Recently i was contacted by a past customer, journalist and film critic, Jen Kilchenmann who asked if i would answer some questions about my work for a piece she wanted to put together. I gave Jen big rambling answers and lots more than she needed for her article i think!!! Here are my answers to her questions in full, and you can read her resulting piece in SoSoGay Magazine.
Can you tell me a bit about your background?
I studied Animation at Edinburgh College of Art, and when I left I didn’t have any real career path in mind. I spent a bit of time travelling and having adventures and in between times worked at The Finishing Touch, a party and cake decoration supplies shop, and then The Cake and Chocolate Shop (now closed)`, both in Edinburgh and both founded by Fiona Forder. Fiona was a wonderful woman who was very generous with her time and knowledge, and encouraged me to learn about cake decoration, which was one of her passions, and she taught me a lot about running a business too. Due to my animation background Fiona thought I would be good at modeling in marzipan and sugar so offered me a job at The Cake and Chocolate Shop, even though I had never iced a cake in my life! I ended up decorating up to 3 or 4 cakes a day for 2 years or so, learning alot in a very short time about cakes!
Why cake tops?
I never was very ambitious, but I did always hope that one day I would live in the Highlands and work from home, doing something creative. That thing turned out to be caketops. It just sort of fell into place as it combined my experiences doing animation at College, where I made models as part of my study, and my time spent working at the cake shop and being introduced to the world of cakes and of course wedding cakes in particular. I made a whole lot of marzipan figures for wedding cakes when I worked there! After a request from Mag at The Finishing Touch, I made some kilted bride and grooms from wood, fabric and polymer clay, as grooms wearing kilts were hard to find at the time, and much sought after in Scotland as you can imagine! Making the caketop figures from more permanent materials was ideal as it meant they could be posted of course and they could be kept too, as a memento of the day. So I started to make lots with different kilts and different hair colours and would sell them to shops, and it grew from there. Now I do live in a little highland cottage and potter away making all sorts of caketops, it soon got a lot more personalized than just different kits and hair colours!
What is the craziest cake top you've been asked to create?
I tend to mainly stick to making human figures so they don’t get too crazy really. They are often personalized with something to do with work or hobby- I’ve done a groom in full riot police uniform which made me laugh as I wondered what must his guest list be like if he really did turn up on the wedding day wearing that?! I do sometimes accept stranger requests or challenges if it is for friends, family or if you catch me on a good day and I just fancy making that caketop! Often if it is something really tricky it may mean it would be expensive, as it’s all about how long it would take for me to make it rather than the actual cost of materials. I made a bride and groom riding a moped for friends, and it took nearly three days to complete. Making the moped out of polymer clay was painstaking to get right, but I enjoyed making it. Doing something because it is good fun is sometimes just as important, and you can learn a lot too.
I do a few commissions a year for The Little Venice Cake Company in London. I was lucky as during my first few years of doing caketops I contacted Mich Turner at Little Venice, who was herself a fairly new company and has since grown to become cake decorator to the stars!! Over the years I have made figures for footballers and their brides, Russian millionaires, TV and film parties, and a bride and groom for a top secret music couple’s big day. Oh and possibly my crazyiest request is due to Little Venice too, I made the green picket fence which Mich used on the wacky cake she made for the movie Nanny McPhee!
How long does it take to make a pair of cake tops?
The time it takes to complete a cake top really varies, if the cake top is just two figures it can maybe take 4 or 5 hours. If they are wearing complicated outfits, have pets or props to signify hobbies or career, then it’s all extra time to do as I make the majority of things myself and by hand. Dogs and cats are modeled and painted, individual flowers are handmade, beads on dresses are hand sewn, mini football scarves are knitted! The only things I buy already made are some dollshouse items such as musical instruments, real glass wine glasses and bicycles! Generally if I can make it I will.
What occasions would one need a cake top for, surely not just a wedding?!
Weddings keep me really busy so I don’t usually do other occasions, and it is my most requested occasion anyway -partly due to costs. I think people will buy a cake top for a wedding as it’s a big celebration, their guests will all get a kick out of it, and it’s also something they can keep forever to remind them of the day. But other special birthdays or occasions do come up from time to time and people want something special to help them mark that day too. As I have been making caketops a long time now I have had some past customers contact me and ask if I can do a christening caketop! So I do those too, although it makes me feel old!!! It is nice to hear from past customers who come back again and you know you must have done a good job for them to return! One past customer contacted me to make a 40th birthday cake top for her husband, and it had alot of fun things on it to do with his hobbies and work. That along with their wedding cake top she had organized in secret and it was a surprise for him. Then, when it was her 40th birthday, her husband contacted me and asked if I could make one for her! She had a surprise too and it was great fun to be involved making those caketops for a lovely couple’s special occasions!
How much advance warning would you ideally need for a wedding cake top?
Generally I’m busiest from April through to September and for those months as much notice as you can. I do have regular wee holidays and am usually falling behind my ideal schedule come June! So its always good to be in touch as soon as you know you really would like one, but perhaps haven’t yet decided on all the details for it. You can be slotted into my diary so you have a spot reseved, and we can discuss ideas and I can give you a quote. I will do last minute requests for caketops if I can, but sometimes it’s just not possible.
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