Cake! magazine by Australian Cake Decorating Network February 2018 | Page 84
cakes – multiple tiers, cascades of
sugar flowers, moulding, textures,
mediums, products, lights, automation
etc. The bigger, the better, the more I
love it.
Written by Kellie Rudland
We spoke to Monica Cavallaro
of Moreish Cakes about how she
managed to build a successful
business, develop a media profile and
become one of Sydney’s most sought-
after cake designers, all in the space
of just a few years.
Many of your wedding cakes feature
beautiful handcrafted flowers. Do
you have a favourite type of flower to
create?
Aww thank you! I love making sugar
flowers, it’s how I started all those
years ago. My absolute favourites are
anemone, wafer flowers and fantasy
flowers. I could do it all day.
Your business’ success really
skyrocketed after your appearance
on the 2016 season of The Great
Australian Bake Off. What drew you to
apply for the show?
Bake Off is one of my favourite shows.
It’s supportive, it’s just about the bakes,
no drama… just perfect for me! I was
at a point where I had been very unwell
and wanted to test myself and see if I
could do more, if my bakes were any
good (because your friends and family
are awesome but are they just being
nice?) Never thinking for a second
when I applied I would make it on
there! Boy was that phone call a shock!
Cake decorating is such a specialised
area; how comfortable did you feel
undertaking such varied bakes on
GABO?
It was way outside of my comfort zone!
Of the 30+ bakes that we did across
the 10 weeks, I had probably only ever
made five before! ‘You never know
what you are really capable of until you
try’ is what I tell everyone now. Even
my husband last week, out of the blue
says ‘I still can’t believe the things you
made, I would have never thought you
were capable of it’. And neither did I!
What was the most surprising thing you
came across while filming?
The most surprising is to learn how
many people are truly involved in
production of your favourite shows.
How well they all work together in
crazy conditions, for the longest hours.
TV makes it all nice and pretty - a bit
like a duck on a pond, calm above
water and bedlam below! All of them,
just wonderful.
Over the past two years you’ve
become the go-to cake supplier for the
Sydney weddings on Married At First
Sight. How did this opportunity present
itself?
One of the gorgeous crew from Bake
Off gave me a call asking if I could
What lies ahead for Moreish Cakes?
make a cake or two for the show, and
the next thing I knew it was six. I really
appreciated the trust they put in me.
Let’s be honest, I was a nobody and
had only made four or five wedding
cakes before it. I was super flattered
when I received a call for the second
year. The crew at Channel Nine and the
supporting networks are all so engaging
and wonderful to work with. I love
weddings. I can’t tell you how awesome
the crew are, and the work that they do
to pull these weddings together is truly
awe-inspiring to be a part of.
You and your work have appeared in
many media outlets, including print
and television. Do you have any plans
to explore these avenues further?
2018 is set to be an interesting year,
just watch this space is all I can say
for now...
You have a very varied portfolio of
cakes - weddings, birthdays, religious
celebrations and more. What’s your
favourite type of cake to design?
I just love creating things. It’s the art
that appeals. I wanted to be an art or
music teacher growing up. The mixed
mediums of baking and caking gives
me so much scope to play. My fav
cakes are the over-the-top wedding
There are big plans for Moreish, which
involve diversifying the business
further. I have some goals scoped out
to hit over the next couple of years.
How did your cake decorating journey
begin?
How long have you got? Like everyone
else, I started to make cakes when
my son was born in 2009 as I couldn’t
really afford the birthday cake I wanted
and stupidly thought ‘how hard could
it be?’ I learnt my lesson the hard
way – I re-baked a sitting Wilton bear
cake three times, and piped, scraped
off and re-piped buttercream for six
hours. It was a hot mess. At 3am, I
would have thrown $1000 at anyone
to just hand me a cake by that stage. I
continued for a couple of years making
his cakes and then my daughter
came along in 2012. Things then went
downhill and I got very ill. 15 months at
home and I became very creative with
my time making flowers in front of the
TV. A friend asked me to make a cake
for their son and I said ok. I returned
back to work 1 to 2 days a week in
2013 and was thinking about starting a
little something on the side. Someone
said to me, don’t bother, there isn’t any
money in it and I believed them for the
majority of that year. But by the time
2013 was coming to a close, I decided
to do what my heart told me to do
and I registered Moreish Cakes and
launched it December. As a business
manager, I set goals for myself and the
business (I can hear [cake business
coach] Michelle Green nodding very
proudly at that comment). I was aiming
for one cake a month and to be on
200 likers by the end of 2014. By April
2014 I had one cake a week and was
up to 1000 likers! Fast forward four
years and here we are.
What trends do you see continuing
throughout 2018?
On the same token, before saying
yes to your friend, aunty etc offering
to make the wedding cake as the
gift, consider that the cake will be on
front and centre display for the entire
function. Will it be w