Sweet, edible art

By Venessa Deosaran

Guyanese cake artist extraordinaire Corrie Bacchus is combining your ideas with her ability to magically transform sugars and spices into truly unique cakes, edible art sculptures and desserts.
Hand-sculpted cake art gives evidence of her passion for creating savoury slices of heaven.
Bacchus said since childhood she has been fascinated with baking. Her mother baked every Saturday, and Bacchus always helped in the kitchen, observing her mother’s techniques. Through her business, Corries Creative Cakes, Bacchus hopes to share her sweet creations with the world.
“My brothers were responsible for making and baking bread, and mom would make us the goodies stuff like cakes and pastries.
My mom started to give me rock buns to make, which really was rock hard. Then I graduated to making cakes and trying out recipes. I remember the first cake I iced for my 16th birthday cake. I followed my mother instructions and was pleased with the results.
I remember one of the cakes I iced for my son’s birthday. It wasn’t perfect but I tried. I asked my husband to draw a dragon on a piece of paper. I looked at it and drew the dragon with icing on the cake. I could not have done that with a pencil and paper but with icing on cake, and this intrigued me to learn more about cake decorating,” Bacchus revealed.

The cake artist attended cake decorating classes locally, and then in 2005 went to the U. S. to do more studies in the area. She also did a lot of research and bought many books to help in developing her talent and learning new techniques. Bacchus stated that she had bought a few cake decorating books but was still hungry for more knowledge; but what she sought she could not find here.
“I saw a lady on television who was hosting a cake show in Guyana. I was amazed by what I saw; what she was doing to cakes. She took Guyana to a whole new level.
Bacchus loves being unique, and works with her clients’ ideas to create delicious cakes. At this year’s Wedding Expo held at the Duke Lodge, Bacchus said her chandelier cake attracted many to her booth. It was, to date, one of her extraordinary pieces. She has done other extravagant cakes which, she noted, is just the “tip of the iceberg” of what she will create.
With dedication and determination hard work does pay off. Whatever you do follow your passion and don’t give up, keep playing with your icing, you may come up with a new design that the whole world would follow,” the cake decorator encourages. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)