Jacob Zediker started his culinary journey at age 13 during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Armed with nothing but a KitchenAid mixer, a small fryer, his homemade recipe and a fold-up table under a tent canopy in the driveway of his Oviedo home, Jacob made fresh beignets — a French-style, square-shaped, fried doughnut that were first introduced in the United States in the state of Louisiana.
Every Saturday for two years, Jacob would dedicate five hours to selling the beignets that were pre ordered through his mother’s Facebook account and then sold to the community.
It took the young teen three hours to make the dough and two hours frying and selling them in his driveway. Kids in the neighborhood would ride their scooters to his driveway, shouting excitedly for the beignets and waiting until the pre orders were satisfied so they could buy any beignets that were left, Jacob said.
Jacob and his dad, Bryan Zediker, 48, estimated that in the beginning they had 15-20 customers in the driveway and they always sold out. They sold the beignets on Saturdays when Jacob didn’t have homework or class with The Geneva School in Casselberry. 
The pastry idea came from Jacob’s grandfather who suggested selling beignets instead of the classic donut, which is Jacob and his dad’s favorite dessert. Jacob said that he used to make beignets from a box as a child with his dad and loved the idea of making the homemade French pastry. The business name came from his dad’s nickname for Jacob: Rascal.
“Nobody in Central Florida, or really Florida for that matter, does beignets so there is no competition or varieties,” Jacob said.
A family affair
Jacob likened the beignet business to a lemonade stand. Once the driveway business took off, Jacob and his father purchased the Rascal’s Rockin’ Beignet Food Truck in Aug. of 2022 with the money from the beignet stand.
Jacob smiled as he handed freshly sugared, golden brown beignets to happy customers at the CrossLife Church’s Easter event on Saturday, April 8. Bryan cut the dough and then submerged it into the bubbling oil within the fryer, a foot behind his entrepreneurial son. Bryan said that the business allowed him to nurture his son’s interest and witness him turn a tent in the driveway into a bona fide business.
He said watching his son “putting in the time and effort and focus and the energy behind what it takes to make something work… what better thing to nurture and support than something like that?”
Bryan jokingly said that his son is his boss but Jacob insisted that they’re partners and that he’s grateful for his father’s help. Because Jacob is 15, he cannot legally work the fryer so Bryan is the fry cook. He handles the legal aspects of the business as well.
Makayla Nelson, 13, was among the crowd of customers who waited with her friends in the hot Florida sun at CrossLife Church’s Easter event where Jacob was slinging beignets. Makayla has tasted the treat from Rascal’s Rockin’ Beignets before and raved about the dessert’s quality and the people behind the scenes.
“I personally like these beignets better than some of the other ones I’ve had because they taste like they are from New Orleans and they are fresh,” Makalya said. “It’s crazy just to think he has a business and he’s in ninth or tenth grade.”
Others tried beignets for the first time in their lives that day.
“Today was my first time and it tastes just like a doughnut; a donut and funnel cake at the same time,” Deja Hoover, 27, said. “I had never even heard of them.”
“I tried it first today and they are absolutely amazing. My expectations went through the roof,” Tommy Larrison, 31, said. “I’ve had stuff like this before but this is just great stuff.”
Jacob is thankful for Rascal’s Rockin’ Beignets and the familial bonds that have strengthened alongside his business. He does not have a plan for the beignet truck, saying he’d be thankful if the truck took off and became a national phenomenon but also that he’d be grateful if it was just a business in his youth. Jacob said the future of Rascal’s Rockin’ Beignets is in God’s hands.
“Jeremiah 29:11 says ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’,” Jacob said. This verse is painted on the outside of the food truck.
