Darlene, a.k.a.The Cakelady is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and she has been into the pastry world since 1997. She hadn’t known that her career as a baker would have started when she made a birthday cake for her little brother out of boredom. She tells the rest of her story as follows; “Pregnant and with plenty of time in hands at that time, I ventured into the world of cake making. I started making cakes out from boxes and frostings out from cans. Then a relative, a cakelady herself, came to visit us and she shared with me her recipes and simple cake decorating techniques and it opened up the world of possibilities for me. Curious and hungry for more about learning how to decorate cakes, I bought books and tools and just taught myself how to do it.” She also adds that; “I then tried my hand at working in the pastry section of a restaurant and I really fell in love with making pastries as well. I decided to go to pastry school to learn more about baking. The more I learned about baking, the more I want to bake. I love the process of measuring and concocting recipes and what I love even more is the smell of baked goods wafting in my kitchen.” Then she worked in in different places from little donut shops to fancy restaurant kitchens and she collected experience and knowledge along the way. What she loves the most about cake making is that it is open to creativity as you can make a cake look like almost anything. Her background in interior design has helped her in creating designs and choosing color combinations. She likes playing with fondant and challenging herself in trying something that she’s never done before. “Another addictive thing about cake decorating is the precious look on people’s faces when they see your creation. The happy squeals of your child when he or she sees their birthday cake is payment enough for your long and hard work in the kitchen.” she states on her blog. She has an impressive feed on Instagram and we selected our favourite pastry creations of her for you. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
