Chef Bios 1
Albena Petrova
Hands On: October 19 @ 9;00am-12:00pm: Laces--The Art of Cake Decorating
Demonstration: October 19 @ 1:45pm-2:45pm: How to Make Beautiful Exotic Bird of Paradise
Bulgarian born Albena Petrova was raised in a family of artists – a sculptor and a jeweler, where she developed an interest in painting and sculpting from an early age.
Her early education was in pottery making and glass engraving, and later after graduating from Pearson School of Culinary Arts in Montreal specializing in Pastry Making, Albena started using her unique artistic vision to bring cakes to life. Albena loves thinking out of the box and experimenting with tools and materials. Attention to detail is an important part of her work as the owner of Albena Cake Design in Montreal. She finds inspiration everywhere - flowers, fashion, art, architecture, nature and people.
Throughout her career, Albena has accumulated a long list of awards including Satin Ice Artist of Excellence, winner of the first place at 2013 Montreal Cake Show - Wedding Cakes Category – as well as having her work featured in numerous magazines.
Instagram: @albenacakedesign
Alexandria Murray
Demonstration: October 19 @ 3:00pm-4:00pm: Sugarpaste peony demo with tips and tricks for making more realistic sugar flowers
She began her cake journey as an art-major at a school in New York, but had no idea what she wanted to do so took a year off, began experimenting with baking and fell in love.
After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu at the Ottawa campus from their Patisserie program, she interned then worked as a teacher's assistant and did recipe development at Bonnie Gordon College.
For cake decorating she is mostly self-taught through books, online, and using her art background to observe flowers and trying to replicate them.
She has been full time at her custom cake business for the past 3 years and just opened her storefront studio at Bathurst and Bloor where she is making wedding cakes and holding workshops.
Amanda Orlando
Demonstration: October 19 @ 11:15am-12:15pm: Classic Sweets Free-From Peanuts, Nuts, Soy and Dairy
Amanda Orlando is the author and photographer of two food allergy cookbooks. The latest, entitled Everyone's Welcome, released in May 2019. Her blog, Everyday Allergen-Free, is based on her experiences living with several life threatening food allergies and aims to inspire confidence in those living with allergies or other dietary restrictions. Her work has appeared in the Globe & Mail, CBC Radio, Global National's The Morning Show, The Huffington Post Blog, and more. She lives in Toronto.
Instagram: @everydayallergenfree
Baron Hau
Demonstration: October 20 @ 3:00pm-4:00pm: Isomalt Decoration for Tiered Cakes
At Gusta Cooking Studio, Baron Hau directs and develops classes of diverse topics to suit both beginners and seasoned enthusiasts. Attending trade shows every year to keep global trends abreast, he strives to bring in the newest concepts, tools, and ingredients to create and let create tasteful results. Through his educational endeavours, he wants to spread the enjoyment of good taste, and in turn elevating the appreciation of taste in the community.
Baron’s background comprises the diversity the international cities of Hong Kong and Toronto can afford. His training in French cuisine from Le Cordon Bleu and work experience in American and Japanese restaurants, plus his constant gastronomic exploration through travels, readings, and experimentations, enable him to see the transformation and interaction of ingredients beyond geographic boundaries. His current interests are regional French, modernist, traditional Japanese especially shojin-ryori and wagashi techniques.
Baron has a passion in bridging talents. He is the co-organizer for the classes in CBSS 2017 & 2019, and an organizing committee member for Salon du Chocolat Hong Kong 2020. He also arranges educational programs for prestigious chefs and artists worldwide.
Instagram: @gustacooking
Beatriz Muller
Demonstration: October 20 @ 12:30pm-1:30pm: Structural Gingerbread Construction Design
Beatriz Muller is a Certified Master Sugar Artist. Her gingerbread creations are the result of her love for architecture combined with her passion for the sugar arts. Some of these pieces include her 6 feet tall replica of NYC and her two award winning designs at the Annual National Gingerbread House Competition in Asheville, North Carolina. Beatriz has also won first place in Food Network's Holiday Gingerbread Showdown, twice at Canada's Baking and Sweets Show in the wedding cake category, and again at Bonnie Gordon's Cake Show. Beatriz's gingerbread showpieces have been featured in many art and architecture magazines and blogs across the globe.
Instagram: @gingerneers, @cakes_by_beatriz
Cathy Lei
Hands On: October 20 @ 9:00am-12:00pm: Sweet Bean Paste Flower "Cone Cake"
Cake decorating has always been a passion for Cathy Lei, who has worked in cake decorating for more than 8 years. Her own cake business, Flour and Flower Cake Design, has flourished and expanded to include a teaching boutique in Markham. Her wedding cakes imbue a classy vintage style, her design reflects her acuity in adjusting the perfect colours. Keeping up at decorators' front, she endeavoured to South Korea to train her Korean buttercream piping techniques with renowned Korean buttercream artist and educator Kim&Cake professionally. Being certified to teach, she has been teaching the techniques in her boutique receiving excellent feedback.
Cathy’s newest development into Korean bean paste piping combines her unique style of aesthetics with the trending material to create stunning results.
Instagram: @flourandflowercakedesign
Demonstration: October 19 @ 10:00am-11:00am: Putting Together a Successful Cookie Set
Jeannette Orazietti is a custom cake and cookie designer born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, the place she owns and operates Jeannette's Custom Cakes. A graphic designer by trade, Jeannette's talent and passion for all-things creative led her to the world of cake and cookie design. With a decade of experience under her belt, she branched out and traded in her mouse and keyboard for piping bags and a whole lot of sugar.
Demonstration: October 20 @ 10:00am-11:00am: Evolving a Cake Business to Storefront and Beyond
Karen Fasulo, award winning cake decorator and baker, has been affiliated with the pastry world since 2005. Karen Fasulo is the founder and Chief Business Strategist of Karen Anne Fasulo where she uses her experience and expertise in the pastry business to support other entrepreneurs. Karen’s greatest strength is guiding businesses get organized and on the right track to further success.
Karen is committed to growing her knowledge in this fast paced world. She has achieved her Certificate in Business Analysis, Certified Maxwell Method DISC Trainer and is a Certified John Maxwell Speaker and Trainer.
Karen is excited to share her business knowledge and experience with Canada’s Baking and Sweets Show.
Website: https://karenannefasulo.com
Hands On: October 20 @ 3:30pm-6:30pm: Sculpted Ice Cream Sundae Cake
Demonstration: October 20 @ 1:45pm-2:45pm: Sculpted Frankenstein Face
Kristen Eagles is a cake artist specializing in sculpted and out of the ordinary cake designs. She began cake decorating to make her children's birthday cakes, but it quickly became a lot more than just a hobby. With a fine art degree behind her she realized that cake art was the perfect medium to create and sculpt in a new and challenging way. Five years later, Kristen has appeared in and won several television cake competition shows on The Food Network and Makeful and has been featured on various social media platforms.
Instagram: @thegirlnextdoorbakes
Olivia Yang
Hands On: October 20 @ 12:15pm-3:15pm: Back to Basics: Realistic Gum Paste Rose with Calyx and Leaves
After graduating from U of T, Olivia decided to follow her passion and strived to build a career in cake designing and decorating. She has learned from the master, Maggie Austin, herself, and has also participated twice in the largest international cake decorating competition, Cake International, winning Silver in the Small Decorative Exhibit category in 2017 and Gold in the Wedding Cake category in 2018. Specializing in sugar flower and figurine making, Olivia has mastered a variety of skills and techniques that allows her to create a dynamic range of styles in her wedding cakes, as well as, birthday/occasion cakes.
Instagram: @oliviay.studio