everything went wrong from the cake itself, to overworking the fondant from adding so much colour. Although it felt like a nightmare, it taught me so many new things which I wanted to try again to put right! I discovered that I was learning more about cake decorating by sculpting than keeping to basic designs so I decided to continue carving cake as much as I could.
Where do you find your inspiration?
Everywhere! It can be a dog walking by in the street, an illustration on a greeting card, a pattern on a dress, a restaurant menu, even an unusual colour will spark an idea for an element on a cake.
What are your top three cake decorating tools?
Airbrush, dresden tool, paintbrushes
What are your top tips for someone starting out in the cake industry?
1) Start simple- Although you may want to begin carving cake, you’ ll be surprised at just how much you can learn by covering a simple round cake.
2) Take your time- One of my biggest mistakes when I first started cake decorating was poor time management, I always tried to get everything done in a day, but the cakes looked messy and unprofessional. Bake the cakes the day before to allow yourself more than enough time to decorate the next day.
3) Keep learning- If you only want to make wedding cakes, learn as much as you can about popular flavours, learn how different sugar flowers are made, which real flowers you can use on a cake etc, and if you have mastered all of that, move into thinking of a way to make your designs bolder, how to make them unusual but staying true to your own style. Never feel like you are limited to what you already know, there is SO much more you can do!
Who are your favourite cake decorators?
There are so many incredible artists out there, I have many favourites for each style of cake:
Sculpted Cakes: Emma Jayne Cake Design, Natalie Sideserf, Karen Portaleo, Kaykes, Mike McCarey, Callicious Cakes, Incredible Edibles, Artisan Cake Company, Debbie Makes Cakes...
Wedding Cakes: Sylvia Weinstock, Ron Ben-Israel, Little Cherry Cake Company, Poppy Pickering, Peggy Porschen...
Cupcakes / Miniature sugar work: The Yellow Bee Cake Company, Mimicafe Union, Sugar High Inc, Haute Sweets, BunsIn the Oven Cupcakery...
There are SO many people I could list here
Have you ever had a cake disaster?
Thankfully to this day I have never dropped a cake, but I have had a few disasters, my most recent disaster was last year. I decided to make a competition cake VERY early( 4 months early) It was a cake I knew would keep its shape, it would be quick to get done and easy to store, but, I didn’ t consider the weather... my house rarely gets warm, even in the summer the kitchen will stay nice and cool, but just as I finished the cake summer struck and we had extreme heat, unbearable, uncontrollable heat, day and night for about 3 days. I checked the cake, it had sunk, the sides popped open and there was no way I could fix it. I decided to wait until the heat had passed and re-made the entire cake. Lesson learnt, do not make competition cakes in the summer!
What has been your most memorable cake to date?
My giant food cake“ The Big Eater”- I had been making food cakes for quite a while so I wanted to combine everything as best as I could. I really enjoyed working on it and would love to make something like it again!
You have been very successful in major competitions such as Cake International. What are your tips for getting gold?
1) Time- I believe a competition piece needs a good amount of time spent on it to achieve gold.
2) Clean lines- I feel it’ s really important to enter good clean work, it may take longer to get the cake done, but it’ s worth it!
3) Planning- I always like to make sure I know EXACTLY what I’ m making for a competition way before the entry deadline, I’ m not the type of person that works well under pressure, so I like to make sure I have more than enough time to get things made and finished how I would like them to be.
4) RULES- Always read the rules at least 10 times( I know it seems a lot, but I must read them at least 30 times!) Highlight your category, highlight what you’ re not allowed to use on the cake, and make sure to take note of the board size restrictions. Read everything! There is nothing more heartbreaking than to see a cake that has been disqualified.