Tell us the story of how you got into baking & decorating and how you got to where you are today?
I started out in the cake industry about 6 years ago. I had been in Australia for a while at this time, having come here from Colombia after I finished my studies in Industrial Design. When I started making cakes, I only knew that cakes are made from eggs, butter, sugar, milk and flour and how to make a simple buttercream icing. I was the head chef at a café, and the little knowledge I had about cakes had been acquired in my workplace.
At this time, I would occasionally make basic cakes for the display case at the café and one day I offered to make a cake for my boss's birthday that was being held in the café. I still remember exactly how it looked and for a beginner's cake, it looked pretty good. I put a lot of effect into the design, including using fruits and edible flowers and it got a few complements from people who attended the party.
I didn't think much about it at the time, so I was surprised when someone who attended the celebration asked me to make a cake for her daughter's birthday. And when the same person came back a few weeks later to ask for another cake, I realised that there could be a business for me in cake design. So, I started to do my research and test recipes to get the best product possible.
I started posting my creations on my Instagram and word of mouth spread. Week by week I started to get more and more clients. When I got a new client who wasn't in my network and who had just found me on Instagram, I realised that cake design could be a side hustle for me. IThat same day, I drove around Brisbane visiting
I When I started to post my cakes on Instagram, my followers increased very quickly and my orders started to get bigger every week. Seeing how important quality photos and videos are for helping your profile grow, I focused on learning these skills to make sure I was presenting my cakes as well as possible. I have a saying - when you are good at everything, you will never be the best in anything.
For this reason, I decided to focus solely on working with buttercream to be as good as I possibly could with this one medium. I challenged myself to create designs with buttercream that other cake makers were creating with fondant, chocolate and sugar paste and all the different mediums that exist in the industry. I had a lot of success recreating techniques with buttercream, but I quickly realised that the traditional recipes of buttercream didn't last very long and they weren't particularly stable in the weather in Australia.
So, I began to experiment with the recipe. After three months of working on this every day, I finally created my own version of buttercream that was more stable and could last longer In Australian weather – perfect for sculpturing new and unique designs with buttercream. For this reason, I call my recipe Australian Buttercream.
Do you remember the first ever cake that you made as part of your business?
Yes, of course. I will never forget the first cake I made for a stranger as a part of my business. And not just for the fact that they offered me good money for that cake! It was for 25 people and from the price I assumed that it should be two-tiered cake. The cake had chocolate buttercream icing and it was decorated with flowers and blueberries. They wanted the cake to celebrate two occasions.
It was her daughter's 30th birthday and she had just finished studying a massive degree. They didn't ask for any particular design. The only thing that they told me was to make it a bit girly. I was still at the very beginning of my career, so my design was simple and very traditional and commercial with fruits and flowers that I knew were going to impress the client. Now while the design was fairly standard, the thing that made it memorable was that I had never made a two- tiered cake before and I didn't know that they need wooden dowels and inside supports for stability.
I finished the cake the day before the delivery very proud of myself, and left it in the fridge overnight. When I checked on it the next day I was devastated to see that the cake had begun to collapse and sink a little bit on one of the sides. I was super worried about what the client would say, but luckily, they were very supportive and they put a metal spoon underneath the side where it was sinking to prop it up.
What made you fall in love with working with buttercream?
The first cake I made after my boss's birthday was made with fondant. It was a 10th birthday with a mermaid theme. I like to challenge myself and I decide to make this cake with fondant icing. Having no experience working with fondant, I found a recipe on youtube and decided to try it out, but it ended up being a a nightmare. I didn't realise that you can't use fondant with a warm cake, and that it needs to be cold before you decorate it. So, the fondant kept melting. And I decided to create all the mermaid figures myself as well, which took me ages.
I will never forget how long it took me. Ultimately, it took me 24 hours to finish that cake without sleeping and from that experience I swore to myself that I would never make a fondant cake ever again in my life. After this experience, I explored all the other mediums. I soon realised that for me buttercream is a more versatile medium and I could create with it in a much faster time.
When I made my first buttercream cake after this one, I made it in two hour's time and I felt it looked much, much better in terms of the overall design and technique than the one that I made with fondant. For example, I was able to quickly achieve straight edges and a very smooth texture on my cake, so I immediately fell in love with buttercream. So, once I fell in love with buttercream, I challenged myself to always try new things and to see what's possible with it. The rest is history.
What do you feel has been the biggest challenges so far with running your business?
One of the things that I found hard at the beginning was having English as a second language. There were times when it was challenging to make a deal or when I wanted to explain something to a client, especially when my cakes are not as traditional as the ones that you find in the market. It took me a while to figure out that my cakes could also speak for themselves thanks to Instagram. Just by having good photos of my cakes, I could grow my business quickly outside of the people in my social circles even though I didn't grow up in Brisbane.
Outside of cake decorating/baking, what are your hobbies?
One thing that has always been a passion for me is fashion. And one of my hobbies has been altering my clothes to make sure that they fit well. Recently, I've decided to test myself by trying to make my clothes completely from scratch, including making my own patterns, which has been a great challenge that has also has given me some new inspiration for cakes. I have always loved to take photos too and have really enjoyed learning more about photography as I started taking my own pictures of my cakes.
This hobby has become part of my job as a cake designer. I used to take good photos of the products I used, as my way to pay them back for how their products are essential for my work. Some of these brands started using them for their websites and this has grown into a new little side hustle, where some sponsors or suppliers send me for samples or pay me for my pics.
Do you have any advice to share with decorators/bakers that are just starting out?
I go back to the saying that I always tell my students. Focus on being the best in one thing. It doesn't need to be buttercream, it could even just be flowers or being the best at making chocolate molds. But just be the best in one thing. When you start to pick two or you start to work with too many different mediums - buttercream, fondant, chocolate, sugar paste – you can only learn so much.
You can create very good things, but you will never be the best in one of those ones. So, this is my biggest recommendation for someone who starting in this industry. The market Is very flooded or there are many people who are interested in cake making and cake design and want to get into the industry. So, the only way that you're really going to stand out from the crowd and be noticed when there's so much competition is if you focus on one thing and you do it well.
What's next for by.aletoso?
CAN WE GET THE INSIDE SCOOP FOR ANYTHING YOU HAVE PLANNED
For 2024?
Next year, I'll be doing some more travelling to teach my masterclasses around the world. I have been lucky enough that I have been invited to visit many different countries around the world to share the techniques that I have created with buttercream and my Australian Buttercream recipe. I'm keen to explore some new markets, and the new cities around the world. And of course, to meet new students. I'm particularly excited to go to some big international expos both in Australia and overseas and I look forward to announcing them soon when their
