About Bianca Fernandez

Picture of Bianca Fernandez holding a plate of dessert.

I’m bianca fernandez!

& welcome to my food blog! ☀️ Thank you so much for stopping by, it really means the world to me.

Here, you’ll learn a little about me, how I got into food blogging, and alllll about Bites by Bianca!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me by tapping the button below.

About me

I’m a first-generation Filipina American living on Long Island, NY, and I love love love to create adorable, delicious bakes in the kitchen.

For example, if I’m making chocolate chip cookies… I’ll turn them into teddy bear cookies. Steamed buns? I must make them into little chicken steamed buns. For me, it makes being in the kitchen a lot more fun. And now that I’m an adult, no one can tell me to not play with my food, right?

I never thought food blogging would be my full-time career, but here I am! In fact, this was my fallback career. Like, it was truly a last minute “I don’t know what to do with my life, but I have this so I’ll keep going with it” kind of thing. But before we go into that, let’s take a few steps back.

I started baking in high school

One day, I saw a picture of macarons online. I remember thinking how delicious they looked, but I didn’t know where to buy them. So, I decided to bake macarons myself. And if you know anything about macarons… it’s not a dessert people master in their first try. Or tenth.

Since I didn’t even have an electric whisk, mixing bowl, or silicone spatula, the macarons came out like thin, cracked pancakes. I was really shocked at how bad at my attempt was, so I did a quick Google search on what went wrong. That Google search lasted about 3 hours, and I found myself learning a lot behind the science of baking.

So, I began baking macarons as if it was my full-time job outside of high school, LOL. After about maybe 20 attempts and a lot of YouTubing, I was able to successfully bake multiple batches in a row without cracks or hollow shells.

I documented my macaron journey on my old (and now deleted) Instagram, @macaronsbybianca. I baked almost every day after high school, giving macarons to friends, family, strangers, or selling for local fundraisers.

Macarons taught me there’s a whole science to baking, and I fell in love with it. But at the time, I couldn’t imagine myself as a pastry chef or cook. I was already on a set path for biology. So, I put baking on pause and went to college.

Photo of Bianca in a graduation uniform.

I have a BS in biology & minor in chemistry

Growing up, I always gravitated towards science. So, I attended SUNY Oswego (go Lakers!!!) and received my STEM degree in 2018.

In 2019, I moved to Boston, MA to work as a cancer research assistant. This is also when I started Bites by Bianca, which was at the time, my biggest hobby. I really missed the community I had through @macaronsbybianca, so I started up my Instagram and launched this website a year later. I didn’t have anymore homework to do, so what else was I supposed to do with my free time?!

While living in Boston, I attended Harvard’s free food science classes.
As a side gig, I walked dogs almost every day & pet sat dogs, cats, and even birds!
I locally sold my baked goods & donated profits to charity.

After 3 years, I left STEM

While working in biology research, I was also applying to medical school. After getting rejected for two cycles, I was unsure what to do. I knew I didn’t want to pursue graduate studies or reapply to medical school. However, I did know that I enjoyed blogging and baking, so I decided to explore a new path: becoming a professional baker.

In late 2021, I began working in pastry kitchens part-time. It was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had—it was so much different working in a professional kitchen… and a lot of fun.

After 6 months, I decided to leave my research position and pursue baking full-time. Don’t get me wrong—it was one of the toughest decisions I had to make and something I struggled with the entire time. But, I was only 24 and knew I could always go back into STEM if I needed to.

Over the course of one year, I ended up job hopping at a few different bakeries trying to find the best fit. I worked in mom & pop bakeries, a popular cookie chain, and even under a celebrity pastry chef. Although it was really fun at times, the stress of 4AM shifts, management, and lack of social life outside of work was taking its toll on me.

Then, due to personal life circumstances, I left Boston and moved back home to NY in November 2022, which is where I currently live.

Blogging was my fallback

When I moved back home, I didn’t have a car and I had achilles tendinitis in both ankles. So, commuting to a job was nearly impossible and standing for long periods of time was out of the question.

I had my blog and had the privilege of my parents financially supporting me, so… I thought I’d give blogging my all. When else would I have the same financial security net?

In 2023, I went all in on my blog. So many great things happened. I was featured in different articles, collaborated with a few of my dream brands, and made way more money than I expected (2023 income report)… more than any job I ever had! One thing led to another, and I was even named InfluenceHer’s 2024 Food & Beverage Influencer Of The Year. Super grateful, super thankful.

So, if you’ve been following along, I Just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for trying my recipes, leaving comments, and supporting me! It means the world, and I’m so happy to have you here.

And now, here’s some info about my blog!

About bites by bianca

what to expect

easy recipes for bakers at all experience levels
fun, playful, & cute design twists on classic recipes
flavors stemming from my Asian heritage
creator resources, which can all be found here

Some of my favorite recipes ❤️

Common Questions

My favorite recipe is my classic chocolate chip cookie! It has the perfect balance of sweet + salty, is super cute, and is a very approachable recipe for beginner bakers.

For some recipes, I start off by thinking of the design first. For example, chicks are yellow, so what yellow flavors are there? It’s usually lemon, so why not make some chick lemon cookies or chick macarons with lemon ganache?

Or, I’ll think of the flavor first and the design second: orange cookies sound great, but how do I make them cute? Well, I can make them look like actual oranges!

I also try to keep seasonal recipes in mind and what people may be searching for that time of year. Additionally, I do keyword research to see what people are interested in making, and see if that aligns with what I’d like to do.

Once I’m ready to start working on the idea, I develop the recipe first. I test each recipe at least 3 times before sharing it with you all!

When I lived in Boston, I used to give away my baked goods to friends, housemates, coworkers, neighbors, and people from the online Facebook group “Buy Nothing”!

Now, I give the extras to my family, my partner, his family, and our friends. 🙂

Not sure yet! I prefer baking, but I chose “Bites by Bianca” to leave that open for the future. 🙂

You can contact me here!

All of my camera gear can be found here!

Cute teddy bear chocolate chip cookies decorated with cookie icing.