The Pepperberry Cakes Instagram feed is what buttercream dreams are made of.
There’s cakes of all shapes and sizes, from towering tiers to tiny unicorn cupcakes. However, these aren’t mere cakes but works of art. And the bonus is, they taste as good as they look (I got a taste test, can confirm they are 100% delicious).
Edmunda Stuart may have only launched Pepperberry Cakes last year but she’s already building a cult following from locals who know and love her cake creations. In fact, she’s even turning heads further afield – she’s made it to the last round of the audition process for a certain Australian reality food show and is just waiting to see if she gets on (fingers crossed!).
A salted caramel surprise in the centre of the cupcakes Edmunda gave me for taste testing 💯
Edmunda is the talent behind Pepperberry Cakes
The science of baking
For her friends and family Edmunda’s newfound baking career may have seemed like a total 180 from where she was originally heading professionally. For Edmunda, it’s the creative side she’s always had being let off its leash.
“I recently completed a biomed science degree from UQ and I was going to go into medicine or dentistry, that was the plan my parents had for me,” she says. “I love science, but I’ve always been drawn to creative things. It’s something I’ve kept in the background; I’ve got to be practical and pay the bills. But, after having my son I realised this is what I want to do.”
Handmade sugar paste pansies on this 70th birthday cake | Image courtesy of Pepperberry Cakes
A towering wedding cake | Image courtesy of Pepperberry Cakes
As someone familiar with a beaker perhaps it’s no surprise Edmunda’s cakes taste so great. They do say baking is a science after all, and she says the combo of creativity and science works for her.
“It is a science and that side of it appeals to me,” she says. “I still have a lot to learn because I’m self taught. I’ve learnt along the way, mum doesn’t bake or anything like that, it’s my little niche in the family. I’ve baked since I was little, it’s something I always loved doing and I do for the people I love.”
Baking equals love
Baking may be her niche, but food in general was a big part of her world growing up. Edmunda is half Tongan and has a large extended family, so get togethers were always a celebration of food.
“Everything revolves around food in our family,” she says. “Everyone takes so much pride in what they create to bring. My mum loved entertaining from when I was very young so it’s something I get very excited about – the whole process of creating it – and of course eating it.”
Sadly, Edmunda’s father has passed away, but it was his love of her cakes that helped inspire her baking passion.
“My dad loved cakes. I just wanted to make him cakes all the time because when he eats it he looks like it’s the most amazing thing in the world. It’s like: ok you get another cake.”
Star Wars and more – cake challenges
Scroll through the Pepperberry Cakes Insta feed and you’ll see a Star Wars cake, an art deco Great Gatsby style and even a Lego cake. The designs are a visual feast, with colour, texture, and dramatic adornments. Edmunda sticks to contemporary techniques – so that means no fondant, only smooth as buttercream.
Star Wars themed cake featuring chocolate cake soaked in espresso syrup and filled with mocha ganache! | Image courtesy of Pepperberry Cakes
Great Gatsby themed cake with heilala vanilla bean and red velvet with rosewater cream cheese cake layers | Image courtesy of Pepperberry Cakes
It’s a challenge, but Edmunda says she’s loving the creative requests that come from her clients.
“It’s really important to create food that’s delicious that’s a huge, huge thing for me, but for me too it’s also giving them something that they feel is special, when they look at it they feel special – I look for that moment always,” she says.
“A lot of times they have an idea and we work from there and sometimes they just want me to create stuff. The flavour combinations are also something that’s evolved because people ask you for certain things. I’ll experiment and keep going to get the right combo. The design happens as I go along, I draw something and it might stay the same or it might change.”
Arabian nights themed cake with a top tier of salted caramel mud cake and white chocolate ganache, middle tier of Bailey’s chocolate mud cake with dark chocolate ganache and bottom tier of vanilla cake with cookies and cream 😱😍 | Image courtesy of Pepperberry Cakes
Edmunda’s amazing unicorn cupcakes | Image courtesy of Pepperberry Cakes
Place your order
For now Edmunda plans on keeping Pepperberry Cakes as an online business. You can contact her via Facebook messenger or email at pepperberrycakes@gmail.com
Follow all the cake goodness on Instagram at @pepperberrycakes.
Edmunda says she can whip up some cupcakes in about a week and birthday cakes with two weeks’ notice. If you need a custom cake for your wedding please allow a few months.
*The reality show has to be a secret for now.
