Garden’s of the World Collaboration

Garden’s of the World (a collaboration that celebrates beautiful and unique gardens) features 31 cake artists from around the globe and their interpretation of gorgeous English, French, Italian, Spanish, & Japanese gardens. The collaboration provided sugar artists the opportunity to create gorgeous & exotic flowers, eye popping 3d figures, and more. The collaboration challenged sugar & cake artists to step beyond their comfort zone and explore sugar in new ways.

“The purpose of this collaboration was to provide myself and others with the opportunity to stretch ourselves creatively, to explore an original theme, and to continue friendships I had made via other collaborations,” Rebekah Wilbur explained. “It is a chance to push yourself beyond your comfort zone to create a piece that defines you as an artist and that really is what collaborations are about, to push yourself to your creative breakpoint, to cry, to smile, to doubt yourself and then believe in yourself and to have the support of others who see in you something you cannot see for yourself.“

The inspiration for the collaboration stemmed from a request for a garden themed cake. While researching garden cakes, Rebekah Wilbur (organizer of Garden’s of the World, and owner of Rebekah Naomi Cake Design) noticed there was a real lack of diversity in cakes showcasing gardens – there were many images available featuring flower cans and bouquets, but few gardens. “It suddenly struck me how wonderful it would be to explore the beauty, the sculpture, the color, the flora and fauna – the unique diversity of garden’s throughout the world,” expressed Wilbur. Her inspiration for the collaboration also derived from growing up in the UK where she lived on a small farm. Her parents gardened regularly and she fondly recalled them having “green thumbs”.

“I grew up around garden’s and I have a great passion for them,” continued Wilbur. “I also grew up watching the Chelsea Flower Show every year… It was the first time I had seen examples of Japanese gardens, it was awe inspiring – I wanted to bring a piece of that – the magic and wonder of garden’s and how special they can be to the cake community. It was ultimately the Chelsea Flower show that was the catalyst for the collaboration.”

Learn more about this collaboration by visiting www.facebook.com/gardensoftheworldcakes.

The main organizers of the Garden’s of the World collaboration: Rebekah Wilbur (Rebekah Naomi Cake Design), Cassandra Rice (Elaborate Cakes), and Mayra Estrada (Cake Creations by ME)

Rebekah Wilbur:
Rebekah Wilbur is a UK expatriate living and working in the USA. She grew up in Staffordshire, England and emigrated to the US 7 years ago where she started baking as a hobby while applying for residency. After the birth of her daughter, she began to make small celebration cakes and soon realized she truly had a passion for cake decorating. She decided to open her first cake business “Cakelicious” 2 years ago and later rebranded. She now owns Rebekah Naomi Cake Design.
Visit her website for more information: www.rebekahnaomicakedesign.com.

Cassandra Rice (Elaborate Cakes)
Cassandra Rice owns Elaborate Cakes. She is self-taught and began making cakes for her daughter’s birthday 3 years ago. She opened a small hometown bakery 2 years ago.
Visit her website for more information: www.facebook.com/elaboratecakestilton

Mayra Estrada (Cake Creations by ME)
Mayra Estrada, owner of Cake Creations by ME. Estrada has always had a passion for artistic things. In 2011, she decided to take the Wilton courses as a hobby and found her passion was working with fondant. For more information, www.facebook.com/CakeCreationsByME.