There was lots to get excited about Monday last as we celebrated our 10th Annual Food Awards at Vale Royal. The buzz was everywhere but even more so around the extraordinarily beautiful cakes created by our own Miss DIY Angelie Martin-Spencer and her formidable team. Hand-painted cakes! Talk about thinking outside of the box, even the most perfect cake ones. Here’s what Angelie Martin-Spencer had to say: “As a self-taught cake baker and decorator, I have to try to be competitive in this field, which has a number of very talented and skilled professionals with well-established businesses.

“Those who know me well know that I limit myself to nothing.” There’s no disputing that. “If I have an interest in something I am not afraid to try it and will do so until I get the result I need,” stated the ever so emphatic Martin-Spencer. “But even I know my limitations, and mine is painting and drawing. My sister Arlene will tell you that I can’t even draw a stickman, so when I came up with the idea of offering hand-painted cakes, even I knew that this was way outside my boundary and didn’t even make an attempt, but fortunately, I have married into a family of very talented artists and enlisted the expertise of my sister-in-law Liana Dunlop and my cousin-in-law Lisa Broderick who both possess great artistic talent. The results were exceptional.” They were indeed!

The year-long process

Things don’t just happen. Angelie and Lisa spent an entire year in experimentation mode.

“Lisa and I,” continued Martin-Spencer “experimented with different mediums for an entire year to see which would work best on the icing. The experiment went very well. It was now Liana’s turn to try. She had been asking me ever since to cover a cake for her to try but we just never got around to it.

With the decision made however, to showcase my cakes at this year’s Jamaica Observer Food Awards, I decided to give the painted cakes another try.” Liana finally got her shot and what an incredible job she did! “Her first attempt”, shares Martin-Spencer, “was perfect. The display cake turned out beautifully and we got rave reviews from visitors to our booth.” She went with sunflowers to add bright yellow to the décor.

Plates as inspiration.

Angelie, Lisa and Liana soon found another source of inspiration… “We have since experimented with another dummy cake, this time using a hand-painted dinner plate as inspiration. The cake is displayed here on the matching plate, with the matching teacup filled with flowers and used as a topper. This cake is perfect for a wedding or tea party.

“Fresh, faux or sugar flowers can be used to top your masterpiece, and whatever flower you will be using for your wedding can be painted onto your cake”.

More inspiration

Angelie Martin-Spencer sought inspiration from yet another plate. “I covered a couple of dummies and mimicked the scroll pattern of the plate on the sides of the cakes. The plate also inspired the overall décor/theme for my booth this year.”

The final cake pictured can only be described as bold simplicity. Classic black and white, but instead of the cake being the traditional white cake, Martin-Spencer made it all black, and used pure white lilies to make a bold statement. The stems for the lilies are also done in white. This is perfect for the non-traditional bride.

“I am thrilled with this collaboration and am excited at the prospect as I don’t believe it has really taken off here in Jamaica.” Thankfully Angelie Martin-Spencer and her team are all set to receive orders, for the hand-painted cakes seem destined to take off. Good luck, guys!

Angelie can be contacted at 946-2050 or email angeliepm@yahoo.com.