Wedding masterpiece: Alison Lythgow, owner of Cake Alicious in Bell Block, returned from Fashion Week after being named as runner-up for the North Island in the cake decorating section.
Photo: Sharyn Smart
Being handpicked to take part in New Zealand Fashion Week was a proud moment for New Plymouth business owner Alison Lythgow.
“I was so excited, what an amazing experience,” she said.
Mrs Lythgow owns a cake decorating business aptly named Cake Alicious, which she operates from her Bell Block home.
Her reputation for perfection and high quality work has resulted in Mrs Lythgow being picked along with eight other cake decorators from the North Island.
“It’s a great honour to be named one of North Island’s best cake decorator’s,” she said.
The cake decorators were paired up with top New Zealand designers to design a cake in conjunction with the designer’s dress as part of fashion week.
Mrs Lythgow was matched up with Auckland designer Sera Lilly.
“I never actually got to meet her before I started on the cake and limited contact added pressure to the expectation,” she said.
Just days before the cake needed to be in Auckland, Mrs Lythgow badly slice the top of her thumb as she was preparing dinner.
“I just thought, oh no I can’t ice because of the pressure on the cut,” she said.
She carefully bandaged her hand and got on with creating the 1,590 individual cut out and hand scalloped petals.
Over three days Mrs Lythgow spent 36 hours decorating seven polystyrene round cakes. Each layer also ranged in colour from pale lilac at the base through to grey, then cream, then white, finishing with an ivory coloured flower adorning the top layer.
Her husband Gus and a kind neighbour made a travel box for the finished cake for its flight to Auckland.
Members of the public were asked to cast their vote and within hours of the voting closing Mrs Lythgow received a phone call saying that her cake won runner-up.
The cake was then displayed at the Auckland Wedding Expo. It has recently been returned to New Plymouth.
Mrs Lythgow can be contacted at Cake Alicious on 755 2434.
This article was published in the North Taranaki Midweek on Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Smart Writing 