A love for the subject “housecraft” in high school has – and continues to – lead Tania Riley on an extraordinary journey.
Tania, who lives in Farrarmere, is a cake artist and the mastermind behind the City Times’ special centenary cake.
The newspaper turns 100 on September 10 and while Covid-19 has put a damper on plans to have celebrated this extraordinary milestone with a huge bash, we will at least have an exquisite, one-of-a-kind cake to cut, thanks to Tania’s extraordinary talents.
She is the owner of Cake Arts, a business she runs from home. Not only does she make speciality cakes but also teaches her craft to students.
Tania says the three primary skills of cake art are piping, sugar floristry and modelling.
International standards, she added, are incredibly high in cake artistry and professionals use little to no moulds when creating cakes.
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“My students are anywhere from 16 years old to residents of old age homes – mostly women, but there are a few men who attend my classes too,” she said. “I mostly teach the three primary skills and trends in my classes.
While detail about the highly-anticipated City Times 100th birthday cake is being kept a closely guarded secret, Tania said she will be incorporating piping, sugar floristry and modelling, complemented by “flavours” of Benoni.
But where did it all begin for this cake master?
Tania was a stay-at-home mom until the age of 37 then decided to join the motor industry. It wasn’t long before she worked her way up to sales manager of one of the biggest Toyota dealerships in the country.
“I loved baking from high school when I had it as part of my higher grade housecraft subject; it has always been part of my and my family’s lives. I started attending night school in 2006, when I lived in Cape Town, to learn the finer skills of baking and started my own business specialising in wedding cakes in 2009.”
While the motor industry was far removed from her home kitchen and rolling pins, Tania said this is where she learnt invaluable lessons which still hold her in good stead in her business today.
She excelled in every position she held all the while honing her selling, leadership and people skills – and taking several top national awards for sales and customer care.
To supplement her learning, Tania studied through the Toyota Academy and Unisa to emerge with a B-com in financial management and a business management qualification.
“In 2012, I decided it was time to do something just for me,” Tania said. “We relocated to Gauteng – first Bedfordview and then to Benoni and started my business, Cake Arts.
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“It was scary but I have never looked back.”
She joined the Benoni branch of the SA Cake Decorators Guild in 2018, which later became an autonomous organisation under the name the Cake Decorators Network, of which Tania was also chairperson.
“Our current chairperson voted in for the 2020/21 term, Willy Reid, sadly passed away on July 2, so a new chairperson will have to be inducted.
“We currently have 48 members and welcome anyone else interested in joining.”
Looking back on the night classes she started attending in 2009, Tania says her learning has never stopped. She regularly attends drawing classes and classes on figurine modelling, both presented by professional artists.
“Cake artistry is never a destination, it’s a journey. There is so much to learn.”
Tania is passionate about the re-skilling of people so that they can sustain themselves.
“Cake artistry is the value-add to baking. It is the difference between being able to actually make money from baking. There is currently no NQF qualification for cake artistry. If this is the line you want to take, you have to go an apprentice yourself to a professional,” she said.
On baking for a living, Tania believes you cannot “learn” to bake – it is a science.
“I took it as a higher grade matric subject as part of housecrafts and I’ve been baking ever since and I still have flops! The trick is to be able to identify the problem; what caused the cake to flop.
“My advice to people wanting to earn a living from baking is to ask themselves how do I make money from this? Will I make it better than the local supermarket’s product?
“Premixes are of very good quality today and many home bakers don’t use them, the majority are baking from scratch, which can increase your costs a lot. To really make a living from baking you have to be business savvy too.”
Despite her clear admiration for the quality of cake artistry in countries like Russia, India, the UK and China, Tania says she is staying put in SA.
“Why go to a country where the horse is already running and I won’t be the winner? Here, I’m going to lead the pack – and help others gain the necessary skills to do the same.
“There is massive opportunity in cake artistry in Africa. I want to keep my options open but I don’t want to leave South Africa.”
Her advice to aspiring cake artists is to keep evolving and upskilling.
“This puts the power in your hands. Also, start small and build yourself up. There is no need to take out a loan and put yourself in debt.”
Cake Arts offers cake decorating classes for beginners and intermediate students, general cake decorating and sugarcraft skills, sugar floristry, ad hoc short courses and day classes, custom-made wedding cakes, cake toppers, sugar flowers and sugar figurines.
With all of this going for her, we cannot wait for the unveiling of the centenary cake in early September.
