Vesta sat down with Amy DeGiulio, the owner of Sugar Flower Cake Shop to chat about her exquisite sugar flowers, wedding cakes, supporting local agriculture, and much more!
VestaVamps: Your flowers are beautiful! How did you learn how to create them?
Amy DeGiulio: I am mostly a self-taught sugar artist, though did take a brief introductory class in how to make sugar flowers. It was an eight-hour class and I learned how to make three flowers. From there, I was hooked! I bought books on how to make sugar flowers, practiced countless hours and studied real flowers to see how I could construct them in sugar.
VV: How did you then start your own company?
AD: I began my business as a hobby, creating a website offering to ship my sugar flowers anywhere in the world (for local clients, I also create the cakes complete with all of the decorations). I was very fortunate that people around the country found it through Google searching and word-of-mouth referrals. In the early months of my business, I was even contacted by Martha Stewart Weddings magazine when they were looking for sugar flowers to adorn some cupcakes at a wedding they were putting together for their Summer 2009 issue. I’ve been fortunate to appear in their magazine twice and contributed to another cake coming up in this year’s Fall issue! It’s been very exciting.
VV: That's terrific! I know you use all locally-grown (or fair-trade if they can’t be grown locally) ingredients for your flowers and cakes and that your shop was originally in the Hudson Valley. How have you been able to continue this practice since moving to New York City?
AD: Although some couture cake designers have turned to using ready-made mixes, Sugar Flower Cake Shop creates each cake from scratch, relying on products from the farmers who used to be my Hudson Valley neighbors. Among my favorites are heavy cream and milk from Milk Thistle Dairy, an organic dairy farm in Ghent, NY that employs the biodynamic practices developed by Rudolph Steiner. The heavy cream in particular gives my chocolate ganache an incredible thickness and rich flavor. Another supplier I adore is Berried Treasures, run by Franca Tantillo from Cooks Falls, NY. This amazing farmer produces scrumptious strawberries into autumn, well past the typical New York growing season, and is lovingly referred to as a “berry witch” around her Greenmarket stalls. Certain ingredients such as flour, chocolate and sugar are difficult to obtain locally, but I purchase these ingredients from companies using fair-trade and organic principles.
VV: What are some of your most popular items? Which of the flowers are you asked for most often?
AD: My most popular flavor of cake is a white cake because clients wish to please the majority of their guests. The hands-down favorite buttercream is my local NYC rooftop honey buttercream. I create an Italian buttercream and sweeten it with honey from bees that are kept here in Manhattan. This honey has an intense flavor (typical of all New York creatures!) that lingers in the mouth. I think that my clients appreciate our attention to incorporating truly local ingredients.
The flowers clients are interested depend on the season. I create a ton of calla lilies, peonies, roses and orchids throughout the year. I just adore creating small bouquets for clients to use on their own homemade cakes to enhance a birthday, anniversary or even wedding cake! The best part is that the sugar flowers last forever, so they can be saved after the event as a lasting keepsake.
VV: Yum! That sounds delicious. Finally, What advice can you offer people who are interested in pursuing a passion in the culinary arts?
AD: Practice, practice, practice! I have made tremendous progress with my business over the past few years and have to continually push myself to look at new opportunities (e.g., I now sell my sugar flowers separately from my cakes through other retail stores like Dean & Deluca and EMc2). I have only been able to achieve this success by practicing my craft, the way in which I run my business, how I market myself, etc.
A big thank you to Amy DeGiulio and the Sugar Flower Cake Shop! Please think of them for all your cake topping needs and if you're here in NYC, for your next catered cake!
(917) 639-3901
