My grandmother makes wedding cakes for a living. Cool, right? Think Cake Boss but instead it's a cool Irish lady who runs her own business: Magic Designs Cakes. I grew up watching her make these grand and magnificent cakes that she put every ounce of effort into. And yes, when it came to extra frosting and cake batter, my cousins and I always took turns wiping the bowl clean. It was a glorious time.
One of my grandmother's favorite parts of being a wedding cake designer is the freedom she has. She can go into her cake room listen to music and create. She has always told me that one of her favorite things to do is make the sugar flowers because of how therapeutic is can be. It's her time to be alone and recreate flowers through her own eyes. I have strong memories of myself walking in on my granny making her sugar flowers and she always looked at peace.
To showcase her business, she periodically goes to wedding fairs where she can show her collection of designs and speak one on one with future clients. Everything you see on my grandmother's cakes are handmade. She spends hours and hours making flowers, human statues and detailed drawings for her clients.
In recent years, there has been an increasing number of competitors in the wedding cake industry. So, it's important to take time and show your talent. A lot has changed since my granny entered the cake industry. People are requesting bigger and better cakes. Many of the 3 or 4 tier cakes are for show with no actual cake. The industry has become an art form where bakers are able to show their talents
Many wedding cakes nowadays are 3/4 Styrofoam. But people seem to think that this requires less work which is completely false. Baking is just half the battle. The design and artwork that is required for wedding cakes is extensive and expensive. In today's age with reality tv, people are expecting anything and everything that looks like something out of Cake Boss.
My granny is very capable and is able to do almost anything that comes her way, but that doesn't mean she has all the resources to do it. People envision their perfect cake and they don't think of the effort and time that goes into the product.
Baking and designing a wedding cake doesn't come from a days work, it comes from weeks of preparation. Making a professional cake isn't the same as baking in your kitchen. It isn't the same as baking your sister a cake for her birthday. It's a profession that takes years and years of perfection and it deserves the respect and admiration for all its capabilities.