How to find your Cake Decorating Style

Do you know what is your cake decorating style? Every profession or artist has his or her own style. Sometimes figuring out what your own personal style is can be challenging. Here are a few tips that might help.

These are some of my cakes. Do these speak for my cake decorating style yet?

What is your cake decorating style? 

Just as a doctor or lawyer specializes in some aspect of their profession. We too are driven into a particular area of cake decorating driven by our passion and talent.
For example, a medical student may decide he wants to be a doctor in the field - dentist, surgeon, or lawyer chooses either criminal, domestic, etc.

Every cake decorator has his or her own style of decorating cakes.  This style usually comes from the person's background, from their personal preferences, or even personality.

For the purpose of this post, I am going to use examples of some of the artists I truly admire in the cake world. I think you know them too.

If I said Karen Portaleo, Peggy Porschen, or Ron Ben Israel, the very first thing that comes to your mind is the type of cakes that these artists create.  Their unique styles and expertise.

For example:

• Karen Portaleo has a background in sculpting and a pastry chef grandfather - eventually, she combined the two and now she's the most amazing cake and chocolate artist who travels across the globe to teach the art of cake sculpting!!! Yes, she makes the most amazing and unique sculpted cake I have EVER seen. You can see them here on her Facebook Page Karen Portaleo, Cake Artist.
• Ron Ben Israel got his love for food at a very young age in the kitchen with his own mom.
• Peggy Porschen left home at a young age to pursue her passion for cakes.

While Karen Portaleo brings to mind the amazing art of cake sculpting, Peggy Porschen brings the element of elegant, classy, and sophisticated tiered wedding cakes and Ron Ben Israel being so popular for his sugar flowers brings to mind a cake lusciously filled with the most exotic array of sugar flowers.

Think for a moment

What would happen if you asked Peggy Porschen to make cakes like Karen Portaleo or vise-versa? Would that work? Probably not!! maybe. But that's not their style, no preference or desire. Maybe not even their talent. It's not them!!

The grass is always greener on the other side

Often you get a very talented cake artist who is so unhappy with her cakes and exposure because she is unable to make those fancy cakes she sees everybody else is making.  Don't get me wrong - I've been there too!
We all go through it and we all feel the grass is greener on the other side. "Maybe if I tried those types of cake, my cakes would be better noticed" Will they?

The current trend in cakes seems to be gravity-defying cakes.
Everyone is trying hard to fit into this trendy gap. Do they all want to make a gravity-defying cake because everybody else is doing it? Yes, it's fun. yes, it's amazing!! But

No one is taking a moment to think

• Is this the type of cake I want to do?
• Am I doing it because I like it or am I doing it because everybody else is doing it?
• Am I doing just one such cake for fun or do I want to get more orders for such cakes?
• Is this what I want to specialize in? (if it is then you got your style)

Remember the cakes you showcase in your portfolio speak for your style and your talent. When people visit your website and see more of a certain type of cakes that's what they will assume you specialize in.
Most importantly ask yourself - what are the cakes that make me happy when working on them? Do you like novelty cakes, wedding cakes, sugar figures, paintings, royal icing work, and sugar flowers? what really brings out the best in you?

Trends change all the time

Do you see any of the above three cake artists suddenly stop doing what they are doing and start making gravity-defying cakes because they all want to fit in? NO!!  They do what they do best because that's them! They have found their path.

Does this mean that you have to stop exploring other aspects of cakes?

NO!! Of course not! It is great to know and explore all areas of cake decorating.  You see the sugar modeling below - sugar modeling is not my forte but I do them for fun!!

While it is great to explore other aspects of cake decorating it is very important to know and appreciate what is unique about you and your style of cake decorating.

All it takes is being true to yourself. Once you do that you will find that you are working in sync with your inner being. You will achieve a goal, you will achieve a purpose, and you will find your path.  You will unleash your own unique creativity and style.

So what is my cake decorating style?

I love doing tired cakes, I love bold colors, sugar flowers, lace, ruffles, pearls, fabrics, molds etc.  If I had to choose a cake to make it would be a wedding cake. Yes!! I love weddings! And I love classic elegant cakes with sugar flowers. So I showcase that more on my website letting people know that I'm good at Wedding Cakes and Sugar Flowers.

But while I am most happy with my above style, I do some novelty cakes, and sugar modeling for fun too! Those make me happy and give me some adventure but I'm not overly upset if I don't make a perfect figure. It's not my goal.

I work on my sugar flowers and try to perfect my fondant skills because now I know my path. I know what makes me happy, I know what is my unique skill, and what aspect of cake decorating is ME!  This also helps me know what type of cake clients I want to attract. It defines my target marketing when choosing to advertise my business.

So, now I ask you - Do you know what is your cake decorating style?

If yes, please see it with me in the comments below. Tell us how you came to identify or understand your own style.
and If not, then here are a few questions to ask yourself.

• Which cake in your gallery is your favorite? Why?
• What is the one cake you would create if you had to choose? Would it be a novelty cake, a wedding cake,
• If I gave you a theme - let's say dress inspired - would it be more fun for you to make a dress cake or would you prefer to make a tiered cake with the dress elements inspired
• What is the one thing about a cake that you don't like doing? Would omitting a cake category (Ex- novelty cakes) help?

These are of course just a few question ideas to ask yourself, but I think you get the idea of what I'm trying to share here.

I do hope you have found this post useful. If you did please help spread the word by sharing it with your friends on any social media of your choice. Thank you so much.

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