An Interview With Ambrosia Cakes

Hey Crystal! Welcome to the blog-side of Moments That Shine ;) Before I start asking questions about the wonderful cake (and more) you created for me, can you tell us a bit about .: Ambrosia Cakes :. and how you got started?

.: Ambrosia Cakes :. was established from the true love of being creative. I have always loved creative careers; photography, cooking and now baking. There was a day when I really did not know what I was going to do as a career. I believed why go to school pay ridiculous amounts of money and then leave not wanting anything to do with what you studied. So I decided that I would work and get paid to figure out what I wanted to eventually go to school for. Michael’s is one of my favourite stores. One day I was standing in the checkout and saw the Calendar showing what classes they offered. So I went over got a copy for myself and then signed up for the Wilton cake decorating classes. Loved every minute of it and noticed that I was also pretty good at it. That’s when it began. I started experimenting with recipes and using my co-workers as guinea pigs. Then the orders started coming in.

That’s wonderful! Okay, on to this project you so lovingly took on. When I first told you my friend was going to be having a baby, I mentioned I called him (or her) ‘Sweet Pea’. One day you sent along a photo of some cupcakes and this is how the ball got rolling. Let’s pretend I didn’t add to things buy asking you to make a cake .... let’s talk about the cupcakes first. They were a fairly simple base but you added fondant pea pods to the top. Take us through how you mapped it out, what supplies are involved and how much time they took.


The cupcakes were actually very easy. The pea pods were made from fondant and took approximately three minutes each. Once you perfect one the rest take no time at all.
I should also add they tasted yummy. I can (unfortunately for my waistline) attest to that from having more than one ;) Okay … so that’s the run-down on the minis … what about the cake? I gave you a bunch of different inspiration photos. First, how did you decide on the final cake design? Take us through the steps again.
I like to challenge myself! I looked at all the photos and said which one would be the most rewarding when finished? After I chose the cake design, I baked the cake, made the icing, made the polka dots and then assembled it all together.

The icing on the cake (pun intended) with everything was the amazing figurine you put together for the cake topper. Pictures can’t really do it justice. For all of you reading, I wanted a pregnant lady cake topper with a twist … my friend is always on her laptop so I was hoping to capture that somehow. What Crystal managed to do was make fondant resemble my friend AND add the laptop. Crystal, I know you were up late the night before getting everything done but how far in advance did you start the figurine? I can’t even imagine how you would start something like that … drawings, maybe? And the colours used … help us learn your craft of molding sheets of fondant into an actual sculpture.

The figurine was the deciding factor when I chose that particular cake design. I had never made a figurine before. I have books that describe how to go about doing it but actually sitting down and molding fondant was an exciting experience. First I analyzed the picture and how it had been made. Then I wrote down in order what I would need to make first. The body was first not including the arms or the legs. I started the figurine a week before the cake was to be delivered. First I made the body and the head. I allowed those to dry for a couple days. The arms, hair and clothes where made next. Her legs were made the day of the delivery and set under the body so that they would hang naturally over the end of the cake. Oh the laptop I made the same day I did the clothes.


Crystal, thank you again for bringing this very special order to life. If people want to contact you with their own cake challenges, how should they get in touch with you and how much time do orders normally take?

Depending on the difficulty of the order I appreciate two weeks for celebratory cakes and cupcakes and two months in advance for wedding cakes. You can contact me at ambrosia_cakes@aroma.com and Susan thank you for the challenge.