Have your cake and eat it too

From highly detailed hatboxes and chic stilettos to printed leather purses and bouquets of flowers–at first glance, the portfolios of the city’s top pastry chefs and cake decorators look more fashion catalogue than bakery menu as they turn clients’ wildest fantasies into edible works of art.

“People used to come in and say ‘I want a car cake for my son’s birthday.’ We would suggest different cars like Ferraris to make into 3-D cakes and people would say ‘No, we just wanted a picture of a car on a cake.’ They couldn’t envision us actually making the shape of a car out of cake, ” says High Tea Bakery co-owner Belinda Bigold, describing customer expectations when the bakery first opened its doors in 2003.

Thanks to the increasing popularity of shows like TLC’s Cake Boss and the Food Network’s Ace of Cakes, clients are now able to visualize a wide assortment of 3-D cakes, and discerning Winnipeggers are looking to put their stamp on the dessert they serve at their birthday and anniversary parties.

“People are looking for something new and for something that’s a step up from a slab cake,” says Crystal Caruk, owner and head decorator at C-cups.

C-cups is a relative newcomer to the cake scene, yet it has been building custom cakes since opening in December 2009. “We never advertised that we could make

3-D cakes. It only spread through word of mouth,” says Caruk. Caruk likes to push the envelope with her cakes, and take peoples’ ideas one step further.

“I love taking a simple round cake and creating something personal for that customer. Every one is unique and you know people are going to flip when they see these cakes.”

From life-size dogs, purses decorated with faux-crocodile skin and metal clasps, shoes that look real enough to wear, and model cars built to scale, the possibilities are endless when it comes to creating a 3-D custom cake. If you can dream it, it can be created out of cake. When it comes to bizarre requests, these ladies have heard it all.

“Everyone always comes in and says ‘I know this sounds strange but…’ and we’re always thinking ‘No, no it doesn’t,” says Bigold. “We even had one man come in with a picture of his wife that he wanted us to make into a zombie cake.”

Michelle Bigold takes on the highly detailed sculpture work at High Tea Bakery. At 24 years old, she’s one of the youngest cake decorators in the city. She had the opportunity to make a replica of Rebel, Rescue Ink’s mascot dog, when the television stars made an appearance in Winnipeg.

“It was great to see these guys with their own show, taking pictures of themselves with your cake,” says Bigold.

As the popularity of custom cakes increases, so does the complexity of the cakes.

“People are looking for that “wow” factor and everyone wants something to outdo the last person,” says Nina Notaro, pastry chef and owner of Cake Studio.

Notaro is an award-winning pastry chef and culinary Olympian. Cake Studio is the first appointment-only bakery in the city. When it comes to creating custom 3-D cakes, Notaro pulls out all the stops to make sure that the final product is as realistic and to-scale as possible. With the help of her husband David for engineering and structural work and her mother Nora for some of the decorative elements, Notaro creates some exceptionally realistic-looking cakes.

“We build our own structures out of stainless steel rods or PVC piping,” says Notaro. For some of the larger cakes, Notaro sometimes calls on a welder to create structures that can support the weight of the cakes she decorates.

Notaro’s cake creations are made not only with cake, but with modelling chocolate, sugar paste, pastillage and blown and pulled sugar details. All the elements combined turn into truly spectacular, one-of-a-kind cakes. As a member of the Canadian Cake Decorating Guild, the International Cake Exploration Societé and the Canadian Culinary Federation, Notaro has frequently competed with her cake creations, honing her attention to fine details.

“I always think of something being judged at a culinary competition,” she says. “When something is walking out the door, it’s because it’s the best we can do.”

The process of making your custom cake can be daunting–a lot of time and effort goes into ensuring that all the details are correct.

“We try to get as many details and as many references as possible to make sure that the cake is accurate and properly crafted,” says Notaro.

Creating the cakes can be a lengthy process. It can take anywhere from a full day to three days or more in order to complete a 3-D cake. The cakes first need to be baked, cooled, filled and crumb-coated before the more elaborate decorating can take place. A lot of thought needs to be given in terms of the density of the cake flavour chosen, as well as the type of filling, to ensure that the cake can remain intact during transportation. Some cakes sit out at room temperature for long periods of time, and it’s necessary to ensure that the fillings used will be well preserved. C-cups and High Tea Bakery require at least one week’s notice for a custom cake order and Cake Studio suggests calling as soon as you know you will need a cake. The final cake can be more complex and detailed if there is more time to plan and prepare the cake design in advance.

“The cakes must be beautiful, they must be tasty and they must be food safe,” says Notaro.

Like fine art, these cakes come at a price. A custom 3-D cake can cost from $40 for a smaller cake, and the sky is the limit as to how high the price goes, depending on the size and complexity of the cake. When selecting your custom cake, come into the bakery with an open mind and the realization that the cakes you see on television come with a high price tag.

“People come in envisioning that they are going to get this big massive cake and they don’t realize that what they are asking for will cost them over a thousand dollars,” says Bigold. “Some people’s budgets don’t match their expectations.”

Despite all the time and effort that goes into decorating the cake, in the end, it’s going to be eaten. Winnipeg’s cake bosses go through all the necessary steps to ensure that the final cake tastes as good as it looks.

“The greatest compliment I can receive is ‘I don’t want to cut it; it looks too real,’” says Notaro. “You make it, put your heart and soul into it. But you have to look at it as artwork, edible artwork meant to be eaten and enjoyed.”