
“At the first event, half the people came alone and made friends. When you meet someone and you say,’ Hey, what did you bring? Which cake is yours? Which slide is your favorite?’ That’s a great way to meet someone new,” said Nguyễn. “It’s an overall good vibe and good community.”
More ‘Big Cake Exchanges’ are being planned for the future, with further expansion in sight. Anyone who would like to be involved can follow ‘thebigcakeexchange’ on Instagram for updates.
When is this and how do I buy tickets?!?
when will you have another one in DC