TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS ? Hi . My name is Alexander Coppleman and I have Down Syndrome . I have been making cakes for my family and friends for about 7 years . I started at a disability baking school where we learned to bake cupcakes and decorate them . I had so much fun I decided to start a cake business , ‘ Mr Alexander ’ s Sweet Eats ’.
To get more skills , I went to classes at Cake Decorating Solutions to learn how to decorate a drip cake and how to cover a cake with fondant . This is where I met my cake teacher , Karen Hardie . She helps me with my cake business every week and teaches me how to do things when I am not sure .
Together we have been to many classes with fabulous international teachers including Emma Jayne , Dawn Butler , Zoe Hopkinson , Carla Puig , Sachiko Windbiel , Marc Suarez and many others . They have taught me many skills which I use in my cake business today .
I use these skills when I create cakes to enter cake competitions . I have competed in both Newcastle and Gosford shows , where I have placed 2nd and 2x 1st , with my latest entry achieving Best Overall Exhibit - Novice .
This also led me to be a finalist for cake industry awards . I was excited to win ACADA 2023 Rising Star of the year , and the most recent being ACDN ’ s newly established award of 2023 ACDN Choice Award . I am so proud of these awards as I was chosen from all eligible cake decorators in Australia , not just people with a disability .
I was also lucky enough to be chosen , for a couple of years , as 1 of only 2 cake decorators in Australia to be a Katy Sue design team member . I got to create cakes using the new release moulds , which were photographed and displayed on the website as examples of how to use them .