Cake! magazine by Australian Cake Decorating Network August 2016 | Page 70
Stevie Auble
interview with
Written by Kellie Rudland for Cake!
magazine
You began as an interior designer.
What drew you to cake design?
I never set out for a career in the cake
industry. I wholeheartedly believed
that I was to be in the interior design
field throughout my professional life.
However life is never that certain, and
as opportunities presented themselves
my perspective altered a bit and I
found myself with new possibilities. I
LOVE to challenge myself and I found
that the cake world gave me so many
chances to grow and learn while still
being able to design, create and voice
my personal style.
You are well known for your bold,
whimsical designs. What inspires you
Literally everything! But if I really
narrow it down, I am still completely
obsessed with interiors and textiles
and I find that immersing myself in that
world really inspires me and helps me
continue to push the boundaries of my
cake designs.
Your signature style often utilises
bright pops of colour. How do you put
together colour combinations?
I love contrast & juxtaposition so using
complementary colours really just
comes naturally to me. I am drawn
to colour combinations that in theory
seem unorthodox to most but very
appealing to my personal aesthetic.
I also tend to have an unwritten rule
that I follow when it comes to colour
combinations - three colours max. You
can use different shades and tones
from the three colours for added depth
and interest. But typically trying to
work with a colour palette consisting of
more than three lends itself to a busier
design and challenges the overall
sophistication of the design.
Wafer paper is something you use in
a lot of your cake designs. What drew
you to working with that medium?
When I first started designing cakes
I was looking for something visually
lighter than gumpaste to create
decorative elements with, and a local
cake store had a few sheets of wafer
paper hanging on the wall. I was
completely smitten with its translucency
and lightness. From there I did a lot of
research and found that there was not
really any information on how to use it
in the ways that I was interested in. So I
had to do a lot of experimenting.
Talk us through your design process.
For my design process I collect as
much from the client as possible that
has nothing to do with cake. I really
want to see every element that they
will be incorporating into their event,
flowers, invitations, menus, linens,
tableware, even fonts. I really want
to know all of it. I also take a lot of
verbal cues from the clients in terms
of what they want the overall aesthetic
of the cake to feel/look like. Graphics
and textiles typically seem to be
what I gravitate most towards and
what usually sends my mind spinning
with ideas. After accumulating the
information, I let the client know that it
can take me a week or two (sometimes
more) to come up with some initial
ideas. Once I have a design the clients
are sent my digital rendering of it for
approval/changes. I let them know
that I am completely open to criticism
or even complete redesign if they feel
I am off target but usually the initial
design gets approved.
What are your must-have cake tools?
A brand new exacto (love a clean cut!),
clear acrylic fondant smoothers and
acetate. I’m a minimalist.