With her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures and time spent as an Italian teacher, Andrea Hemment may seem like an unlikely entrepreneur and cake maker. Yet she has turned her lifelong love of baking into a creative local business. After taking a cake decorating class at Newton North High School and spending several months studying baking in the stacks of the Newton Public Library, she launched Tortissima, LLC, a licensed residential bakery, in 2015.

Hear the sweet stories behind a photo gallery of beautiful baked goods whipped up by Ms. Hemment.