“I have a cool job,” says Dan Drake, the man behind Dancakes. As someone who travels the globe wowing people with his pancake art (Katy Perry is a fan!), that may be the understatement of the year. The company has grown to include two more pancake artists, Ben Daniel and Dana Baldus, in addition to co-founder and friend Hank Gustafson.
Later this year, Dancakes will be launching a kit for creating your own pancake art at home. “Mistakes are delicious” has been Dancakes’ core philosophy from the beginning, and that motto will be etched on the kits’ griddles. “We believe in giving people permission not to be great,” Dan says. This is a message that will ideally foster creativity in kids—and leave them without the fear of failure.
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Each kit will contain a specially designed griddle, bottles with melt-resistant tips, a silicone combination-spatula set made for flipping regular-size and extra-large pancakes, and a fully illustrated how-to guide. Video tutorials demonstrating how to make pancake art are in the works, and the team has recently outfitted its headquarters in Maplewood with a studio for filming.
Each artist is available to hire for parties and other events. The team at Dancakes enjoys working with kids because they regard the process and final product with awe. A showman, Dan performs “built-in magic tricks” for kids who usually request cartoon characters. (The parents often want their kids’ own faces memorialized in a pancake.) As much as the kids love their finished artwork, they almost always eat the pancakes. (Parents, on the other hand, like to save theirs.)
Getting to Know Dan
- Dan’s Favorite breakfast restaurant? Southwest Diner for an order of half biscuits and gravy with two over-easy eggs.
- Does he eat pancakes? Yes, from IHOP, with butter and syrup.
- Most powerful person he’s made a pancake for? The prince of the United Arab Emirates while in Dubai.
- Most challenging request? “Pancakeception”: a pancake of him making a pancake of him making a pancake of him making a pancake.
- What pancake shape would he get? His Sphynx cat. Because wrinkles are good for pancakes.
- What’s the secret to the pancake batter he uses? Keep the consistency like ketchup.
- Best fan reaction? A guest cried from excitement at a wedding reception.
- The Team: Dan Drake, Ben Daniel, Dana Baldus, and Hank Gustafson
