LOCAL FLAVOUR: New bakery is in the pink

Sheila Comer has turned her hobby into her vocation by opening Pink Ribbon Bakery in Uptown New Westminster.

MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER

A birthday cake changed Sheila Comer's life.

She loved eating cake, and, as a wedding planner, she'd spent a lot of her work time in the vicinity of cake. But until she decided to make one for her father's 50th birthday, she'd never actually baked one herself.

The strawberry shortcake creation in the shape of a Goodyear tire because her father works in the car business was a hit. Not only in the bellies of those who got to eat a piece, but also on her Facebook page.

As soon as Comer posted photos of her sweet confection, she started getting messages from friends asking her if she could bake cakes for them. Before she knew it, her kitchen in her Queensborough home had been transformed into a bakery.

"There wasn't a surface in my home that wasn't covered in icing sugar," says Comer.

In January, less than two years after she baked that first cake, she turned her hobby into her avocation when she opened Pink Ribbon Bakery on 6th Street in Uptown.

While she offers daily cakes and an assortment of cupcakes for sale over the counter, most of her cakes are custom creations for weddings, birthdays, bridal and baby showers and corporate celebrations.

And they're not just square slabs with dollops of colourful icing. Comer has engineered cakes of all sizes and shapes from a baby stroller to an elaborate diorama involving a motorcycle and a hospital to a scale reproduction of the Lion's Gate Bridge large enough to serve 200 people.

"I love a challenge," says Comer, who uses materials as varied as plywood and PVC pipe to shape her cakes. "When it comes to cake there's nothing I want to say no to."

Pink Ribbon Bakery is located at 103-306 6th St. A portion of her sales go to support the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature

1 pound butter, room temperature

2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Method

Whip the butter and cream cheese together in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar to the mixture and scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.

Spread the frosting on top of your favourite cooled cupcakes or cake, or store in the refrigerator for up to a week.