Cake as an art form
Mt. Lebanon woman displays creativity with her desserts
Laura Cabe admits she loves to play with her food.
And all that playing has been paying off for the Mt. Lebanon baker.
One of those creations, her dessert marshmallows, won accolades at last month’s Sweet Sunday Dessert Festival, held annually at the Hilton Garden Inn Southpointe to benefit the Washington City Mission. The sweet treat was named Overall Most Appealing Dessert and took first place in the professional category and third in the Peoples’ Choice awards.
“It was a big year this year,” Cabe said. “It was not your typical vanilla marshmallow that you get at a store. These are soft and tasty and full of flavor. If you don’t like marshmallows, you might like homemade marshmallows. I know there’s a lot of people who are gluten-free who come to Sweet Sunday and can’t have a majority of the desserts there. That was another driving force behind the marshmallows.”
“It’s a big undertaking, but it’s a lot of fun,” Cabe said of Sweet Sunday. “I appreciate the Mission and what they do. They touch so many facets of needs. It’s so important and I love to be a part of it. Who doesn’t love sweets and helping people?”
Cabe’s creations are part of Cabe’s Cakery, which she is hesitant to call a business.
“It’s more of a glorified hobby,” she said. “My first child is 28 this year, and I started with her first birthday. Now I have four kids. Every year, it was more complicated. My friends wanted me to do their kids’ cakes, then their friends wanted me to do cakes. It’s just basically for friends and family and friends of friends.”
Cabe baked her first cake – a birthday cake for her mother – when she was just 6 years old.
“I love to feed people,” she said. “It was a box cake, but it was still my first cake. I’m completely self-taught. I did take one frosting class that didn’t help because I already had the technique. I like to try new things.”
Among those “new things” were the marshmallows she took to Sweet Sunday, something she started making during the 2023 holiday season.
“It sure is a lot lighter to carry than cupcakes,” she said with a laugh.
Her Cabe’s Cakery Facebook page showcases a host of artistically designed cakes. There are cookies, too, which she admits are not her favorite to bake.
Ironically, no one in Cabe’s house eats cake anymore.
“There was too much cake,” she said. “My son was never a cake eater. Maybe the first couple of years of his life. My girls are just done. Nobody wants to be part of it. I taste test every now and again, but I don’t eat too many sweets.”
With the exception of a green tea cake topped with a chai-spiced frosting.
“I can do some damage to that one,” she said.
Cabe said she typically bakes about 50 cakes a year for folks. The baking takes place at her Mt. Lebanon home, where she has two ovens.
Those interested in ordering a cake from Cabe contact her on her Facebook or Instagram pages or email cabescakery@gmail.com.
“I just like to play,” Cabe said. “It really is an art form for me.”
.
,
.