Karen Downey

Then & Now

​Here's a little bit about me...

I began cake decorating like most people do, by wanting to make birthday cakes for my kiddos.  As I became a little better at it, I became interested in trying to perfect and challenge myself with each cake that I made.  

I eventually enrolled myself in Wilton cake decorating classes.  My Wilton instructor introduced me to Earlene Moore, a well known decorator in the cake world. After meeting Earlene and seeing what can be done with sugar, I was hooked.  Once I had finished the classes, I continued my sugar world education with Earlene's DVD series. 

At this point, I was becoming proficient enough that my Wilton instructor asked me to take over her classes.  I taught Wilton cake decorating for a year, but I became very busy decorating cakes and thus needed to devote all of my time to it.

This leads me to where I am now.  I am constantly striving to increase my knowledge and expertise in the sugar arts.  I am a member of the ICES organization (International Cake Exploration Societe) where I have the opportunity to learn new techniques.  I have also developed a love for sugar arts competition.  Each year, I challenge myself to do better than the year before.  Check out the show work page for competition work that I have done.