Mum-of-two Karen Geraghty has found a way to have her cake and eat it. For these Doc Marten boots are made for eating, not walking – as are the killer heels and even the ‘Jimmy Choos.’ A self-taught baker she can recreate virtually anything, using icing and her eagle eye for detail.
Karen, 55, started following her fondant fancies in 2010, when she was a full-time mum to her boys Josh, then nine, and Max, six, after a busy career working in clinical management. She says: “One day, a school mum who knew I loved baking and decorating cakes for my family, asked me to make her a bespoke Christmas cake. I was thrilled to oblige.
“I made a fruit cake topped with sugar paste penguins and icebergs. The mum absolutely loved it and it fired-up something creative inside me. I began experimenting and creating. I had absolutely no formal training and everything I knew was completely self-taught.
“I watched cake decoration tutorials for hours on end and began buying lots of different modelling tools. I honestly was like a kid in a sweet shop. Everything was trial and error. My husband, Robert, then 45, would come home from work and frown as I showed him another gadget.”
At first she just tried out her creations on her family. She says: “For my husband’s birthday I made a model of him sitting in a chair with his guitar. He absolutely loved it.
“My mother loved gardening, so for her birthday I made a model of her holding a trowel, digging the garden and with hanging baskets.”
Looking for a more creative career that would allow her to work around being a mum, she started her own business making cakes and cake toppers. And the orders came flooding in.
Karen, of Dublin, Ireland, says: “I began getting all sorts of requests. One customer wanted a cake topped with a sugar stiletto. I thought it was a real challenge, but I liked a challenge and to be taken out of my comfort zone.
“Needing a template, I got to work. I looked around my kitchen and wondered what I could use. I ended up using one of my own stilettos to create the template.”
Karen will never forget the delighted look on the birthday girl’s face when she saw her stiletto cake. She adds: “Seeing her so astonished and happy with her stiletto gave me a real buzz and I wanted more.”
Soon requests for shoe cakes and cake toppers were flooding in and Karen began experimenting and making all sorts of posh stilettos with sparkles, pearls and glitter. She adds: “It wasn’t long before I began working on my own designs, like an owl, a unicorn and even a tropical pair of shoes.”
With the shoe toppers – each taking four hours to make – they have to be made in stages. And each part has to dry completely before moving on to the next bit.
Karen, who prices each creation individually, continues: “In 2019, I entered a cake competition with the theme of footwear. I made a cake in the style of a pair of Dr Marten’s black boots with dog eyes and teeth.
“I got the idea for them as I was singing alone in the car to the song Who Let the Dogs Out? With shoes in mind and being a lover of puns, I was changing the words to ‘Shoe let the dogs out?’
“I had to show techniques of carving cake, painting with edible dusts and paints. “Every piece of the shoe was edible. I was beyond thrilled when I won the competition.”
Since then, Karen has made hundreds of cakes, from replica edible handbags to a superhero version of ET. She says: “People often ask me where I get my crazy and wacky ideas from. I guess I get inspiration from everything around me.”
Now concentrating on making edible cake toppers, business is booming. She says: “I’m very grateful for each day. Life really couldn’t be sweeter.”
*For more information about Karen’s creations go to www.facebook.com/bakecakecreate