September has been collaboration crazy, however we would be remiss to close out the month without sharing the spectacular creations from The Caketastics collaboration. Truly one of the most exciting, unusual and brilliant collaborations of the year so far. This spectacle of cakes explores an alien invasion! Thanks to the Caketastics, I can reveal that the world is safe once more; protected by a group of elite, super-human, cake makers. A major government cover-up is already underway, however in our commitment to uncover the truth, we talk exclusively with Caketastics organizer, Daniel Dieguez; a master cake maker (who just happens to posses super-cake powers); eager to learn the inspiration behind this unusual collaboration theme and uncover the secrets of The Caketastics. Never fear, these cake artists have returned to their day-jobs, safe to bake, create and cake for another day – until the time comes when they must defend the Earth once again, with the awesome power of pastry!!

Please tell us a little about the collaboration, who are the organizers and admins?

Since I’m in the cake world, I find great things always occur on my birthday. The last year I launched the first “Caketastic Experience” which was a 3 days class live at BCN & Cake Fair. I hosted 6 students per day and taught together with Mayte Rodriguez and Arantxa Arteaga. This year I decided to include cakers I admire from all around the world to celebrate the first anniversary of this experience (and also my birthday hehe).

How many people are featured in the collaboration?

Well, there are 29 outstanding Caketastics this time which have made the collaboration very special, they really did an awesome job.

Medusa Alien by Avalon Yarnes – we’ve been reliable informed that Avalon succeeded in her mission and Medusa was devoured!

What was the inspiration behind the collaboration, and why did you choose this inspiration? 

A few years ago I decided to travel to Mexico to put into practice an ancient ritual that allowed me to contact the Mayan god of the cocoa. Ek Chuah, delighted by my devotion to chocolate,  he granted me a part of his power; with the commitment that I must use it to protect against any worldwide threats. Thus, Choco-caketastic was born.

With my power, I found Cakepictorial and Isomaltic, who had also been blessed by the Mayan Gods. Together we began the Caketastics. We detected an alien spy who revealed information about his aim to attack Barcelona on September 26th 2015. We threw a sign of alert to receive help from powerful confectioners, and to launch a counter attack on the aliens at BCN & Cake. It was a hard battle, but also a great victory! We defeated the invaders and protected the land.

Incredible sculpting by Azzura Cuomo

In 2016, as revenge for their defeat in Barcelona, the surviving ringleaders of the alien army have decided to orchestrate a simultaneous worldwide attack. But, as they do not have enough power, they are transforming all living beings into monsters to continue their path of worldwide domination and destruction.

I have once again activated the sign of the Caketastic maximum alert to call super powerful worldwide confectioners to help us conquer evil, and so the Caketastics collaboration has reassembled. All over the world monsters appear and the most powerful super-confectioners fight to win. Enjoy watching this epic battle!

Alien spider by Nathasja Flapper, Nathasja says the spider was very delicious- especially the legs!

How did you approach the task of inviting and organizing the collaboration members?

I think I was teaching in Dubai when the idea of making this collaboration started to bloom in my mind. Then I started asking my most admired and favorite cake makers, and well, I have been so lucky that most of them said yes.

Dog-gone Donuts, Sachiko Windbiel get’s the better of these Alien hybrids!

What were some of the challenges in organizing the collaboration?

Editing most of the profile pics has been a lot of hard work, and this is my first collaboration organizing alone, so I have been trying to do the best I could; being aware of all the potential pitfalls. I can’t avoid all the mistakes, my mistakes always help me to grow, and the people of the cake world are so supportive.

Space Dragon cake by Liz Marek of the Sugar Geek Show. Lizzo successful in her mission to ‘cakify’ her monster, cut and ate its heart!

Please Tell us about your piece?

My piece is an Abdominator. The personal trainer of my gym was obsessed about working out the abs. He made me work long hours until I finished, crushed. The trainer used to flirt with all the girls at the gym, after a charming smile he would invite them to a lobster dinner to charm them with his wiles, and then boast of his conquests in the changing rooms. When the aliens landed, they transformed him into a monster to help them conquer the land, as he was so attractive to the girls. They increased his abs and gave him deadly lobster claws. I had to destroy this threat. With my powers, I transformed him into cake and then I ate him, by eating all of the cake, I rediscovered my adored belly. Please, be careful with your gym trainers, especially the most charming ones, you never know when they can be transformed into monsters.

 

Alien Cake by Daniel Dieguez, This trainer won’t be bothering the ladies anytime soon thanks to Daniel and his Cake Powers!

Will you be reprising this collaboration again next year?

Hopefully yes. I need to think about it as I really loved the open collaborative concept that Isabel Tamargo launched with Sweet Summer, and their results are outstanding…so that would be an option, but I would need co-organizers to manage something of that scale. So to all the decorators out there that wish to be involved- stay tuned- we’re almost certain of a repeat invasion in 2017!

Jeanette Macpherson’s alien ALMOST got away, but she managed to turn him into cake just in the nick of time!

About Daniel

I must say that I’ve learned most of my recipes from my Grandmother. I’ve spent lots of time in the kitchen since I was a child; eagerly watching the sponge cake grow in the oven was entrancing. So I started cooking all kind of sweets, and drawing, sculpting, and painting a lot – but I never mixed that abilities until I finished my fine arts degree, studying in London. When I saw all the wonders that could be achieved in pastry, I realized that was what I wanted to do. I came back to Spain and started my personal research, mixing my fine arts techniques with all I learned from my professional experience, and from my grandmother’s abilities in the kitchen.