April Cake Decorator Spotlight
Eat Me Sweets
I am featuring @eatmesweets from Bay Area, California for April!
Hi Alex! Tell us about yourself. I’m a mom of three. I’ve been married to my husband for almost 8 years now, together for almost 11. I work full-time as a Legal Assistant for a civil litigation law firm and have been in this career for about 16 years. Saying that makes me feel really old.
How did you start doing cakes? When I was pregnant with my son, I craved chocolate cake all the time. Really anything baked that was super sweet and unhealthy for me. I wouldn’t make it look pretty, I would just slab together layers and scarf it down. After a while, I started trying to pipe rosettes and actually decorate my cakes. I liked the process and it was very soothing and calming to me. Almost two years ago, I did a coworkers’ birthday cake and was pretty proud of myself. My sister’s sister-in-law (that’s like six degree of Kevin Bacon) reached out to see if I could make a dog cake for her son’s birthday. It was the first cake design that was completely out of my element, and I was sooo nervous about it. The end result was so satisfying to me. The whole process, while stressful and took forever, was something I realized I really enjoyed. It was a great hit, and she encouraged me to set up an Instagram page and start doing cakes on the side. My sister helped me set up my Instagram page because I was worried that I wasn’t good enough, and it’s just taken off from there!
What is your preferred buttercream: I LOVE Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I was using only American Buttercream when I first started. It was easy to whip up, and I thought since it crusted on the outside, it would be good for transport. The downside for me was that if I took too long icing (which you tend to do when you’re learning), the buttercream would start to crust while I was still trying to smooth my cake, and then it would pull away at the sides. I finally tested out Swiss Meringue and it didn’t crust, it tasted pretty damn good, and I could go over it, over and over and over again till I was happy with my end result. I also liked that since it doesn’t crust, during transport, there were no cracks, which American Buttercream can do when it starts to soften and is moved around a lot.
Do you work with other cake decorating techniques such as fondant and gumpaste? I do work with fondant. It’s not my favorite thing in the world. I find it hard and it’s an art that I’m still trying to perfect. I won’t cover anything in fondant entirely, mostly because I really don’t like the taste. It’s always been something that I peel off the side of the cake and leave on the plate. I make decorations, such as toppers or a design on the side of my buttercream cakes, that I can’t achieve with just buttercream.
What cake decorating techniques do you want to learn? I would love to try and work with isomalt, and perfect my use of fondant for cake toppers. The Cake Dutchess makes it look soooo easy. I like drawing inspiration from her in terms of fondant figures. I would also love to try painting on buttercream, like a mural or a picture. I feel like my painting skills are lacking, so it scares me to try. That’s an entire talent in itself!
What are your favorite tools to make your cakes? My turntable, spatula, and I just got Ester Cakes’ cake scraper (and combs), and it is by far the best cake scraper I own right now. I love thick, disposable piping bags. A cocktail shaker (for placing my piping bag inside. It’s taller than most glasses and cups, so I can get more frosting in it). I also LOVE Wilton tip 1M; it’s versatile, and I probably have 3 or 4 of them. I love Americolor food gels to dye my buttercream and fondant.
Where do you look for cake inspiration? Pinterest, hands down. I get most of my ideas from there, whether it’s someone’s cake or fashion photos, nature, etc… I will occasionally look up hashtags on Instagram too, and draw inspiration from fellow Instagram accounts.
Do you have any advice for a beginner baker? Don’t stop trying! Watch YouTube videos and read articles. If I would get frustrated about something not going right, I would research what I needed to do to learn that technique. Then I would get to work and work on it until I got it right. Sometimes, the right tools help tremendously. When I first started decorating, I basically used whatever I had in the kitchen. I used a lazy susan in my pantry as a turntable, I used a knife to ice with, a spoon to make swirls. It would be frustrating not to be able to do the designs I was trying to achieve because I didn’t have the right tools. The right tools can make your life so much easier. You don’t need to spend an arm and a leg on them, there are a ton of tools that are fairly cheap. I like shopping on Amazon for everything. Don’t stare at your cake design for too long. If you’re wondering what’s wrong or what’s missing, put it in the fridge, and then give yourself about 20 minutes. Think about it, take it back out, and look at it again. Sometimes taking a picture of it before putting it away, and then looking at it after a while, makes you realize that you stared at it too long making yourself doubt yourself, but it was okay, to begin with. I do this ALL the time. My sister thinks I’m insane.
What is your favorite activity other than cake decorating? This sounds extremely lazy, but my absolute favorite thing to do is straightening up my house, making my bed, and sitting in pajamas in my nicely made bed, drinking a cocktail and watching TV. I’ll switch that up to a nice, long bath with a cocktail. This rarely happens, so when it does, I’m in heaven.
What is your zodiac sign?I’m an Aries! So basically I’m stubborn. I don’t really think so, but if you ask other people, I fit my sign to a T.
Cakes I’ve Made
Spring Color Buttercream Cake
Beautiful choices of colors and textures!
Sunflower Cake
This was an “just because” order for a wife. I wish I would get a cake something like this just because! 😃
Gender Reveal Cake
Absolutely stunning! I love the gold touch on the cake.
Rainbow Stripe Cake
So fun to look at this colorful rainbow cake! For more rainbow cake inspiration, go here.
Gorgeous Cactus Cake
Perfect for a gal who loves Southwestern theme!
Llama Birthday Cake
Another amazing Southwestern themed cake. 😍
Hot Balloon Baby Shower Cake
So adorable! I love the puffy fondant clouds!
Smallfoot Birthday Cake
How amazing is this striped with sprinkles cake?
Check out how she made this cake!
Pretty Roses Birthday Cake
A bunch of roses is always a beautiful cake decorating technique to use!
Pretty Pastels Cake
I love the buttercream roses and pink drips. 💖
Girly Oreo Cake
So gorgeous! What a fun twist to an Oreo cake.
New Years Cake
The colors are perfect on this cake to wrap up 2018!
Beautiful Fall Colors Cake
I am loving this new cake trend of taking pictures of top of the cake! It allows us to see the magnificent details on the top!
Thank you, Alex, for sharing your wonderful cakes! Definitely give her a follow on her Instagram to keep up with her fun creations and videos!
Check out the past cake decorators below.
March’s Cake Decorator Spotlight
February’s Cake Decorator Spotlight
