Most people don’t consider the phrase “healthy alternative” to be synonymous with “delicious.” Senior Asa Hecker plans to change that perception.

Every other day after school, Asa  goes home to bake his own “healthy alternative,” high-protein cake. What began as a casual hobby has now grown into Asa’s very own dessert business, Powerhouse Desserts.

Overweight for most of his childhood, Asa began exercising regularly and trimming his overall fat consumption. As he transitioned to a healthier diet, Asa began investigating healthy recipes that he could make at home too.

“After being out of shape as a kid, [healthy eating] just became a part of me,” Hecker said. “I began experimenting with recipes and always trying to make meals a little healthier.”

This fall, Hecker was forced to sit out his first season of Wayland-Weston crew due to a back injury after being on the team since his freshman year. Without the rigorous three-hour practices, Asa found more time for cooking and baking.

“I had a frosting recipe that I had thought of…and I thought, ‘Hey, this ingredient could go with that ingredient, and this could taste good,’” said Hecker. “If I’ve got some healthy frosting here, what if I made a healthy cake and threw the two together.”

After a few “trial-and-error” cakes, Hecker believed he had finally produced a recipe for a both healthy and scrumptious cake. He began handing out samples of his protein-filled cake to his friends to see their reaction to his delectable triumph.

“Kids said, ‘Wow this is really good,'” said Hecker. “I started pre-slicing it like a Power Bar — nobody is going to want to walk around with a cake slice in their bag — and selling it.”

From this early success, Hecker launched the Powerhouse Desserts company. The company currently offers three desserts: the “Classic Cake,” “Ridiculous Red Velvet Cupcakes” and “Autumn Spiced Whoopie Pies.” Hecker plans to introduce two new products in the near future.

Apart from funding from his parents, who Hecker calls his “venture capitalists,” the company is a one-man operation. Using his knowledge of business that he acquired from the Entrepreneurship and Business Management (EBM) class offered at the high school, Hecker manages finances, employs marketing strategies and develops products.

“My experience last year as the Vice President of Finance for the Below the Belt boxer company for EBM gave me a lot of financial background in accounting,” said Hecker. “I learned how to utilize Excel, which is actually exactly what I’m doing in my company.”

Hecker says half of his profits will pay for his college tuition, while the other half will serve as spending money in college. But until then, Asa says he is faced with the task of convincing potential customers that dessert can truly be both good tasting and good for you.

“No kid is going to think, ‘Hey, I think this healthy cake is going to taste good.’ Once you hear the nutrition facts, you’re like, ‘That’s healthier than a Power Bar. There’s no way that will taste like cake,’” Hecker said. “I have to show them why they’re wrong, and how I can make cake taste that good and be that healthy.”