The Cake Journey Begins

I have finally done it. I pushed my fears aside and decided to put myself out there and create a blog....a cake blog.

After reading "Let Me Eat Cake" and "Julie and Julia" I was inspired to push myself to do this.

I have to confess...I have a passion...a passion to create. For many years I had been searching for a creative outlet. And every avenue I took always lead me to something in food.

After a short but very eventful trip to London about three years ago, while visiting my son who was working there...I thought I'd take a week long course with the masters in Cake Design at Squire's International School of Cake Decorating in Farnham, England....a quaint village about 45 minutes from London.

There I met the most interesting and glorious people...all there with the same mindset...to create. I'm still friends with several of our "Baking Girls" from across the globe. We still share stories and ideas. More on that later on.

Back to Squire's and me. Well...I took a liking to this new craft. I had seen a show then..The Ace of Cakes, and thought...hmmmm...I might be able to create something like Duff's cakes...and it might be fun! But...I didn't have the skill base. Thus the trip to Squires to get my first taste of fondant skills. After a week with the brilliant...Maise Parrish, Alan Dunn, Ann Skipp, Tombi Peck, and Paddi Clark and then ....the icing on the cake....Debbie Brown....I was hooked....hook, line and sinker. There was no going back! I had to get more.

With fondant rollers and sculpting tools and new sugar paste flowers packed safely away in my Vera Bradley suitcase, saying ciao to my son for now, I hopped back onto my Virgin Atlantic flight back to New York, plopped my suitcase in my hallway...went straight to the phone and signed up with The French Culinary Institute in NYC for another weeklong class in Cake Decorating. Chef Cynthia Peithman of Cakeline was my chef instructor. I learned so much...but craved more cake....So....you guessed it...after several months of practicing all of my new skills, and several trash bags filled with "not so perfect" cakes...You will get to know...that I am a perfectionist....won't let anything out of my kitchen that isn't perfect....I began creating cakes for my grandchildren. Ah...the ooohs and the ahhhs I received warmed this yiayia's (Greek for grandma) heart. They were smitten with the cakes....I absorbed their approval and smiling faces.

One cake led to another and another cake class with the brilliant Colette Peter's and then back to London for......another Master Class....and now my little business.....Amelia Cakes!

So here I am...blogging about cake. Don't know where this will lead me...but I'm willing to make the journey.