Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine April 2017 | Page 37

Danielle George-John
spoke with Mélange
Your cakes are all works
of art. When did you get
started in this career and
what was your motivation?
I fell in love with cakes and sugar art
at a young age. I remember watching
a program on TV called “Death by
Chocolate”. That’s where I learned
about chocolate gnache and sugar
pulling. It pretty much fascinated
me. As I got closer to finishing high
school, I remember asking advice
from a friend of my parents who made
cakes and she told me flat out, “don’t
waste your time, your work won’t be
appreciated and no one will pay for it.”
I since then, thought of other things
to do, which of course, all involved
working with my hands. By that time,
years had gone by, and we got the
Food Network Channel. I started to
watch all of its cake competitions and,
of course, my mind went right back to
cakes.
I eventually left my job, and went
to Le Cordon Bleu in Miami, and did
Baking and Patisserie. I eventually
had to do an internship to complete
the course, and did so at a cake
studio in Hialeah, FL. There I mostly
learned to crumb coat and cover
cakes in fondant. I decorated a few
basic cakes, nothing too crazy. But
I did have the privilege of watching
an amazing artist at work. I certainly
learned a few things. Then it was time
to come home to start my own little
cake business. I definitely dove in
head first with really little knowledge
of sugar work, but a great foundation
in crumb coating and covering in
fondant! So Google became my
friend, and I leared so much more
online. By working more and more
with cakes, I started to learn the
medium a lot more, and became a lot
more familiar and comfortable with
the craft. I kept at it, and every day I
improve a little more.
What is the most unique
cake you’ve been asked to
make, so far?
That’s a hard one. I would have to say,
all of the novelty cakes I have done
so far would be unique, as they look
nothing like cake!
Is there one cake you’ve
made that’s your favourite?
That’s another hard one. I love them
all, but that will be the baby Winnie
the Pooh in the honey pot, and Squirt
on the suitcase.
How much time is usually
required to complete the
decoration of a cake?
It definitely depends on the size and
design of the cake, and how many
cakes I have to work on at the same
time. To be honest, I have never
timed any one cake. But generally, I
like to take deposits at least 3 weeks
in advance, and 3 months in advance
for wedding cakes. I usually start
working at the beginning of the week,
and complete all cakes in the order
they are to be delivered.