PICTURES: Springvale cake decorator to display work at Melbourne Quilt & Craft …

CAKE decorator Barbara Imlach will be sharing the secrets of her trade at the Melbourne Craft Quilt Fair this weekend.

The Springvale resident has been making her sugar paste creations for more than 30 years.

PICTURES: See our photo gallery of Barbara’s stunning cake creations here.

“People always ask me if I hate it when everyone eats my artwork but that is one of the best parts,” Mrs Imlach said.

“The first couple of times I was quite sad, but these days if people don’t want to cut the cake I just think ‘what a waste of a cake’.”

From crafting more than 600 delicate flowers for a wedding cake, to moulding the members of a winning lacrosse team, she has done it all.

Thomas the Tank Engine is always a popular request. “I made a Thomas cake for my grandson when he was a child, he’s now 28, and I’m still making Thomas cakes,” she said.

“Cakes are a way of celebrating someone’s personality.”

Mrs Imlach and her fellow members of the Cake Decorators Association of Victoria will be demonstrating their flower-making techniques at the Melbourne Craft Quilt Fair at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre from July 28-31.

Information: Cake Decorators Association of Victoria, cdav@live.com.au

Check out our photo gallery of Barbara’s cake creations at dandenongleader.com.au