As a cookbook reviewer, I make it a point to steer readers towards functional, well thought out recipes. Most cookbooks are designed for quick meals.
But occasionally a cookbook filled with whimsical sugar art drops on my desk. Most of these show-and-tell books take you on a journey filled with surreal, artistic cakes so over-the-top you immediately sense the average cook would find it impossible to bake at home.
Then there is Corinna Maguire’s The Celtic Cakers, a step-by-step picture guide to decorating cakes with contributions from some of Ireland’s top cake decorators.
To the uninitiated, swirls of sweet buttercream or precisely cut fondant that adorn fancy cakes suggest the top of the baking pyramid. But the simple truth is any reasonably adept home cook can add those skills to her kitchen repertoire.
The Celtic Cakers shows you how. The 185-page book features 11 beginner to advanced tutorials packed with photos, easy-to-read instructions and insider tips.
As a teaching tool, the book’s main focus is the step-by-step directions headed by a complete list of equipment, supplies and apparatus needed for each project. Several tutorials even include a traceable template.
“The book is designed for different skill levels,” says Maguire, in a telephone interview with the Gazette from her home in County Galway.
Her goal was to be as varied as possible featuring a variety of techniques and styles. She wanted to illustrate everything from piping to modelling, carved cakes to sugar flowers and even a bit of painting.
“Most books have one style, one technique. By showing different styles, it’s like a cake bible. You go to it for assistance.”
The tutorials showcase realistic figures, cute animals, pop art cookies and wedding cakes designed with stunning perfection.
While cake decorating may appear intimidating, the step-by-step guide makes the process easier to tackle.
Journey towards cake decorating
Maguire came by her knack for creating sculptural cakes naturally.“My mother used to make all kinds of unusual cakes and lady bugs for our birthdays. I will always remember the reactions to school bake sales,” Maguire said.
Her parents Aidan and Maura McGarrigle packed up their brood during the Irish recession of 1981 and moved to St. Albert. At the time, McGarrigle-Maguire was only four years old.
After graduating from St. Albert High, she enrolled in the Grant MacEwan College arts program and hated it.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do.”
Needing fresh experiences, she joined her sister Juanita in Quito, Ecuador. Juanita was an international teacher in an American school and McGarrigle-Maguire landed a job as teacher’s assistant.
While in Ecuador, she entered a Kodak online contest with an abstract photo of Panama hats. She won.
Not only did McGarrigle-Maguire enjoy discovering the world through a lens, but the win gave her confidence to return to Edmonton and enroll in MacEwan’s digital arts media program. While attending classes, she also honed her skills as a graphic designer at Artistic Creations.
After college McGarrigle-Maguire hopped on a plane to visit Ireland.
“It was an adventure, and as the youngest when my family moved to Canada, I had the littlest memory. But I flat out fell in love with Ireland.”
McGarrigle-Maguire’s dual citizenship permitted her to work in Ireland and soon she was hired to develop photos.
On a tour of Galway, she met her husband, Barry Maguire, through mutual friends.
After her children were born (Mia, now 9; and Cormac, 6), Maguire borrowed her mother's kitchen talents. She picked up the spatula and carved intricate cakes in celebration of their birthdays. Her latest birthday creation is Dash Parr from The Incredibles for her son’s June birthday.
Seeing Maguire’s cake decorating prowess, neighbours also requested cakes for their children. But it was difficult to make money.
“At the start, it was simple, quick cakes. As time went on, I would do more intricate cakes. To speed things up, I hired a baker to bake the cakes, but it also added to costs.”
But Maguire thrives on carving and modelling sculptural cakes. A bust of Chief Crowfoot was accomplished in three weeks. The beadwork alone took three hours to craft.
The effort was worth it. She won gold and Best in Class at the 2017 Irish Sugarcraft Show. In a second category she entered a fox sitting on its haunches and received another Gold and Best in Class.
Just this year in Essen, Germany, Maguire modelled an elaborate fortune teller holding a crystal ball. This too won a Gold Cake n’ Bake prize.
The Celtic Cakers
The Celtic Cakers as a decorating group came together about two years ago when Maguire was part of a massive collaboration titled Away With the Fairies. It was a venture designed to create a life-size fairyland.The cake makers and pastry cooks involved called themselves “Celtic Cakers,” and were charged with building trees, making leaves and creating a backdrop. They also fashioned swans, rabbits, badgers and a stag positioned among the fairies.
As Maguire mulled over printing a tutorial styled cake decorating book in Nov. 2017, she contacted the Celtic Cakers and asked for their contributions. By Jan. 2018 she’d received confirmations and three months later recipes and photos were completed.
In North America, The Celtic Cakers is not yet available at book stores, however it can be purchased at www.amazon.com.
In addition to competing, Maguire is invited to travel abroad sharing her expertise. But now that the children are in elementary school, there is a bigger emotional tug when travelling further afield to places such as Florida or Germany.
However, Maguire is slated to teach classes sharing her techniques and in-house tips in Feb. 2019 at Edmonton’s Whimsical Cake Studio. The exact dates will be posted in the future at Maguire’s website www.lovinfromtheoven.ie.
