Meet 8 pastry pioneers who are setting new cake trends

The Austrian Sophia Stolz started her cake business Stolzes at just 21 years old, which landed her a coveted spot on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2021. She created cakes for Netflix, Chanel, Disney and H&M. Her creations range from monochromatic cakes in metallic silver or red to colorful sculptures that seem to defy gravity. 

The biggest source of inspiration for a fine art cake maker Jasmine Rae? That’s the natural process. She is fascinated by the way materials are influenced by time and usage. Her creations brim with minimalism. They feature soft, ethereal colors and interesting textures resembling parchment, glass or stone.  Rae’s cakes are like organic sculptures that allow her craftsmanship to take center stage.

“My work is organic, never the same, never straight”, says Andrea Sham in an interview. Her pastries are the epitome of organic beauty: never the same, never quite symmetrical, but always mesmerizing. Sham designs edible tablescapes. Her creations often include asymmetrical layers, jagged edges and wild florals. They eschew perfection in favor of a raw and authentic handmade aesthetic. 

Laila Gohar is an artist who uses food for visual storytelling. She often collaborates with fashion houses, luxury brands and design labels. That leads to creations such as massive cakes that look like Greek columns, statues and busts made out of chocolate,butter and cake or a cassata that is several feet long. “The thing I enjoy most about these over-the-top creations is that they disarm people – like instant ice-breakers – specifically in spaces that tend to be a bit stuffy”, she writes in one of her columns. “When you bring, say, a tower made of marshmallows into the equation, it is an instant leveler. Everyone is equally amused, confused, and delighted. Guards come down and people open up.”

Moscow-based Tortik Annuchka brings cake design to new heights with its visually arresting and conceptually bold creations. The cake studio run by Rustam Kungurov and Madina Yavorskaya does hyper-realistic cakes, but also draws inspiration from graphic design and modern architecture for cakes that look as though they were AI-generated. Their minimalist and dynamic creations play with texture, think of using layers of jello instead of frosting and carving a cake with multiple layers of colorful glazing.

Lybe Cakeout from Seoul, South Korea, is rebellious. Their cakes are punk in every sense of the word – edgy, irreverent and completely unexpected. Black-and-white color schemes dominate their designs, along with sloppily handwritten texts that seem to slip off the cake’s surface. Some cakes even resemble an ice cream cone falling to the floor. With over 23,000 Instagram followers, Lybe Cakeout has built a cult following by defying conventional beauty in favor of a raw, authentic aesthetic.

Floral cake designs aren’t particularly new, but chef, baker and entrepreneur Loria Stern has taken the game to a whole new league. She delights her 248K Instagram followers with much more than just cookies with dried flowers. Think of cakes that feature mandalas out of fresh flowers or creations with a negative ginkgo leaf imprint pattern. She always comes up with new ways to create botanically themed baked goods.

Fu Food Cake from Taipei, Taiwan combines whimsy and craftsmanship. Whether it’s a trompe l’oeil cake that looks like a bunch of bananas or airbrushed plaid-patterned cat cakes, each creation is playful or even silly. Their bright designs are full of personality, making each dessert a true visual spectacle.