Good enough to eat:Pasha's gingerbread chanukiah[Missing Credit]
Today, as the 36-year-old founder of Canvas Cakes, Pasha has been recognised for her life-like designs, and most recently, a range of intricate gingerbread houses – including those in the shape of a Chanukah menorah and dreidel.
But Pasha did not always plan on pursuing life in the industry.
After leaving Queen’s College, she went onto read Maths at Imperial College London – initially considering a career in accountancy or teaching. Later, she did a degree in Real Estate at Oxford Brookes University before going onto work in the property business for a couple of years.
She missed having an artistic outlet. In her free time she would draw bright-coloured fruits and figurines on her nail polish bottles — uploading her work on a blog that got the attention of a company that went on to commission her designs.
“I was never going to be happy working in an industry that wasn’t creative,” she says.
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Still, she missed more artistic outlets and in her free time after completing university, Pasha would spend weekends drawing bright-coloured fruits and figurines on her nail polish – uploading the designs on her 10 Blank Canvases blog. That blog, started for fun, caught the attention of bosses at Elegant Touch. They commissioned her designs for false nails and nail wraps which went onto sell at leading retailers, including Boots.
"They found me," she recalls. "I was just blogging, doing this perfect little thing for me and they got in touch so I ended up doing designs for them."
Later, she turned her attention to her first passion – baking cakes. After making a Madagascar-themed cake for her brother, as well as other cakes for family and friends — she won her first client.
“I made them a Chanel-shaped handbag, and it went from there. It was mainly by word of mouth,” says the Marble Arch Synagogue member. “I was getting some work from social media and Google, but it was mainly from the Jewish community.”
In 2014, Pasha launched Canvas Cakes, specialising in trompe l'oeil cakes that including bowls of fruit; a china teapot and plates; or Lotus biscuit jars.
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More haimish creations have included a cake shaped to look like a loaf of challah, or for Pesach, a pile of matzah made with Passover-friendly cake.
The self-taught baker developed her technique by looking on YouTube and Instagram “I really wanted to do more realistic designs, more detail.”
She spends so much time making a life-size cake accurate, it can take her two to three days.
She has also taken inspiration from her property career.
“I do love buildings and all the details in them. So, I thought, why not make them edible – and why not do it with gingerbread,” says Pasha, who, in November, won an award at international annual competition and sugar craft show Cake International for her gingerbread building. The intricate creation was complete with miniature beds, baths, a kitchen stove and tables.
“I’ll always start by making the structure out of cardboard, to work out where the details need to be. I then draw a template, sometimes I’ll get the sketch made from plastic and ice on top of that.”
Pasha – who has made the designs based on replicas of people’s homes or had corporate clients including a hotel. One of these can take up to two weeks.
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“It takes longer, but for me it’s all about the detail. They make the difference.”
So how does she feel, watching people breaking and tucking into her hard work?
“That’s what they’re there for,” laughs Pasha, who runs the one-woman business from her home kitchen. “They’re there to be enjoyed. I like mine with a cup of tea.”
Canvas Cake custom order prices start from £350.
DIY gingerbread packages start from £32.
Instagram: @canvascakecompany
