April’s Cake Decorator Spotlight
Hi everyone! I am excited to be featuring Carrie (Cake Me Carrie), currently living in Italy with her family. Carrie has gorgeous and ingenious cakes which are almost never the same. Her IG feed is so aesthetically pleasing to look at. Read on to learn a little bit about Carrie and check out her favorite creations!
How did your cake decorating journey begin?
In January 2019, I made three New Year’s resolutions, one of which was to spend time being creative, specifically learning how to decorate cakes. At the time, I had a full-time job working as a nurse and wanted a creative outlet. So I started making cakes for family and close friends, building skills by learning from other bakers on Instagram and YouTube.
Is there a baking/cake decorating technique that you would like to try soon?
I have a few things I’d like to focus on this year: learning how to stencil on a buttercream cake, create more treats with chocolate – cakesicles, cake bars / gems, and take a few courses on how to make buttercream flowers.
You recently moved to Italy from USA. Do you find it easier, harder, or different from your baking in USA?
The largest hurdle living in small-town Italy is the lack of convenience in finding baking supplies, especially supplies specific to the States. Powdered sugar is difficult to find, for example, and it has a more granular texture, so I have adjusted my buttercream recipe a bit to compensate. Popular “trend supplies” like silicone molds and chocolate wafers are more difficult to find as well. I have found that I just need to plan in advance and buy in bulk online when I can.
Where do you find your inspiration from?
I find inspiration in a lot of different places like fashion, nature, wallpaper and other textiles, party supply stores, as well as other bakers, and of course, Pinterest!
I love how colorful your Instagram feed is. Do you put a lot of thought in planning your IG grid?
I don’t plan my grid layout, but I do tend to use bright and cheerful colors in most of my work, which gives my feed a certain “look.” I recently started using bright posterboard as backdrops for my cakes, and although I use many different colors, I think it gives a cohesive feel.
Which style of buttercream do you use?
I use American buttercream for the majority of my cakes, but I recently started using a hybrid American and meringue-based buttercream, which I really like as well.
Which cake trends are you naturally gravitate towards?
My feed is full of different piping techniques, and I think I tend to gravitate towards those, like weaving with buttercream and pointillism piping, for example. I also really enjoy using cake combs to create texture / stripes, and I adore sprinkles.
What are your cake decorating goals for 2021? (This can be anything that has to do with cake, Instagram and etc)
Besides the cake techniques, I listed above, my number one goal this year is to create and post with more consistency. The best way to learn and grow as a baker is to practice, so my goal is to make at least 3 cakes a week and post about them, whether they are successes or failures.
Do you have a favorite cake flavor that you created?
I don’t think it’s a new creation perse, but my favorite flavor combination is chocolate cake with salted caramel and toffee filling or a blackberry cake with salted caramel filling. Are you sensing a theme? I LOVE anything and all-things caramel!
If you had to choose, what would be your top cake flavor would be?
Personally, I believe it’s difficult to beat the classics, so my go-to cake flavor is chocolate with salted caramel filling or lemon with fresh berry filling.
My Favorite Cakes
Tropical Christmas Cake
It’s a tropical Christmas! In these times of quarantining and travel-restrictions here in Italy, I’m dreaming of better days to come.
Colorful Watercolor Buttercream Cake
I’ve been wanting to practice the buttercream watercolor effect for a bit, so today I took the opportunity to make a bright and cheerful spring cake. I am happy with the way it came out, but feel like there’s still room for improvement.
Woven Valentine’s Day Cake
I really like knitted cakes and I’m a big fan of textured cake combs. So why not mash up all the textures in one cake?!
Rainbow St. Patrick’s Cake
I broke a new record today, mixing 24 colors for this cake; each stripe has 3 colors of varying brightness to give it more texture and depth.
Spring Ombre Cake
This purple ombré screams spring vibes for me and there’s just something about a simple, clean sprinkle cake that I adore. Using a cake comb on the base of the cake is one of my favorite ways to add texture.
Chocolate Peeps Cake
The gang’s all here! It’s my first Easter cake of the season and when I saw these little chocolate Peeps at the store, I knew they had to be the guests of honor.
Hoppy Easter Cake
When I first saw this sprinkle mix, I fell in love with the colors and thought it was perfect for spring, so I wanted to make sure it was front and center. And what a better way to show them off than hand placing each one?
Navy & Rose Tan Shag Cake
I really struggled with the color palette, navy and rose tan — so I added a few more colors to make it a bit easier for me on this shag cake. After all is said be done, I’m sensing some Chinese dragon vibes. What do you think?
Ombre Striped Cake
For my two year Instagram anniversary, I wanted to combine all of my favorites in one: stripes, a bright and happy color palette, cascading piping and of course, I couldn’t forget the glitter cherries! Everything is better with a cherry on top.
Striped Ice Cream Cake
Who says you can’t have ice cream in the spring? I have done several iterations of ice cream cakes over the last two years, and this may be my favorite yet. Green and pink is such a classic color palette, one I don’t use near enough!
St. Patrick’s Day Oreo Cake
Oreo buttercream is hands down my favorite icing flavor to make. While I think Oreos are just “okay” on their own, in buttercream, they are divine! And i think this electric green drip gives this buttercream the extra pop it deserves.
Thank you so much, Carrie, for taking your time to do this. All of your cakes are beautiful!
Find Carrie on Instagram to stay updated on her future cakes!
