Cake_Masters_-_September_2019

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Tell us about the collaboration

The Catrina, originally called ‘La

Calavera Garbancera’, is a popular

figure in Mexican culture and

has become a symbol of the Day

of the Dead, dia de los muertos,

celebrated on November 2nd! We

chose to present this project at Cake

International in Birmingham, this

date happening the exact same day

as the first day of the show. A huge

THANK YOU to Cake International

and Melanie Underwood for giving

us the chance to present our Catrina

at the biggest international cake

design show. Thank you Cake Masters

Magazine for featuring our work!

What was the inspiration for the

theme?

Originally, Marc and I had planned

to make a bust of the Santa Muerte

with him on the modelling part and

me on the flowers, just for fun, as we

both liked each other’s work. Then

we thought of making it something

bigger and pushing the limits of the

challenge even further.

Tell us about some of the pieces

made

It took us nearly four months to

complete the flower part and about ten

days for the modelling part. Catrina

at 1.8m is made of 15kg of modelling

chocolate with 6000 hydrangea petals

and 2200 centres, 2700 tulip petals,

450 centres and 2700 stamens and

110 roses with 2400 leaves. It is also

a structure entirely handmade for the

project and mounted on wheels to be

moved more easily.

How many members were in your

collaboration?

4 people were in the team. Marc

Suárez was of course in charge of

the modelling part. Céline Ceyzeriat,

Stéphane Lems and I worked on the

floral dress. A big thank you to our

shadow hero, my mum, Fazilah Augier,

who made most flower petals. I had the

immense honour of being supported

by my sponsor, Squires Kitchen, who

provided us with the flower paste and

powder and gel colours. Marc was

sponsored by Renshaw and Rainbow

Dust. Sugar Flower Studio and Sugar

Delites sponsored the team by lending

us the veiners and cutters needed to

make flowers and leaves.

How did you decide on this group of

people?

If Marc and I had the idea to explore

this theme, we still had to surround

ourselves with motivated and trustful

people who would bring to the project

their will, their strength and of course,

their talent. Choosing Céline, my best

friend in the cake design community,

and Stéphane, a mutual friend, were

an obvious and easy choice.

As Céline is specialised in decorated

cookies and Stéphane in tiered cakes,

I taught them both sugar flowers so

we’d all work on the components of

the dress. Marc did an amazing job

on the modelling part, Céline and I

worked on the flowers and Stéphane,

with the help of a craftsman from his

region, realised the internal structure

and then worked on the leaves.

in bloom

CATRINA

In 2018, Catrina in Bloom was born.

A team of four cake artists, led by

Graziella Augier, came together to create

something unique and eye-catching.

Over the weekend of Cake International,

they built Catrina in Bloom, including a

stunning flower skirt, face and body, as

well as accessories.

After the success of Catrina in Bloom, the

team returned to London in 2019 with an

even bigger and better idea. Wedding in

Bloom involved the team creating TWO

people, a bride and groom. Complete

with a flower skirt, suit, full face and

body, this time was even more stunning.

Life-sized Creations!