Building On A Technique

Our contributor, Allison Kelleher of AK Cake Design, is back with a gorgeous new design and some insight on her creative process.

Today I’m going to talk a little about one of my favorite topics – the process of creating.

Over the past few months, I’ve been obsessed with stripes.  It started with my purple cake and a straightforward method for making horizontal stripes.  With my black and white cake, the stripes morphed into something more organic and my embedding technique was born.  I continued with my pink Valentine’s cake – experimenting with color and a more complex pattern.  And I’ve most recently created this gradient-colors version, combining black and white with subtle color play.

I never planned on making these particular cakes or doing so in this particular order – they just evolved through working.  For each cake, I used a base method or technique and then gradually built on it.  You can find the basics of my method in this tutorial.  I tried something a little different with every new design: tweaking the technique, experimenting with color and pattern, trying different possibilities.  For me, this is a very natural way of working – finding something you’re drawn to and working through it until you’re ready to move on.  And I feel like I still have a few striped cakes left to make. . . .

What about you?  What process of creating works best for you?  Let me know – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

VENDORS & CREDITS:
Cake:  AK Cake Design
Photography:  Lara Ferroni
Learn From This Baker : Allison Kellher’s Online Cake Class at Craftsy

YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
My Embedded Stripes Tutorial
My Watercolor Cake Tutorial
My Purple Striped Cake