Suzanne Thorp, founder of The Frostery in Saddleworth, has been named Wedding Cake Artist of the Year 2026, beating four other nominees to take home the prestigious industry award.
She received the title at the Cake International Awards at the Hilton NEC in Birmingham on Saturday, November 7. The award recognises excellence in design, creativity and technical skill, with Suzanne chosen from five nominees by a panel of industry judges.
A Surprise Win
Despite being surrounded by some of the world's leading cake artists at the ceremony, Suzanne admitted she never expected to hear her name announced as the winner.
She said: "I just kind of was looking forward to the awards evening, didn't think for a second that I would win because everybody's so incredible. When they called my name out, I was sort of blown away. I think the thing that I'll take away from it, when I think about it, and hopefully I will never forget, was just the sound in the room when they said my name."
"Everybody in that room were cake artists that I've admired for years. They're at the very top of the industry, so it was really special."
From Bakery Beginnings to a 'Lightbulb Moment'
Suzanne's journey into cake making began long before she founded The Frostery, having grown up helping out in her parents' bakery in Ashton-under-Lyne. Despite being surrounded by the family business, she initially had other plans and went on to study physiology and pharmacology at university.
It was only after a holiday that she experienced what she described as a "light bulb moment", realising that creating and sculpting cakes was what she wanted to do. She returned home and told her mum she wanted to work in the bakery full-time – a decision which marked the beginning of a career spanning more than 30 years.
After moving to Saddleworth with her young children, Suzanne spotted a small shop available to rent and decided to pursue her ambition of creating bespoke wedding cakes.
She said: "I always had this dream that I wanted to create wedding cakes that would definitely be the most amazing cake they'd ever have in their life. I kind of think a wedding cake should be the pinnacle of the cakes that you're going to get because it's so special."
A Career of Achievement
Since then, Suzanne has made more than 20,000 cakes, appeared in four series of Channel 4's Extreme Cake Makers, become a judge at Cake International and an ambassador for cake decorating brand Renshaw.
She is particularly known for her intricate royal icing work, a traditional technique she continues to bring into contemporary wedding cake designs. Each creation can take weeks of preparation, particularly when intricate sugar flowers are involved, although Suzanne completes the baking, decorating and assembly in the three days leading up to an event to ensure her cakes are as fresh as possible.
Despite running the business largely herself with the help of a couple of part-time assistants, Suzanne said the support of her family has been invaluable. In her award announcement, she paid tribute to those closest to her, saying: "I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported me, particularly my family, who've put up with postponed holidays, many a late tea and 'just five more minutes' while I finish a cake!"
Looking Ahead
The win comes at an exciting time for The Frostery, with Suzanne preparing to bring her work together under one roof at a new studio above her lifestyle store in Delph. She is also developing an online education programme which will allow her to share the skills she has built up over three decades with aspiring cake artists around the world.
Suzanne said: "I've been doing this for over 30 years and I really love royal icing. It's having a bit of a Renaissance moment as well. I want to package all these little things that I've learnt over the years and create a course for people to learn my skills. I think that's the beautiful thing about craft, is people passing it on so that new people can come and have their take on it."
There are also further exciting projects on the horizon, including an upcoming television appearance which Suzanne is not yet able to reveal details about. For now, she is looking forward to continuing to create special wedding cakes for couples while developing the next chapter of The Frostery.
