For a Good Cause

I love having the opportunity to help out a charity or people in need. With my business I have found a way to do just that. Several months ago I offered a gift certificate for an auction to raise money for cancer research. The winners of the gift certificate were an engaged couple who were overjoyed at having just won their wedding cake.

The couple met with me and wished to use the gift certificate towards mini-cakes to be given as bonbonnieres for their guests as well as the wedding cake itself. As previously stated here in the blog, I don't usually create mini-cakes for weddings or favours, but I felt compelled in this case as it was fulfilling the charity auction prize.



Although many hours went into both the mini-cakes and the wedding cake, I'm truly pleased with how they turned out and am so happy that a donation went toward such a wonderful cause.

What is a Tardis?

I grew up in California and have only lived in Canada for seven years. Moving to a new country comes with challenges and introductions to new cultural experiences. One of these new experiences is discovering television shows that I have never seen. I was asked by a customer to create a special cake based on Dr. Who. The cake was to be in the shape of a Tardis. "What is a Tardis?" is what I asked myself.

Well, for those of you are not informed: A Tardis is "a time machine and spacecraft in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TARDIS

I loved the idea of creating something so elemental to a beloved tv show, as well as the challenge of making structure so full of measured detail. I had such fun bringing it to life in sugar!

To Dream of Cake

There are cakes you dream of for months. The anticipation of creating them, bringing them to life, is delicious. I couldn't get the design for this cake out of my head and couldn't wait to tackle the challenge.

The bride contacted me requesting a special flavour - pistachio cake with cardamom buttercream - and looking for an "absolutely nontraditional" cake. We spoke about colours and styles and I asked about things she liked and didn't like and my dream began.

Using the colours chosen by the bride - gold, oxblood red, and ivory - I sketched a design that included a golden cage made entirely of sugar. A challenge that made me just as excited as it did terrified! But I'm always up for a challenge.



Once the sketch was approved I just had to wait for the big week to arrive.

I created the blueprint of the gates for the bottom tier and scanned them in so that I could reprint them for each side of the tier.



I then set about creating the gates, sculpting the cake, and constructing the silhouette.



Once the gates were dry and reinforced they were each hand-painted with gold dust and then assembled around the bottom tier of the cake.



Also a challenge for this design was the golden spire that was to rest on top of the cake. I created a styrofoam mold and piped the design, let it dry, and painted it with gold dust. I assembled the spire around a dowel and gumpaste shape in the oxblood red colour.



Finally it was all completed. I was so pleased with how my vision on paper translated to sugar. I hope the the bride's vision was realized as well.




Photography courtesy of J.thier Photography

Know Thyself

It's a great scene. In The Matrix, Neo walks into the kitchen to meet the Oracle and she points to a sign on the wall that reads "temet nosce" which she says means "Know thyself". This phrase is in my thoughts almost daily: it leads me to be true to who I am and what I want for my business.

Starting any endeavor can be frightening. Creating a new business can have you shaking in your boots and grasping at any glimmer of proof that, if you build it, the customers will come.

The pressure is there often to take a customer or a commission for the sake of the dollar without considering how it might fit into your vision for your company. What if no one else calls? At least it's work, right? At least they'll give me a referral, right? It takes some serious guts to say no and refer a customer to someone else.

A dear friend met me for coffee when I was just starting my business. She had been a successful marketing executive and kindly offered her advice and opinions. The most valuable piece of advice she shared was this: Define a mission statement, a goal, for yourself and your business. In every decision you have to make, determine if the outcome would be in line with your mission statement and if it would push you closer toward your goal. If the answer is no, don't do it. Not for any price. Your business will fail, because even if you make money in the short term, it won't ultimately lead you toward your goal.

Every day in my business I try to follow her wonderful advice. I have a clear and simple mission statement and I review every decision through it's strict standard. It's not always easy. In the face of fads, a frightening economy, and competition in the market, it is difficult to remain true to what I do - and what I don't.

What I do is create custom sculpted pieces of edible art - be that in the form of cake, sugar, chocolate, rice paper, or bubblegum! (I haven't tried that last one yet, but who knows?) I don't do cupcakes, sheet cakes, character cakes, all-buttercream cakes, cookies, or cupcake-cakes. All of these items are lovely, they're just not what I do. Is the temptation there? Sure! I get calls from wonderful customers asking nicely for cupcakes or custom cookies and I would love to create something fabulous for them, but it's just not what I do.

The fear sets in. Every time I have to say no I worry, "What if I made a mistake and no one else calls?" But soon I get a call for a custom sculpted cake that challenges me artistically and makes me fall in love, just a little bit more, with what I do. I breathe a sigh of relief, do a little dance in my kitchen, and feel content that some people want cupcakes and some don't.