Cake Interview with Ester Cakes
Welcome to the Baker & Cake Decorator Interviews Series!
Hi sweet friends! I am thrilled to be featuring Ester Cakes , who creates some gorgeous cakes with a variety of cake comb techniques, for November’s feature. (I am a week late, but never too late!) Ester Holt is based in Los Angeles, California. She runs a successful cake comb business and offers excellent online cake decorating classes for all cake enthusiasts who want to learn to master more techniques using her cake combs and more. Read on to learn how she started her cake decorating journey and her cake comb business.
Interview with Ester Cakes
This interview has been edited for clarity and length, preserving original responses.
Check out with Ester had to say in our interview:
Can you share a bit about yourself ?
My name is Ester N Holt, and I am originally from Jakarta, Indonesia. I moved to Los Angeles, California, from Indonesia permanently in July 2003 with my two daughters. I worked at several bakeries in Los Angeles before I started my cake comb business.
Besides working at bakeries, I also accepted cake orders from home, and most of my customers are Indonesian church friends. I married to my American hubby since 2017 and with him, we build our cake comb business. I’d describe myself as someone neat, a perfectionist, and shy, but I warm up quickly as soon as I feel comfortable in the environment. I love to teach and make new friends. I love being with my family, especially spending time with my girls. I love the Lord Jesus Christ.
What led you to start a cake business?
Baking and decorating cakes have been two of my hobbies since I was in the 6th grade, back in my hometown in Indonesia. My mom supported my hobby and sent me to cake decorating classes. I was the youngest student and could barely hold the piping bag. Usually, every Saturday, I made Indonesian cake and sell it at church on Sunday.
I stopped baking when I went to college, and then after graduating, I moved to Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. I had a maid who liked to bake cookies (she used to work in a small cookies company), so I learned a lot from her. With her help and expertise, I started making Indonesian cookies and selling them to my friends and family. Over time, my business grew more into baking/decorating birthday and wedding cakes.
After I moved to California, I wanted to revive my cake decorating hobby and also needed an additional income to support my family.
What are your favorite cake trends ?
I really love lacey and ruffle cake design, pretty lace combined with ruffles is always my favorite. I was so hooked on all the lovely lace mats from Crystal Candy, and that’s the reason I created my buttercream lace recipe. I also love minimalist and clean buttercream cake designs.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I draw inspiration from a variety of sources, including holidays, birthday cards, Kawaii or clip art, as well as Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. Many people said my design is unique ha…ha…
Which cake decorating technique is your favorite ?
Hmm, basically I love to try new techniques and since I own a cake comb business, I love to make buttercream stripes and be creative in using my cake combs to create new buttercream textures. Also, my buttercream lace technique is one of my favorites, too.
Tell us about your cake comb business
I bought a small plastic cake comb (pleated design) for $25. I used it at work to create a five-tier wedding cake and posted the pictures on Facebook’s cake decorating groups. Many people loved it and asked me what tool I used to achieve the buttercream texture.
So, my brain started thinking about making this cake comb and selling it. I bought large Ateco plastic scrapers and cut them myself using a box cutter. My hubby was laughing at me. What are you doing ? Nobody will buy that plastic cake comb. I told him it would be a good business, and he said, I won’t believe it until I see money coming into your bank account. His attitude didn’t stop me, and I kept going by posting more of my cake pictures to different Facebook cake decorating groups, and more people started asking me where to get the cake combs. I told them I was selling the combs, and they started buying from me. Hubby saw my struggle cutting that plastic scraper and finally he offered to help if I want to make the scraper out of high-quality aluminum. He owns a construction company, so he knows what the best materials to use are and the company that can help us laser cut our cake comb. That’s the story of how I started my cake comb business. So, in April 2018, by God’s grace, we officially started selling Ester Cakes Comb online. We started with one design, and now we have more than 50 designs, shipping worldwide.
What is the most significant accomplishment to date in your cake decorating career?
Owning Ester Cakes Comb is the most significant accomplishment in my cake decorating career. I never thought that as an immigrant in America, I could own a company, and cake decorators around the world use my cake comb designs.
I also teach and share my cake decorating knowledge with students around the world.
What advice would you give yourself at the beginning stages, with the knowledge you have now?
I would have told myself to be brave and not shy, be creative, and come out of my comfort zone and try new things. Don’t stress out if people don’t like my cake design. Just enjoy the process and be creative.
How do you like to unwind after a long day ?
Hot shower, lie down on my bed, and start watching my Korean drama or start scrolling YouTube, Pinterest, looking for cake ideas for making content.
What is my favorite food ?
Asian food, especially Indonesian food.
I would have told myself to be brave and not shy, be creative, and come out of my comfort zone and try new things. Don’t stress out if people don’t like my cake design. Just enjoy the process and be creative.
Ester holt
My Favorite Creations
Floral Purple Cake
Gorgeous cake with Korean buttercream flowers and an emperor cake comb.
Gorgeous Buttercream Embossed Cake
Gorgeous buttercream textures were achieved with an embosser from Cakes by Angela Morrison.
White Wafer Beauty Cake
Beautiful cake using an edible fan, translucent fabric, and wafer paper flowers!
Best Dad Ever Father’s Day Cake
An adorable cake designed for amazing fathers out there using her bottom stripe cake comb.
Happy Mother’s Day Cake
A stunning cake with a gorgeous color scheme and flowers! Her Pinwheel cake comb was used to achieve this texture.
Floral Striped Buttercream Flowers Cake
Everything about this cake is just stunning! The stripes are perfection.
Merry Christmas Cake
Such a cute cake for a Christmas themed party!
Buttercream Painted Birthday Cake
A beautiful cake with buttercream painting for flowers.
Happy Easter Cake
I love the multicolored thick stripes! Click here to see how to do the stripes.
More about Ester Cakes
Founder of Ester Cakes & Cake Artist