Tyler Redway
RECEIVING a gold certificate in the International Cake Show in Brisbane was the cherry on top for local cake decorator Mandy Suckling.
The International Cake Show is Australia’s premier cake decorating competitions and attracts entries from all around the world.
Ms Suckling wowed the crowd with an impressive horror-themed cake, inspired by the movie Gremlins.
Speaking with The Border Watch, Ms Suckling said the cake she created for the International Cake Show took her three and a half months to plan and construct.
She said her methods of cooking competition cakes changed from using actual cake to more long lasting materials such as rice krispies and Styrofoam as a base.
She also said modelling chocolate either replaced or was used alongside traditional fondant for most of her cakes as it was considered easier to work with.
“These cakes can last for years, I also like sculpting more and being able to keep the piece,” she said.
“I enjoy being able to do what I want to do while also being able to sit down and tinker.”
With nearly nine years of experience, Ms Suckling said she was inspired to dive into the world of cake decorating after making a birthday cake for a friend’s daughter.
After it was complete, Ms Suckling’s friend suggested she should post a photo of her work on social media.
Following the success of the avid cake maker’s progress over the years, eventually moving to working on competition level cake creations.
“Brisbane was my second competition while the first was three and a half years ago in Melbourne,” Ms Suckling said.
“It was beyond anything I could ever dream of, it was just absolutely amazing.”
Ms Suckling said she wanted to step back from her business of providing customised cakes to the community to focus on her competition work due to medical issues.
“I have rheumatoid arthritis in my fingers and I can’t do four or five cakes a weekend anymore,” she said.
“Basically you have to do a week’s worth of work in two or three days in the cake business.”
Ms Suckling has another upcoming competition in July where she will travel to Melbourne to submit another one of her cake wonders.
