Tracey Adamson’s passion for sugar art has seen her win national competitions for her craft.
When you ask Tracey Adamson what got her started in sugar art, she’ll say the Transformers made her do it.
“My son ran up to me and asked for a Transformer cake for his fifth birthday.”
This tiny request almost 20 years ago sent Software Engineer Tracey tumbling into the world of sugar art.
“I enquired around to see if anyone was doing edible icing prints and when I couldn’t find anyone, I decided to do it myself.”
Some internet research and about $500 worth of supplies later, her son had his Bumblebee Transformer cake. The cake was a big success and when people loved the idea of edible icing, a new venture was born, Tracey says.
“I’d already spent the money on the set up and so thought why not.”
But she wasn’t quite happy with the icing sheets she had, so went back to the drawing board to experiment.
“I told myself if I was going to do this for others, I was going to do it right. My search led me to vendors across the world before I found a reliable one in America.”
All of the experimenting with icing and printing got Tracey interested in cake decorating and she signed up for classes at Logan Park High School.
“I was having a glorious time learning how to decorate a cake, how to use icing and other materials, and about things like food safety.
“It was also a wonderful way to meet people with similar interests and build connections.”
The instructor at the time was a founding member of the Highland Sugar Art Club, one of the three cake decorating clubs in Dunedin, Tracey says.
“I got shoulder tapped to join the club. At the time I didn’t even know that clubs like these existed in Dunedin. But I went along, and it was real good fun.”
Clockwise from top left. A peony made with flexible gum paste; the first time Tracey used her gum paste recipe in a competition. A gloriosa lily competition entry, the petals created with techniques used with polymer clay. A water lily, Tracey’s first NZCDG competition entry in the flower category. A corsage spray made during a demonstrator workshop with Highland Sugar Art.
Today Tracey is the President of Highland Sugar Art Club and has come a long way in her sugar art journey, she says.
“A lot of people get into cake decorating to make things for their family, but me, I like participating in competitions too.”
Tracey’s first foray into competitions was with Highland Sugar Art in 2013, creating edible fabric made of gelatine for a World of Wearable Art entry, which placed second.
Her second competition with the club was in 2014, at the New Zealand Cake Decorators Guild (NZCDG) national conference.
“We entered the plaque competition which had the theme under the sea. We placed third in that competition.”
Tracey has also entered the “anything goes” cake category in the NZCDG competition multiple times, one that she has had the best success in, she says.
This category allows a design of competitor’s choice, as long as decorations are handcrafted and edible, and designs, if using dummy cake layers, can be achieved with real cake.
“For the 2017 competition, the theme was the great outdoors, and I created a kiwi bird fishing for whitebait.”
Tracey was awarded first place for her entry, which took her about 1,000 hours to create, she says.
“The feathers and eyes were made of gelatine, and the top of the kiwi’s shoes and beak were crafted from modelling chocolate.”
Anything goes cakes are very time intensive and after her mammoth 1,000-hour effort, she was “banned by the family” from entering again.
“I turned my attention to creating flowers from gum paste after that.
“Flowers are much harder, with individually crafting and painting petals and leaves. I haven’t placed in a competition in this category yet.”
At an NZCDG conference in Nelson, Tracey came across flexible gum paste. Traditional gum paste sets hard compared to flexible gum paste, which still has a bit of give even after it sets, she says.
“Flowers made from flexible gum paste look more realistic. It sounded like a great idea, and I reckoned I could have a go and create a better version of the paste.”
Alongside creating her own secret gum paste recipe, Tracey has also put her software engineering background to use in sugar craft, she says.
“I’ve used 3D modelling software to create and print moulds and cutters for crafting flowers.”
Her passion for sugar art will carry her into retirement when it comes around in the future, she says.
For now, she has her eyes set on the cake decorating competition at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
“I want to go to the Sydney Royal Easter Show and do something there. I haven’t decided what yet, but I’d love to visit the show and explore the possibilities.”
If you’re keen on exploring the world of cake decorating and sugar art, check out the Highland Sugar Art Club.
~ Kōrero by Sandra French, Adviser, Internal Communications