Check out these amazing creations by Cork Sugarcraft Association as they mark 30 years

SUGARCRAFT isn’t the first word that comes to mind at the opening of a road bypass. But, in 2004, members of the Cork Sugarcraft Association were at the launch of the new Ballincollig dual carriageway with a 16 metre example of their amazing skills.

Three teams worked on an extraordinary cake representing the €170million 11km road. Instead of a ribbon cut, it was the cake that was cut, showing a map of the area with green fields and roads, diggers, workers, and supervisors. The cake was shared by all who worked on the project.

“That was the largest project we ever worked on,” says Jacqueline Cullinane, one of the founders of The Cork Sugarcraft Association which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

Since then, Belvelly Castle, the Cork County Council centenary celebration, Blarney Castle, and Shandon have made interesting subjects for the sugarcraft experts.

They certainly make change from delightful birthday, wedding and christening cakes and Easter bunnies. Christmas cakes, as well as for private orders, are made by members for Lions Club hampers.

The Cork Sugarcraft Association was founded in 1994 by the inspirational Jacqueline Cullinane and the late Sue Cummins.

Sue started making cakes as a business, which grew by word of mouth. She took classes with members of the British Sugarcraft Guild in England and wanted to share her knowledge. Jacqueline soon travelled to learn more.

Today, the association holds workshops in flowers, royal icing, sugar paste and dusting. It’s all very precise, and patience is the most important virtue.

President of the Cork association, Emma O’Shea, says that everyone is encouraging and generous in swapping tips. They are a happy bunch. 

We greatly missed getting together during Covid, and ran online quizzes, workshops and competitions to keep in contact.

Sugarcraft requires good timing skills. Boiling sugar to a particular temperature, pulled and moulded to make fine strands, is tricky. Over-boil, and it will crack, under-boil, and it will dissolve and have no tenacity.

One short-cut the rest of us can use is to buy fondant icing (as I did for my daughter’s wedding cake) to drape over the cake. It can then be tucked to fit the cake, and leftovers used to attempt making flowers and figures (which can also be bought by amateurs not hoping to win prizes).

These days, professionals use ready-made paste too. Emma’s sugarcraft retail business, The Gingerbread House, based in Coolbawn, Midleton, stocks various icings and all the helpful tools and presentation boards needed to make a start. And her advice is invaluable. She also holds classes there.

Anybody can join the association, which comprises 65 members, some beginners, some professional bakers and sugar crafters.

What binds them is a passion for sugarcraft and the camaraderie which comes with a fascination for intricate work.

“What I think has kept me interested in the last 30 years,” says Jaqueline (born in 1934), “is the satisfaction of pleasing people when we deliver exactly what they want for their special occasion.”

“For me, it’s the creative aspect”, says Emma, who worked in the Michelin-starred Arbutus Lodge from the age of 15 (her mother had worked there too). She later qualified as a pastry chef and stayed until the restaurant closed and the business changed to the current Arbutus Bakery.

For me, it’s about switching off and for example designing a bride’s cake, perhaps echoing her lace dress, making it personal to her. It’s an awesome occupation. And everyone likes cake!

Biennial competitions give members a chance to come up with original ideas to compete with their own members and any visitor who wants to join in.

Judges come from the UK, and Cork has been represented in the UK, where members were up against skilled, experienced contestants from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Flowers have to be botanically correct, each type of paste the perfect texture.

The good news is that decorations which may take weeks and months to make for their showpieces, can be kept in an airtight container for re-use later.

Intense concentration, and standing or sitting leaning over a cake or their separate decorations for hours, can be tiring, and cakes are heavy to move around.

It’s not for the faint-hearted or impatient, but could help fast pacers to slow down. Many members find it an absorbing occupation when they retire from demanding jobs.

Trends have changed over the years, from heavy fruit cakes, which keep for a long time, to chocolate, chocolate biscuit and lemon cakes, which keep for less time but are lighter.

The cakes have to be made at the last minute, but often the decorations can be crafted ahead and attached closer to the celebration time.

Another trend is away from frills to intricate flowers, and the rounded edges of cakes are sharper now, the cakes taller, round rather than square.

“I’m asked for purple a lot these days,” says Emma. 

Some might be matching bridesmaids’ dresses. And, of course, we have had a lot of pink and Barbie reproductions - all passion projects, but very satisfying.

Based in Canon Packham Hall, Douglas, meetings of the association are held on the last Tuesday of the month at 7.45pm.

Next year’s show will be on held on March 8-9 in Cork International Airport Hotel and will be open to the public.

The Cork branch is already working on the entry, which will be themed ‘Afternoon Tea Table’. There will be cups and saucers, and tiny cakes to enthral.

See Corksugarcraft.ie for more details.