Cakes, Chocolates and More

Cakes, Chocolates and More

Written by Rachel Youens Thursday, 07 June 2007

Edible art cakes look almost too good to eat

It’s hard for some people to eat Irene Selby’s cakes. To them, it would be like cutting a square out of the Mona Lisa.

“I consider myself an artist and designer before I do a baker,” Selby said. “I create edible art.”

Using fondant, buttercream, marzipan and flour as her medium, Selby creates sugary masterpieces at her shop, Cakes, Chocolates and More.

The self-taught baker and designer has tallied her number of creations at 9,987 and with a list of big name clients adding up, and around 35 cakes going out each week, that number is bound to keep growing.

But the journey of a thousand cakes begins with just one. Selby’s first designer cake was for her son’s birthday. He wanted a lion. She took the simple design all over town looking for a baker who would take the job before going to a craft store to buy her own supplies. As the years passed, she had to continue to top her own work.

Now her cakes are legendary, and friends come to her son’s birthday party as much for the cake as the celebration.

“This year, my son wanted a snake-shaped cake, and he was turning seven, so I created a seven-foot long snake cake,” Selby said. “When we got ready to start the party, I couldn’t find any of the kids because they had all run off to look at the cake.”

Her personal baking success led her to start selling her cakes out of her home. During her days she managed offices and by night she baked, resulting in Selby working late into the night.

When she was laid off from her job, she had to decide whether to look for more office work or pursue her baking. The family decided to take a chance and give her home operation a store-front.

Hours of work go into each of Selby’s cakes because special measures have to be made to sculpt a cake. The cake must be frozen to harden it for carving and then colors may need to be airbrushed on the outside.

Inside her shop Selby has photos of nearly every cake she’s made stacked up in big albums. Throughout the books are milestones, the first time she used layers or the first time she used a new decorating tool.

Selby says most of her skills came not from a cooking course, but from her time spent in New York studying design at Parsons University.

“Since I don’t have any formal training every cake is just a chance to learn a new technique,” Selby said.

Anatomy of a cake

Selby’s challenge is managing to make her cakes taste as good as they look. Fondant and marzipan are the sculpting materials on the outside of the cake. Marzipan is almond paste and fondant is a sugar-based paste. Both are mostly tasteless, so beneath the top layer she puts a layer of buttercream frosting, and then a jam glaze. Selby has created several signature designs for customers, including a giant high heel between a pair of lips for a customer who often put her foot in her mouth, as well as a bloody piece of steak made entirely out of cake.

Cakes, Chocolates and More, 9414 Anderson Mill Road, Ste. 300, 335-0500, www.cakeschocolatesandmore.com

0 Comments