Tell us about yourself and your business?
Hi. My name is Alexander Coppleman and I have Down Syndrome. I have been making cakes for my family and friends for about 7 years. I started at a disability baking school where we learned to bake cupcakes and decorate them. I had so much fun I decided to start a cake business, ‘Mr Alexander's Sweet Eats’. To get more skills, I went to classes at Cake Decorating Solutions to learn how to decorate a drip cake and how to cover a cake with fondant.
This is where I met my cake teacher, Karen Hardie. She helps me with my cake business every week and teaches me how to do things when I am not sure. Together we have been to many classes with fabulous international teachers including Emma Jayne, Dawn Butler, Zoe Hopkinson, Carla Puig, Sachiko Windbiel, Marc Suarez and many others. They have taught me many skills which I use in my cake business today.
I use these skills when I create cakes to enter cake competitions. I have competed in both Newcastle and Gosford shows, where I have placed 2nd and 2x 1st, with my latest entry achieving Best Overall Exhibit - Novice. This also led me to be a finalist for cake industry awards. I was excited to win ACADA 2023 Rising Star of the year, and the most recent being ACDN's newly established award of 2023 ACDN Choice Award.
I am so proud of these awards as I was chosen from all eligible cake decorators in Australia, not just people with a disability. I was also lucky enough to be chosen, for a couple of years, as 1 of only 2 cake decorators in Australia to be a Katy Sue design team member. I got to create cakes using the new release moulds, which were photographed and displayed on the website as examples of how to use them.
Mr Alexander's Sweet Eats specialises in fun cakes for kids, wedding cakes, baby shower cakes, cupcakes, sculpted cakes, and all kinds of celebration cakes. We also create sugar cookies, sticky date puddings, caramel slice and gingerbread. Customers find “Mr Alexander's” through word of mouth and on social media, like Facebook and Instagram. We are usually booked out for 3-6 months ahead.
Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
If people don't send through a design, we usually ask family, or customers, for a theme and then to send us photos of the type of cake they like. Sometimes we google the theme which comes up with all sorts of different things like pottery, figurines, garden ornaments etc. We then use all this information as inspiration to create our own designs. We mostly get to create cakes that are colourful and fun.
Any advice for anyone thinking of starting a baking business?
Most people start creating cakes for family celebrations and realise they are good at it. So, when you start a cake business it is those family and friends who continue to support you. We More information: www.facebook.com/mralexanderssweeteats www.instagram.com/mralexanderssweeteats
More information: www.instagram.com/mralexanderssweeteats www.facebook.com/mralexanderssweeteats
