A SLICE OF LIFE
Baker Emma on her amazing creations and the wedding cake that tells the bride and groom’s story
BELIEVE it or not, this threestorey house is actually a brilliant wedding cake created by cake maker Emma Phillips. It shows the British Legion building in Abergavenny. Its significance? It was where the bride and groom who commissioned the cake, first met.
It’s not often you see a wedding cake with a model of the groom sittingi on top of a scaffolded building – b but then it’s not often you see wedding cakes that have such a personal story behind them.
Emma said: “The bride and groom met when the groom was on top of theh scaffolding of the British Legion a and she was walking past. He wolf -w -whistled her and the rest is history.”
Emma, originally from Risca but now living in Pontypool, is the woman behind cake-baking business Epic Cakes. While she makes a number of traditionalr wedding cakes, she especially loves making models and replicas of buildings.
As well as the British Legion cake, Emma has also worked her magic and made wedding cakes featuring the Tower of London, expectant b brides and acrobatic guests.
Emma told us: “I’ve been running Epic Cakes for about four years now, but before that I was baking and decorating novelty cakes out of a love for the craft for many years.”
After graduating from art college in Surrey with a degree in animation, Emma returned to Wales, where she worked for 20 years for a local authority before taking the plunge with her true passion, baking.
“I’m pretty much a one-woman show – baking, designing and decorating all the cakes for my customers on a bespoke basis from my kitchen at home in Ebbw Vale. There is nothing ‘off-the-shelf’ about a cake from me!
“My family are fantastic and help out in any way they can. My husband is my official photographer and I also have a great friend who helps me out at all the wedding fayres I attend across Wales.”
Emma is also busy planning her competition piece for Cake International in Birmingham, which takes place in November. She has already been awarded silver medals for her epic creations at a competition that showcases the artistry and skills of hundreds of entrants from around the world.
She also teaches cake decoration and sugarcraft with the Aneurin Leisure Trust at their Learning Action Centres in Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr.
“My dream would be to employ another designer to help me with the workload, and set up a bakery, shop and training venue where I could teach the future generation of cake designers, designers,” said Emma.