Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Balderaz.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Elizabeth. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My passion didn’t start off with cakes; it actually started off with drawing and painting. I got in trouble a lot for it while I was in school because I was always drawing on my homework or on the back of textbooks. One day one of my friends that was in one of the step teams at school asked me to draw on a cake for them. so I did. I liked it. I like the fact that it was Art but Edible art and it made people happy so I kept at it. Ironically that next year they introduced culinary arts. which wasn’t really too much culinary it was more home ed. just Advanced as we were still figuring out how to make it culinaryish. The year after that they finish building the academy close to our school so I was transferred and did two more years of culinary. After graduating, I went to culinary school. Not necessarily for culinary in general but basically just for the two weeks of cake decorating that they offered. as there was no school in Houston that was just based off of cake decorating. The only schools that I knew of was one in New York and one of the UK which of course, the funds for that was not in the household. So I took what I could get and I used as much as I could. I really do appreciate the culinary teacher I had as he was very strict and very straight forward. and his expectations were high. same as for my first job that I landed. I didn’t get the job because I knew how to decorate, I got the job because I knew how to draw and she was looking for artistic abilities. I’ve also been very lucky that I’ve never had to work any other job or any other profession besides cake decorating. Throughout my years of working in different bakeries around Houston, I also did competition for myself. I tried to do three to four a year. Traveled locally in the beginning. Once I didn’t feel like it wasn’t a challenge anymore I Ventured out to different states. New competitors that i had not met. That came with different abilities and techniques that I had not seen before. I wanted and needed the challenge that I would not get in bakeries. Those competitions would teach me skills and lessons that I would never learn by myself.(have to keep in mind back then youtube, pinterest, instagram, ect were not big or known yet. So to learn it was either live or books) One thing it did teach me and it is a lesson that a lot of people do not learn unless they learn it the hard way, is that someone will always be better than you. Have more talent and years of experience. And there will always be someone below you as well. Someone will be looking up to you, wishing they were in your shoes. It’s taken many challenges, many successes, many losses, many tears, many cakes destroyed, redone and showcased. This profession has its dark spots as well. It not all sugar and sprinkles. Sometimes for those competitions, I would be secluded by myself working on one cake for days without going outside just because of the amount of detail that I had to do. Sleep-deprived because of deadlines. There are plenty of things that I have missed throughout my time of years cake decorating. Now that I am older, I have slowed down and now take more time in balancing both myself and my profession. What has helped me the most to get me where I am at today is the advice of others and criticism. Advice or criticism is never set in stone. It is a choice whether you choose to listen to it and use it or you can disregard it. Criticism is something a lot of people do not take very well but it is the same as advice and is not set in stone. It just a little harder to hear. Every competition, whether I won or lost, I always asked for the judges opinion. Every judge will have their opinion. It was the advice my culinary chef gave me when I was a student. And it has always stuck. And he was right. Every judge had something to say. Whether they were amazed, curious how something was made, to the small details that needed extra or less, I always listen to what they had to say. My hardest critic of all, and took the longest person to please, was my dad. Always without fail… He always had an opinion. Always could do something better. Fourteen years later and still something will catch his eye and will need adjustment. But I do surprise him more or less now and I get a “ooo…that nice”.
I never stop learning. The main thing for me. I always welcome the challenge
Has it been a smooth road?
I cannot say that any profession that any person has taken upon themselves, and has been successful at it, is ever a smooth Road. It is not the profession that the road is not smooth. Anybody can learn to be a cake decorator. All you need is time and patience. The only thing that made this profession hard was the people in it that wanted it hard for me. When you are good at something and you strive to be the best, sometimes that does not go over well with others. Jealousy is an ugly trait to have and can make you grow a thicker skin to block out the negativity. People will come into your life that will not want you to succeed .that will want you to stay below them. Will discourage you and make you doubt yourself that you can succeed. Even at some point, make you think that this is not the profession for you. You will never be able to please everyone which is a sad fact in life. But those little facts are just mild Road bumps that you have to get over. One thing my father did tell me about people is that the ones that did not want you to succeed will never hang around you for very long. You will succeed and leave them behind or they will damage themselves and weed themselves out. Patience is always key and to not mind on other people’s disabilities to succeed.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My business pertains to making/renting faux cakes which are fake dummy cakes for presentation.
These cakes are made to look exactly as a real cake would with all the essentials but are cost-effective to the lower or middle class.
All the faux cakes are three tiers or more. Very detailed. Most of the cake that are available if made real would be worth over 1k. So we try our best to make it worth the experience of renting one. But we also carry simpler ones. As we know not every customer is extravagant but still Wants to save a few dollars.
Throughout the years of working in the bakeries around Houston, I always noticed that Brides would come in and would want extravagant cakes. The downside, they could not afford them because of the price so they would opt for cheaper or less decorative cakes in order to stay within their budget. What I also learned throughout my years is that a lot of these big extravagant cakes that we see online or TV. are not real either. They are just for display so that these Brides can see the detail that could possibly be done on a cake but does not mean that you could afford it.
All of these we’re disappointment and also a bit of sadness to know that these Brides we’re having these cakes made on the biggest day of their life but it wasn’t what they were wanting. It’s what they were having to settle for. So I wanted to change that. I wanted every bride to be able to get what they wanted, exactly what they wanted but to not have to spend an arm and a leg. Everything was being made to be rented out anyway so why not the cake as well. Everything in a wedding you can rent out from the tables, the linen, the chairs, the cars, the tuxedos, the dress, even the Priest. There are some bakeries that would make fake cakes for brides if they requested it but they would sell it to them. Most all the brides would not know what to do with it afterward, so most of the time, they would just throw the cake away. They would through hundreds of dollars in the trash can. With me, I’m different. I can make the same exact fake cake but instead, rent it out to them. Then have that cake returned and use it for another bride. Every year there is always in Trend in one specific cake design. There can be one cake that we can make ten times in one month for. 10 different Brides and it all looks the same. It went from cascading flowers, cascading dots, Scrollwork, quilt pattern, now scrapped in/homestyle. With this cake, it can be used for one bride and be ready for another the next week.
Another note is that a lot of people have switched to vegan, sugar-free organic, healthier options that are more expensive to bakeries that do not specialize in those areas. So they can rent out a faux cakes from me and still get the dessert cake they want from any Bakery in Houston without spending the extra cost for those healthier options. We still offer the top tier real for cutting /photo purposes. With the purchase of a fauxcake, the anniversary cake is made free in a year. As our appreciation.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Houston is a very eclectic City. The different customs and different style. People are always looking for new things and new ways to save. They’re looking for that new experience and also something to keep coming back to. Bigger cities will always have competition but I feel as if Houston has always been a welcoming City. For new, old, or just something a little different.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 8322862482
- Email: fauxcakes@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @fauxcakes
- Facebook: @fauxcakeshtx
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