Cake! magazine by Australian Cake Decorating Network May 2015 | Page 128

ACDN Member Spotlight
Cakes by Serene started in 2014 in Brisbane so we are a really young business. My name
is Serene and I am the lady behind Cakes by Serene!
I was born and grew up in Singapore, migrated to Australia in year 2000, when I did my
university studies. After graduation I have worked in various industries and spent a long
time trying to find "the perfect job" for myself. I have always envied people whose work is
their passion, I have a few hobbies but I never thought any of them could make me a career.
My love for baking only started after I moved into an apartment in Brisbane with a nice
oven. I had never baked a day in my life in Singapore as most of us don't have an oven at
home. Cakes was always store bought. I am also a diabetic so baking for myself seems
logical and healthy! I started with cupcakes as they were less intimidating. I baked my first
proper cake for my boyfriend (now my husband), and it was a blackforest cake. It was a
success, and I found myself quite natural in decorating cakes.
My husband runs a café, and I started to bake for his business, with mainly cheesecakes
and some cupcakes. My first attempt in making a tiered cake fully covered in fondant icing
and decorated with sugar flowers, was my own wedding cake (call me crazy!) but I wanted that challenge. It was a 3 tier red velvet cake that served 100 guests. It was no where
near perfect or professional but given the fact I learnt everything from youtube and internet sites, I was pretty proud of my first tiered cake!
My interest in decorating cakes using different mediums started from there. It grew to a
hobby, then to an obsession (of looking at cakes, and viewing online tutorials). I started to
make cakes for friends to gain more experience and confidence. My husband encouraged
me to register a proper business and operate from his café selling custom design cakes. I
took the plunge and I started to attend more professional cake courses to take my skills to
new levels.
I practice a lot on
dummy cakes when
I have no orders to
try new techniques.
I was lucky to have
business management experience in
past jobs so I managed to pin down
many aspects quite
quickly, but I did
take the time & effort to learn about
pricing custom designed cakes properly, learn certain
ethics and professional practices for
this industry, and
network with other
professional cake
decorators.