Cake Heroes: Natasha Collins of Nevie-Pie Cakes By Sam Piling
If necessity is the mother of invention then Natasha Collins of Nevie-Pie Cakes is the mother of cake painting.
Having been a successful textile designer at a top fashion house, Natasha chose to put her career on hold to care for her young children. As a stay-at-home mum she yearned for creative challenges and, after dabbling in various crafts, stumbled across cake design. Frustrated by her lack of piping skills, she fell back on her past professional experience and reached for her paintbrushes. Fast forward 6 years, and now the cake decorating world is in love with painting cakes.
Whilst Natasha has inspired many, many designers, her work continues to be instantly recognisable. Perhaps its in her brush work, her design eye, or her constant hunger to create new and unique designs.
Her vintage floral work is stunning and her illustrations feel homely and familiar like a favourite comfort blanket. But there’s a dark side to Natasha, which we adore… check out her Gingerdead House!
Natasha of Nevie-Pie Cakes, those of us that can’t pipe, we salute you!
Sam (ACDN): Which of all the cakes you have made has been your favourite?
Natasha: Picking a favourite cake is really hard, it’s normally the one I’ve just finished, or the one that I’m planning to do! It would be a close run between my Owl and the Pussy Cat cake which I love because it takes me back to my roots as an illustrator and my gold cake. If I was forced to choose I would plump for the gold cake, as ever since I was a child I loved to add gold to my paintings, and a whole cake of gold panders to my love of bling!
Sam: What do you think will be the next hot trend in cake design?
Natasha: I think that painted cakes are going to grow as a trend (I would say that wouldn’t I!) but I see textured cakes as becoming more popular, with impression relief work and also more modern ways of using royal icing.
Sam: Who is your cake hero?
Natasha: Choosing a cake hero is also rather hard as there are so many amazing cake artist out there, but my top cake here would have to be Karen Portaleo. She is an amazing artist, her sculpting is fabulous and her paint work impeccable.
Natasha holds regular classes at her home and also across the UK. You can also purchase a tutorial PDF for her super-cute Mother’s Day cookies, or follow her online tutorial on painting a wonderful rose pattern on a cake.
