Vendors we LOVE! – Lori Hutchinson – Caketress

We have been following Lori Hutchinson from the Caketress for a few years.  Watching as her style became more defined and the recognition of her cakes travelled across the world.  Originally from Collingwood, Lori moved her  studio to Toronto in 2010.  Her fashion inspired styling on each cake is always like a work of art.  Our client’s rave about her creativity and ability to listen to their needs and create a WOW cake!  I personally enjoy her fun, out going personality, and professional dedication to her craft.

What inspired you to be a cake designer?

I’ve always been an artist in search for the right medium that kept me excited to work with, as well had a love for baking at a very young age.  It wasn’t  until an executive chef at a local hotel had asked me to make his wedding cake that my two hobbies combined.   I loved how with cake there was endless possibilities that would continue to keep me looking forward to the next cake.

How did you chose your business name?

A lot of my cakes are style and fashion inspired while being  custom tailored to the couple. So I combined “Seamstress” with “cake” to get The Caketress.

What classes have you taken to continue to grow yourself as a designer?

Originally I was self taught in decorating cakes using the skills I had learned in past  art classes, hobbies, and jobs like painting, sculpting, sewing, flower design, pottery and Interior design. Eventually I wanted to expand my knowledge in the edible arts so I learned under Bonnie Gordon of Bonnie Gordon Cakes (which now is career college where I also teach). I apprenticed as a pastry chef at Grosvenor’s of Southampton and took on a few international internships under a some well known cake designers and chefs.

What makes your style unique to caketress?

I believe a wedding cake should be one of a kind and should showcase the style and story of the couple. I personally love adding couture elements into the cake inspired by the bride’s gown or adding an element that tells their story.  The cakes flavor should always exceed it’s decor to be decadent celebration.

How do you feel your style has evolved?

When I first started out, I allowed myself to get caught up in trends, but it never really satisfied me to do a cake slightly inspired by another cake. However now I only do a cake design once so I’m constantly having to evolve and capture new inspiration. I believe I’m only as good as my last cake so I’m kinda competing against myself to one up the cake every time.

We hear you are now teaching.  Tell us about your classes.

I teach my own couture cakes class at the Bonnie Gordon college of confectionary arts. When I started doing modern fashion inspired cakes , there was a demand of cake decorators who wanted to learn how I made fondant look like fabric. I get students who travel across the world for this class to become their own caketress. It’s really a compliment to my work to have cake decorators eager to learn how I decorate.

Share your business philosophy.

I believe in listening to my couples and providing them with a very personable service. The wedding cake should be fun and enjoyable experience and never stressful. As much as I’m the designer, the cakes are not about me, they about the couples who inspire them. I’m really the lucky one, to have great lovable couples who invest in me to create their edible masterpiece. So I make sure they know how grateful and excited I am to make their cake.

Tell us your most rewarding moment in business?

I very much enjoy hearing the feedback from the couples after their wedding cake. It reminds me why I work such long hours on an art that needs to be destroyed to be savored.

Tell us one thing we don’t already know about you.

I love to travel and experience new things and actually surprised that there’s a demand for me to travel and make cakes. It’s definitely the cherry on top for my career.

Any exciting upcoming news you would like to share with us?

I have a lot of new things to unveil in 2011. One of them being I had an opportunity to compete in a televised Food Television cake challenge that will air in the near future. It was an honor to compete in a show that I once watched when I started out and was amazed at the talent. It definitely confirmed to me that all the hard work for the last 7 years was worth it.

Thanks again to Lori from Caketress! We love your work and loved learning more about you!

Event Decorator Team