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."
From fruit cake to stilettos
"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."
Karen, who lives in Dublin, says her family love her cakes. "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."
Business takes off
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 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, she used one of her own stilettos. 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."
Winning competition with Dr Martens
Soon requests for shoe cakes and cake toppers were flooding in and Karen began experimenting 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."
Life couldn't be sweeter
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."
