JOIN USPlaying around with flour and fondant wasn’t a new thing for Mary Ann. She grew up surrounded by cake enthusiasts like her mother and neighbours, who were great bakers. But it was only after she quit her job and decided to spend more time with her children that she took baking a little more seriously.
Mary Ann says, “I gave up my day-job because I wanted to be there for my children. However, I didn’t have to look after them the whole time so I had some free time for myself. That’s why I decided to start a Facebook page and take cake orders.” Now, it has been two years since she began ‘Cake Room’ and she says that she is flooded with calls and requests on a daily basis.
“I get a lot of orders just from the page but I try not to take more than two to three orders a week. Since all the cakes are theme-based, it takes a long time to work on them and I don’t want to overburden myself in the process as well,” she adds.
Before she decided to bake professionally, she attended a couple of classes that taught her the basics of making cakes and fondant arrangements.
She says, “Ever since I can remember, my mom has been making fondants on her own. But people now demand for the ones we get in the market as they are tastier as well. So, these classes gave me a little idea of how I can play around with my designs. But the recipes I use are what my mom has passed on to me.”
Her interest in designing cakes and making masterpieces are also influenced by her creative side as she was a child inclined towards art. She took avid interest in flower arrangements and oil paintings, which help her today in her cake designing.
Mary Ann’s work is simple yet elegant. Apart from working on theme-based cakes, she says she takes particular interest in making wedding cakes. She adds, “I love making flowers for wedding cakes. They have a special charm to them and it’s also a lot of fun creating them. Though I’ve officially done only a couple of wedding cakes, I would love to work on more.” She also bakes and designs cakes for birthdays, anniversaries and other parties.
And where does she get all her ideas from? “The client usually comes to me with a theme in mind and I draw something similar for them. I also draw inspiration from a lot of things I see online and try a lot of ‘do-it-yourself’ designs. So far, everything I’ve set my eyes on has come out great and I hope I get better at it as well.”
Apart from her customers praising her, she also has two cheerleaders in the kitchen who help her.
She says “My two-year-old daughter is always on the table when I’m baking, helping me roll the fondant. And my seven-year-old son is the one who tells me what works and doesn’t work in terms of designs and flavours.”
Mary Ann is very thrilled to be known as a baker as she believes baking is a stress-reliever and also an activity where she lets her passion and creativity take over.