I think everyone in the cake industry has their own amazing story to tell, lovely memories of baking with their family as children, making little sugar decorations and aspiring to be great cake makers from a young age. My story is quite different and I didn’t discover my passion for baking and sugar flowers until much later on in life.
When I was younger I definitely had a creative streak, I was passionate about colour and design, loved to sketch and loved all things pretty but I focused on all of the other, different, exciting things that life had to offer and my creative side stayed in the background.
And then, along came cupcakes!! Who would have thought that such tiny little things would change my life as much as they have. After several classes, I was hooked on decoration and quickly moved onto learning how to decorate larger cakes. I learnt as much as I could and as quickly as I could, I loved the challenges and the excitement that came from getting a wedding cake design just right. My previous passion for colours and co-ordination and love of all things pretty really helped me to find my own signature style….. pink, feminine and delicate and of course, awash with gorgeous sugar flowers.
My one frustration along the way was that the huge amounts of information available to beginners was sometimes confusing rather than helpful. I always knew that if I was ever lucky enough to teach I’d change this for other people who were just starting out on their exciting journey. I wanted to teach others in detail, help them to make sense of things easily, share my secrets. My dream was for students to leave after a class having every skill they needed to create their own beautiful sugar flowers and cakes and have the foundation to tackle new designs quickly and easily.
I cannot express how much joy I get from making sugar flowers, working with colours and design and I am excited that I now have the opportunity to share my passion and knowledge with others
Love Ali xx
