Cake Shoe Diaries Welcomes Rick Reichart

The Sugar Cove is thrilled to welcome Rick Reichart from cakelava. Hailing all the way from Oahu, Hawaii, Rick's passion for sugar evolved from the savoury side to the sweet side. And thank god for that! Rick seamlessly combines fine art and cake, to create stunning works of sugar art. So, sugar friends...get your cakes shoes ready, as Rick shares with us what inspired his passion for all things sugar.

What ignited my passion for sugar? I actually fell into it. I started off on the savoury side at culinary school but it wasn't working for me. At the time, I was a strict vegan and it was hard working and having to taste meat so I moved to pastry and baking...I fell in love. I knew right a way that I had a knack and realized I was good with my hands. Around the same time, I discovered my hidden artistic potential and started to pursue fine art. Later down the road, I would combine them and start off my cake career.

Integrity and freshness are what have guided my passion for sugar. But also...

• always give more than expected
• never take the easy way out
• the less tools the better, do as much freehand as possible
• and ALWAYS try to do it better

As for what keeps me motivated? Artistic diversity. I get to apply so many different skills and mediums when decorating. There are endless possilibities, and every week is different.


For those who are just beginning, the best advice I can give is this: Wait to open your own shop until you really know the business inside and out. Skip culinary school, take art classes and apprentice with several people you admire. Work at least five years as an employee. Prefereably, spread it out with different places. This way, you will learn many varieties of techniques and design options. Learn everything about what they do. Don't open until you feel that you can say yes to everything people throw at you.

These days people want the impossible and starting up without this knowledge is likely to trap you into a box you cannot get out of. Being a good cake designer is more than just decorating a nice cake. Without the experience of working with others, it's hard to know even for example, what to charge and how to come up with an amount. There are just too many people who pursue their dream blindly without planning and never realize their full potential. Learn how to take out the trash and clean up first and move up the ranks. That's what I did. I started in cakes at the bottom and pursued my dream one cake at a time.

Rick Reichart

http://www.cakelava.com/
cakelava@hawaii.rr.com
Oahu, Hawaii