Chef Nicholas
Lodge
The International
Sugar Art Collection
Treasured in the cake community for being a friendly
cake artist, tutor and judge, Chef Nicholas Lodge is an
expert in the field of sugar art and sugar flowers. Nicholas
has received a series of accolades throughout his career,
having created cakes for high-end hotels, celebrities and
even royalty. He has been sharing his knowledge and
skills through classes, books and DVDs for over 35 years.
Achieving great success with The International Sugar Art
Collection (ISAC) and The International School of Sugar
and Confectionary Arts, both founded with his business
partner, Scott Ewing, in 1992, Nicholas is now also the
North American Brand Ambassador for Renshaw. We
spoke to Nicholas about his career so far and his plans for
the future...INTERVIEW
Tell us about your family
I grew up in Chelmsford, Essex in the UK. My father was an
engineer and my mother worked in administration for Marconi
Radio. I am the eldest of three children. My middle brother,
Michael, is an air conditioning engineer, and my youngest
brother, Neil, is in sales. I was so lucky to have parents who
encouraged me to follow my dreams, allowing me to follow my
passion into the world of pastry and sugar arts.
What is your background?
I started in baking and pastry and then moved into cake
decorating, then finally, into teaching – my true love and
passion. I decided as a small child that I wanted to become a
chef. I had no idea at that time that I could become a pastry
chef without being a chef first. Through guidance from
my parents and my home economics teacher, I decided to
specialise in baking and pastry arts, eventually moving into
sugar arts.
Do you remember your first paid cake order?
My first paid cake was when I was 16 years old. It was a two
tier royal iced fruit cake for a wedding. It was decorated with
pink sugar roses! Unfortunately, that was 38 years ago and I do
not have a high resolution photo of that cake!