Adventures in Cake Decorating

One of my favorite hobbies is baking and cake decorating. I love feeding people and when my food not only tastes great, but looks amazing as well. We not only eat with our eyes but the intersection of art and baking is always one that I endeavor to delve deeper into. Having my vision come to life and figuring out exactly how that can happen is always my favorite puzzle to solve. I love that overall cake decorating melds the best of both worlds; science in relation to the actual baking and creativity in the overall design. While I love the process for all of my designs, I am most proud of two so far. One was a beautiful tiered landscape cake and the other a sculpted cake design.

For me, the creative process is really about balancing having a vision and also adapting and going with the flow. I may have had different points of inspiration and a vision of what the finished product would look like, but ultimately adapting to varying circumstances is what allowed me to not only create, but stay creative during the process.

To create the sculpted cake was a nerve wracking adventure, I had never sculpted a cake before and I was so nervous to make a wrong cut. I was inspired by a purse I had seen and altered a few things to make it more of my own. My ultimate goal was to have it look as realistic as possible, while still being edible. TV personalities and bakers inspire me to venture out and not be afraid to create with my hands, seeing the amazing cakes they create always excites me.

For the tiered cake I really tried incorporating as many new techniques that I had learned into this one design, I had been attending a few classes and looking up different videos and the like, and I really wanted this to stand out above the other cakes I have ever made in my life. Flowers and bold colors are my favorite things and they are characteristic of my style in every facet of my life, and since I had just learned how to make various types of flowers, I decided that they would be my focal point. While I may have had some inkling of the direction I wanted to take with this particular design, the exact color scheme of this design came in a very unexpected way. As I was traveling one day on the train I noticed this woman had gotten a bouquet of these vibrant yellow roses with orange tips, and I did something I have never done before. I went right up to her and asked her if I could take a photo, she agreed, and from there I planned my entire design around those roses. My goal was to recreate “Scenes from Italy.” Each tier of cake would be a different place or landmark in Italy. The top representing the colosseum, the second layer a beautiful Tuscan Villa, the third the vineyards of Parma, and the last the beautiful waterscape of Venice. It took weeks to hand-make hundreds of flowers, from the tiniest buds to the largest roses in my arrangements. The flowers tying in the theme, and representing the vibrancy, beauty, and levity of Italian culture. Making leaves, cutting stems, and supports for the decorations were all made possible with my trusty kitchen scissors. I had the privilege of spending time in Italy and my intent was to bring just a little bit of the beauty and vibrancy of the country and distill it to display in cake form. Although I cannot claim to do it justice, my hope is that my creations either reminds you of a wonderful trip you took, evokes a memory or inspires you to venture there yourself.