What started as a hobby turned into a fun side business for Boynton Beach police officer Jivanet Rivera.
After getting home from a 10-hour shift, Rivera, 28, said she would de-stress by baking and decorating cakes.
“Being able to bake allows me to calm down, ease my mind and to be creative,” she said. “In this job, you have a lot of things that cause stress in your life and baking is almost like a coping mechanism.”
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It wasn’t until a year ago that Rivera discovered she had a knack for cake decorating and she decided to do it for parties, weddings, birthdays and other celebrations.
“I didn’t realize how good I could be until I started decorating,” Rivera said. “The first one I made was for my mom’s birthday last March.”
Rivera said she always knew how to bake from her two aunts, but she never got the full learning experience because they lived far away. So, Rivera started to take hour-long classes at a local Michael’s, teaching her the basics — how to make buttercream, decorate cupcakes and make and shape fondant, she said.
Once Rivera made cakes for several parties, she created “Blue Line Baked Goods,” and promoted her cakes through her Instagram handle, @bluelinebakedgoods.
“The theme is ‘police officer by day, baker by night,’” Rivera said. “I wanted it to be police-related because being a police officer is also my passion.”
Her specialty decoration themes range from simple and elegant iced flowers to cakes that have shapes of unicorns and mermaids.
“Most people are simplistic when they ask for cakes,” Rivera said. “The fanciest recipe I’ve done is a strawberry butter pecan cake. But the majority is vanilla or chocolate.”
For out-of-the-box recipes, Rivera said she will look at a forum she joined on Facebook where the social media community exchanges baking secrets and tips.
Rivera said her favorite cake request from a friend who works as a Florida Atlantic University officer. For her birthday, she made a red velvet cake shaped as a blue police shirt with a fondant-shaped flashlight, gun, badge and handcuffs on top.
“It felt close to home because I knew the details of how to make the handcuffs with the small key and the flashlight,” Rivera said. “It was like bringing both of my worlds together.”
When she’s not icing cakes and shaping fondant, Rivera works as an officer in the Neighborhood Office Policing Program that’s funded by the city’s CRA. Rivera has been with the department for three years and has worked in the neighborhood program for almost a year.
Two officers and a police sergeant work in the neighborhood program with their mission to do community policing, Rivera said. Rivera will attend Girl Scout and Boy Scout meetings as well as deliver food to families in need with a clergy-based food bank group called “Heart of Boynton.” She delivers food to eight families who have at least eight members each.
But sometimes Rivera’s baking skills come in handy, such as when she made a birthday cake for the son of a Boy Scout pack leader. The cake was beach-themed and had a boy swimming in the ocean, with his flippers sticking out at the top.
Rivera said being part of the neighborhood program involves heavy engagement with residents and “the opportunity to work in the community is rewarding.”
“I will wait at families’ homes sometimes to make sure they get their food,” Rivera said. “We always try to arrange food deliveries with families’ schedules.”
Rivera said she charges only for cake ingredients because she wants to become more experienced before charging premium prices. Most of Rivera’s clients are friends, family and acquaintances and she wants to keep it small.
“I want to complete my police career first, which will be about 15 years,” Rivera said. Rivera’s long-term goal is to open a store for her business but “for now I need to focus on the community.”
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