A talented cakemaker has been making waves on social media with her “Instagrammable” creations.
Margaret Jenkins is the woman behind Cakebox Dundee whose cakes featuring characters like Sonic the Hedgehog and a beer can pouring into Dundee FC’s Dens Park have been wowing people on Instagram and Facebook.
Hours and hours of work go into each one of Margaret’s amazing creations, a project she bgean after taking early retirement earlier this year.
Having more time on her hands is allowing her to make the cakes for friends and family who then have a remarkable centrepiece for a celebration.
The former teacher at King’s Park and Craigie High in Dundee said: “This is really quite new for me. It’s just a wee hobby. I have always really enjoyed baking but it was always just a hobby.
“I took early retirement in April and my friends were asking ‘Could you make a cake for me?’, so friends and family are keeping me really, really busy. It’s great.”
Inspiration
The process for making the cakes either involves Margaret being asked to come up with a bake or inspiration provided in the form of pictures.
She continued: “Sometimes people will say just do what you want but more often than not they will know what they want and come to me with an idea and a few pictures.
“I then go and create something that I think they will like. It does really come from what friends and family want.”
Self-taught cakemaker
Margaret, 56, explained that she was never actually an arty person at school and has just perfected her skills with every cake she has made, with a couple being particular favourites.
“I am not arty at all, absolutely not. I never drew, I wasn’t good at art at school or anything like that. But being retired and having that time, I just started out and I am self-taught really to be honest with you,” she said.
“There are two that have been my favourites – the first one was I made not that long ago which was a Sonic the Hedgehog cake which was for my grandson. I loved making that and he absolutely loved it, too.
“That was a big favourite and the other one was for my friend’s mum and that one was a vintage tea set.”
Time is something Margaret needs a lot of, as the process for fashioning her masterpieces can be a lengthy one.
“There is lots of work involved, you start a couple of weeks in advance,” she revealed.
“The Sonic one, for instance, I practised and practised that, so it took me a while to make the cake topper.
“The cakes themselves I want to make as fresh as I possibly can nearer the time but for the topper it really depends on how intricate they are. There is a lot of forward planning.”
Special celebration cakes
She says that her cakes have been very well received, particularly now that more small celebrations are taking place.
“Because people are now able to visit other people, they are wanting to celebrate with a special cake or cupcakes, which I do a lot of as well.
“They just want to spend time with their loved ones, and for that they’re great,” said Margaret who keeps her social media pages updated regularly.
“I just wanted to showcase what I do really. To be honest it really took off, it’s been great. I have had so many people wanting me to make them cakes.”
And how did Margaret get into making the cakes in the first place?
“I was a primary teacher after being in nursing for 20 years. I did nothing in food it was just something that I really enjoyed. I never made massive birthday cakes for my kids, it was maybe just a traybake or a lemon drizzle cake, just stuff like that. I just thought I’d give it a go.
“It just popped into my head that I really wanted to do it. I thought for my son’s birthday, I will maybe try and do a cake and thought I would do a drip cake, so I gave that a go.
“I managed the drip cake and then I thought I will put something on the top and one thing led to another and it came to this.
“I started off with small things, just a wee cake as I had never actually done layered cakes and then a drip cake and taking inspiration from what people liked and now I am doing all this fondant decoration now.”
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