Piece of cake?

I’m coming to find out that getting into the cake business is not a piece of cake.  There are a lot of artists such as myself, doing the same types of things as I am.  There certainly is a demand for cakes and cupcakes, especially amongst the crowd getting married, having babies, or those who have small children. Yet, there are more than enough bakers to accommodate those in demand and the creativity amongst my fellow decorators sometimes blows me away.

At times it can be overwhelming to research and learn all the new techniques. You no longer just frost a cake and plop some roses on. Now there are fondants, fillings, luster dust, gum paste, marzipan, sanding sugar, gel pastes, powdered colors, butter cream, royal icing, the list goes on and on. And with all of these mediums you can sculpt, dust, paint, frost, mold, emboss, etc, etc, etc.  I haven’t even learned how to do half of it and by the time I think I know how to do everything, there will be more. Still, I’m not the sort of person to look at a challenge and shy away. I enjoy pushing myself to improve my craft and I feel accomplished when I learn something new.

Last week I had an order for some cupcakes. The client wanted 4 dozen cupcakes all in a Disney theme.  I was not limited to one character (as she wanted several different ones) but that definitely presented a challenge.  How was I going to make 4 dozen cupcakes from all different Disney movies, with all different and non-related characters, while still making them look classy, unique, detailed and cohesive? It was difficult but after spending some time thinking I decided that each cupcake topper would be hand-sculpted pieces that served as a classic representation of each character rather than literal faces. And now the photos of the final outcome!

I had a blast doing these and I love when my clients give me an idea that I can run with! I will be doing some more DIY tutorials very soon so if you have anything you are interested in learning to do, please let me know!

Happy crafting!