Frosted FujiCakes

Happy January! I’m so excited to feature an amazing cake decorator, who is slowing becoming a rising star in the cake decorating world, Rachel Fujihara a.k.a. @frostedfujicakes from California!

Hi Rachel! Tell us about yourself.

My name is Rachel Fujihara & I am 25 years old. I’ve been married to my husband David for 5 and a half years. We have 2 girls, Olivet (4) and Autumn (2). My husband is finishing up his last year of residency as an ER doctor. He works hard, allowing me to be able to stay home with our girls all day.  As a mama, cake decorating happens in the evening after the girls have gone to bed. I am a pretty extreme night owl. Another fact about me is that I am a Christian, and all glory and praise go to my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful the Lord has blessed me with this gift of cake making.

How did you start making cakes?

If I’m being completely honest, this whole cake making started just over a year ago, when I was throwing a baby sprinkle for my sister in law. She wanted it small, and she wanted it at a restaurant, so as the host, there really wasn’t much for me to do. So! I wanted to get a cake to make it the centerpiece. Since it was really the only thing I was doing for the shower, I was willing to spend quite a bit of money on it…however, when I reached out to a local cake place, they were gonna charge me, what I thought was an arm and a leg (at the time…now I can understand why they were charging that much) for what I was wanting. I said no way. I then proceeded to buy all the supplies I thought I would need and decided I was gonna make this cake on my own. And I did, and it turned out…and so the cake making began.

Do you have a favorite buttercream?

Vanilla buttercream is my all time favorite buttercream. You just can’t go wrong with the classics and it’s the base of all other buttercreams.

I’m always in awe of your gorgeous creations. Do you plan your creations in advance or is it in a spur of the moment?

Thank you so much! Usually, I’ll have an idea of what I want to do a couple of days before I bring it to life…I don’t think I’ve ever made a cake not knowing how I was going to decorate it beforehand. However, when I think of an idea, I want to create it ASAP. So, ideas never sit in my head for very long.

Do you have any favorite tools in your cake toolkit?

For sure, my turntable, cake scraper, and an offset spatula. Oh! And rubber spatulas. I probably have over 20 of them. One can never have enough of those. Also, do sprinkles count!?! (Absolutely!)

Do you have any website/Instagram/YouTube that you use to learn cake techniques?

When I first started out, I watched a ton of Wilton Cakes tutorials online, for all the basics. Now, I can’t tell you the last time I watched a tutorial, where I was actually wanting to learn something.  I just learn techniques on my own for the most part, as I go.

Do you have any advice for someone who’s starting out in the cake decorating business?

For someone just starting out, I’d say try and figure out your style fairly quickly. I think posting consistently and keeping your content consistent goes a long way! Be engaging with other accounts, but be genuine! I often say, “you’ve gotta give to receive,” I think that reigns true in all aspects of life. Also, good photo quality, I think is of utmost importance! Instagram is all about pictures, so give your audience appealing photos to look at! They will love you for it!  Also, ask questions when you need help (you don’t have to have it all together), tag and credit your inspiration, use hashtags, and most importantly, just have fun with it. There is no point in doing it if you’re not enjoying the process.

Additional questions posted on her InstaStories (which I copied from)

How many cakes do you make a week?

Lately, it has been around 6 cakes a week. A combination of orders and ideas that I want to bring to life!

How long does it take you to decorate a cake?

This really depends on the size and design – an average of 2-3 hours.

Why do you use American buttercream?

I’ve had the most success with it when it comes to piping.

What type of camera do you use to take your cake photos?

I use a Fuji XT2 camera.

Do you use melts or colored white ganache for colored drips?

I use a colored white ganache and the ratio I use is 3:1 (chocolate:cream).

How do you place the sprinkles on the drips?

I use the tip of my finger and fill in the gaps with a tweezer.

What brand of colors do you use?

Americolor

What app do you use for editing photos?

Adobe Lightroom. (Side note: I use the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan and I pay $10 a month for all of the softwares listed in the plan. Great investment!)

Cakes I’ve Done

Baby Sprinkle Cake

This is the cake I made just over a year ago for my sister in law’s baby sprinkle (my first legit cake), it’s also the first cake I posted on my Instagram. It’s the cake that started it all.

Sprinkle Star Cake

This sprinkle star cake was the first time I really started to mess around with sprinkles, and I’m still in love with it!

Halloween Cake

This cake means a great deal to me, as it is the cake that @wiltoncakes asked me to make for them as a part of their Halloween collaboration. Can you say #dreamsdocometrue?

Succulent Cake

My succulent 2.0 cake. I have come a long way since that first cake I made, and I am very pleased with the progress.  This cake was also shared on @wiltoncakes Instagram page! 

Buttercream Christmas Tree

This buttercream Christmas tree cake will always be ones of my favorites. This post took off like crazy. It received over 20K likes and has over 6.5K bookmarks.  It also was the cake that helped me reach 10K followers, so yeah, this cake will always have a special place in my heart.

Pink Sprinkle Cake

This pink sprinkle cake is also one of my current favs. It has sprinkles drips, macarons, and pink! How could you not love it!?

Cherry Sprinkle Cake

This cake was inspired by one of my favorite bakers @jonathan_caleb_cake, and it almost instantly became my most favorite cake. I just love the way it turned out!

Valentine’s Sprinkle Cake

Keeping the sprinkle drips and cherry game strong, although this time I added glitter to my cherries  (another Jonathan Caleb Cake inspired design). I think this Valentine’s Day season is my favorite season to decorate cakes for. Give me all the pink, and chocolate, and cinnamon candy kisses.

Starry Night Cake

Simply stunning! How about that black buttercream?!

Buttercream Valentine Cake

So much fun to look at! 😍

Thank you so much, Rachel, for allowing us to get know you a little bit and sharing your inspiring and amazing cakes! 💕

Follow Rachel on Frosted Fuji Cakes to keep up with her amazing creations! You won’t be disappointed.