Hanna-Riikka Heikkilä's Cakes

I’ve always been a little bit in awe of home bakers who are always decorating their cakes in such original  and interesting ways. They’re not professional pastry chefs. They’re cakes are not necessarily perfect. They simply enjoy using food as a creative outlet and bringing joy to the people around them Hanna-Riikka Heikkilä is one of those people. A visual artist and art teacher by trade, she makes the most gloriously unique cakes for her friends and family in Finland. Each and every one of her creations is so vibrant and funky, like little pieces of art. It really seems to me that, as an artist, Hanna-Riikka has found an ideal base material in cake!

I asked Hanna-Riikka to share a little bit about her cake making process with dessert girl readers. Here is what she said:

When did you start baking?

I feel like I have always been baking. I was able to bake at home when I was little girl. That's when the first attempts to decorate cakes took place. I remember, when I was a young girl, my mother let me to bake my own cake. I decided to make it green and she let me to do it! It was very important to me. A few years ago, when my children were born, I started baking again. Luckily, in the cake shops, there are many kinds of decorative accessories that you can buy.

What inspires you?

I am a visual artist and art teacher so the biggest inspiration is art. Usually one sees very figurative cakes, but I am more interested in abstract cakes. Colors, different textures and combinations inspire me. Quite often I become inspired in a shop where you buy cake accessories---the colors they have and so on. Usually I use sugar paste on top. It is the most important thing in my cakes. But of course I want the cake to be delicious, too.

I want somehow to break the conventions of the cake world. I hope every cake I bake and decorate is a piece of art.

Hanna’s cakes really are incredible. I think my mouth was hanging open a little bit when I first saw them. I wasn’t even entirely sure that they were cakes! For more info on Hanna-Riikka, you can visit her blog, right here. (Thanks, Hanna-Riikka!)

You can find more cake pics after the jump.