Lopsided, slathered in blobs and accordioned ruffles of buttercream and meringue frosting, coated in a layer of airbrushed hues and protruding foliage, it begs the question: How do we even begin to cut, let alone eat such a cake?
From Brooklyn-based Amy Yip’s sculptural, Asian-inspired flavoured ‘mossy rock’ creations, to the whimsical, vegan cakes by Aimee France that look as if they were taken out of the tea party in ‘Alice in Wonderland’, they are among the crop of bakers embracing a maximalist approach that turns away from the traditional, exacting formula that has long dictated the discipline.
This surge of ‘break-the-rules’ aesthetics points to a post-pandemic shift, as people grew out of the simple, pristine minimalism that felt ingenuine and unrelatable at the time in favour of an offbeat design language that feels more in tune with the chaos that reflects today’s society.
It’s a shift that Martina Djohan, executive chef and co-founder of Scarlett’s has also observed, which led to her and her sister Jasmine opening Scarlett’s Lab at the end of 2022 to direct all the brand’s custom cakes under one roof. “It’s clear that more people want something new, something out of the ordinary to celebrate with,” shared Martina.
This surge of ‘break-the-rules’ aesthetics points to a post-pandemic shift, as people hunger for an offbeat design language that feels more in tune with the chaos that reflects today’s society.
When the sister duo started Scarlett’s as a cake pre-order business from their Batam home kitchen back in 2016, Martina noticed her customers’ inclination to go for “Victorian-style cakes, a very classic look with a lot of detailed icing and fondant.” While a small portion of her customers still ask for such styles, she gladly welcomes the change to a more fluid, exuberant silhouette. “I think this is also in line with people being more comfortable expressing themselves and feeling more confident with being different.”
To create their signature ‘rock cakes’ (which also often draws inspiration from Amy Yip), at Scarlett’s Lab, the process always begins with the foundation of a sponge cake. The first one she made was back in June 2022, when one of her friends nudged her to come up with “anything she wants” for her birthday. To suit the happy occasion, she came up with a dome-shaped cream cake that fully embraces the colours of spring, from the soft pink peonies, fuschia and yellow gerbera daisies with a few toppings of fresh strawberry placed atop swirls of cream covered in pastel pink glitter.
“I think [the shift to maximalist design] is also in line with people being more comfortable with expressing themselves and feeling more confident with being different.”
Since then, she has developed a loose formula for her R&D sessions, one that she likens to a combination of sculpting and painting. “The cake is the canvas, nothing is off-limits. There’s no use coming up with a fixed idea of what you want because truthfully, most of the time, it will come out different. That’s the real challenge, there’s so much room for deviations and experimentation. Unlike classic cake designs that follow a template, maximalist creations rely on your intuition and self-expression, and people are craving that.”
An uncontested favourite among Scarlett’s lineup is the two-tiered off-white cake, its surface dusted with edible sprinkles of pink, forest green and lavender glitter and bulbous heaps of cream. Depending on customer preferences and what’s in season, Martina will swap the flora and foliage between the spiky lavender Eryngos bloom that resembles a mini pineapple and dried flowers. Finishing accents display tropical fruits such as halved passion fruits and half-opened rambutan, exposing the contrast of the hairy skin with the soft and translucent lychee-like flesh.
“The cake is the canvas, nothing is off-limits. Unlike classic cake designs that follow a template, maximalist creations rely on your intuition and self-expression”
While the maximalist direction may be the same, each baker channels their personality into their creations. For Martina, she always has fresh-cut flowers and seasonal fruits on hand, lending most of their creations a bouquet-like quality. “I’ve been studying out which ones are in season, which ones are best used dried and fresh and which ones you can’t put near edibles,” the 28-year-old shared. “Sometimes, something as simple as the composition; how tall the stems are, which directions they’re facing, makes a difference. Even amidst the chaos, there still needs to be that level of balance”.
But regardless of the exterior, for Martina, it’s important that the cakes ultimately serve their purpose. “I think with cakes, we look for something comforting, something that calls to mind the flavours of our childhood.” Like a balm at the end of a long week or a marker of special celebrations like anniversaries and birthdays, she ensures that the cakes deliver in flavour as much as they do through design.
Whether it’s the recent exploration of pear and gorgonzola pairing reminiscent of her trip to Europe, to Scarlett’s best-selling flavour to date, the peach earl grey, it’s clear the cakes are designed to be a cause for self-expression and celebration—not just for the ones ready to dig in with a fork in hand, but for the bakers too.
