In Conversation with Tina Scott

Baking Life-Sized Cakes To Following Her Passion: This Dubai-Based Cake Artist Is Going Places

An award-winning cake artist, a doting mother, and a passionate Editor, Tina Scott has many feathers on her cap. From being the brain behind creating life-size figurines of the famous Bollywood film Om Shanti Om to curating her work into a full-fledged ‘baking’ magazine, Tina never ceases to wow people with her creativity, grit, and ever-positive attitude.

Metro Woman sat down with the baker herself to journey through the baker’s life, ambitions, struggles, and wins. Read on.

1. You re-created the iconic scene from Om Shanti Om into life-sized cake figurines. Tell us more about this.

Cake International is the world’s largest cake show and competition and they invited me to create an Indian-themed entrance display. My idea was to have a grand representation of the vibrant Indian culture and I wanted to bring out the glitz and glamour associated with the Indian cinema. And, the popular pose from the Bollywood film Om Shanti Om was a good juxtaposition of Indian cinema and Bollywood. 

The reason I chose this film was because I wanted to create something that was uniquely Indian and at the same time also had universal appeal. So, Bollywood fits the bill perfectly. Since it was the entrance display, it had to be visually appealing as it sets the tone for what guests can expect from the cake show. I designed the whole sketch, and we also had a selfie booth in the shape of an autorickshaw where people could stand and take a selfie with the Om Shanti Om pose. That became a big attraction at the event.

The reason I chose this film was because I wanted to create something that was uniquely Indian and at the same time also had universal appeal. So, Bollywood fits the bill perfectly. Since it was the entrance display, it had to be visually appealing as it sets the tone for what guests can expect from the cake show. I designed the whole sketch, and we also had a selfie booth in the shape of an autorickshaw where people could stand and take a selfie with the Om Shanti Om pose. That became a big attraction at the event.

2. What were you doing before you became a cake artist? How did you stumble upon your cake artistry skills?

I did my PG in Fashion Communication from NIFT and then worked with Star TV for six years until my son was born. The whole idea of becoming a cake artist happened by chance. It all started with my son’s first birthday in 2012 when I was in my hometown- Delhi. Like any other mom, I wanted to make the day special and of course, the planning started with a cake. I was looking to order a forest-themed cake and came across a new terminology called fondant cakes. This was something I had never heard of. I did some research to find out artists who could make one such cake. Unfortunately, there weren’t many. And, even those who were making such cakes did not have the caliber to make the cake that I had in mind. This is when I thought to myself that I have to make my son’s second birthday cake myself and I guess the universe was listening. 

3. Tell us about your early days as a baker - what were the challenges you faced?

One of the biggest challenges I faced initially was the tools and materials not being available in India. At that time, baking was not as popular as it is today. If you wanted a specific tool, you had to order it online internationally- which came with a hefty price tag. For example, we used to make fondant cakes, for which readymade fondant was not available. 

Besides, I had to look abroad for inspiration because there weren’t any Indian artists doing these kinds of cakes. So, learning new techniques was a big challenge too. Today, everything’s available on YouTube. But, back then we hardly had a handful of websites that offered paid tutorials and these were very expensive. So, we made some happy mistakes and came up with new techniques that worked for us. 

4. Professionally, when did your tryst with cake competitions kick-off?

As a budding cake artist, I used to look for competitions I could take part and that’s when I stumbled on Cake International. My first competition was in 2014 after we moved to South Africa. I received critical feedback and I used that as constructive feedback and worked on myself. 

The next one was also in South Africa, for the World Orchid Conference in 2014. This time I won a gold. I used all my feedback and worked harder for Cake International which happened in London in 2015. I was blessed, my hard work paid off and I won a gold. 

5. You are also the founder of Incredible India Cake Magazine - how and why did you decide to start a magazine? 

I keep thinking about new ways to do something innovative. So, I started an online collaboration where I invited artists from all over the world. Everyone works on a single theme and somehow, I’ve always had India as the theme. The theme that I chose was ‘Incredible India’ and all the artists worked on it and submitted cakes to me. I did this for over three years and the theme became popular and brought in more entries. Alongside, we also did a lot of recipes. So, we decided to curate all the stuff and roll out a magazine called the ‘India Cake Magazine’.

It started as a book, and at the end of three years, it metamorphized into a magazine. The whole idea behind starting this was also to provide a platform for Indian talent, in an international arena. India is not represented in such arenas as yet and I firmly believe we need a platform to promote Indian Talent. This also helped bring Indian and global artists on the same platform and you get to learn from each other. We started a community group on Facebook called the Incredible India Cake Magazine during Covid and that’s how we brought cake artists onto a single platform. 

6. Do you often treat your family to your signature cakes?

Not very often, to be honest. When I started, I used to try my recipes on my family- so they’ve tasted the good and the bad. As far as signature cakes are concerned, it boils down to the time I have on hand, but my son is the only one who gets something special on his birthday. 

7. What makes a great cake artist?

There is no substitute for hard work, attention to detail, creativity, and patience. You need to keep working on your skills and refining your techniques. There is no shortcut to success. 

8. What are your criteria for judging the winner’s cake?

Each competition has categories and the artists are given a set of rules that they need to follow. You need to familiarize yourself with that because even the smallest violation will get you disqualified. When you’re closely looking at a cake, judges look for the wow factor, creativity, finesse, and attention to detail. 

9. Can a good cake be made without eggs? Eggless cake (not vegan? what are the best ingredients to use instead of eggs or gelatin?  

It completely depends on the recipe you’re following. There is a growing demand for egg-free cakes today. It all started during covid when everyone wanted to bake. So, we have a good number of eggless recipes on our Facebook group that people follow. You can use a lot of substitutes for eggs like yogurt, condensed milk, apple sauce, and ripe bananas- it depends on the recipe. 

10. Can you share a simple cake recipe - marble or vanilla or lemon cake with our readers?

Mary Berry’s Victoria sponge recipe

• 4 free-range eggs

• 225g caster sugar, plus a little extra for dusting the finished cake

• 225g self-raising flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 225g butter at room temperature, plus a little extra to grease the tins

To serve

• good-quality strawberry or raspberry jam

• whipped double cream (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan. Grease and line two 20cm/8in sandwich tins.

2. Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl, then add the sugar, flour, baking powder and butter. Mix together until well combined with an electric hand mixer (you can also use a wooden spoon), but be careful not to over mix. The finished mixture should fall off a spoon easily.

3. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins: this doesn’t need to be exact, but you can weigh the filled tins if you want to check. Use a spatula to remove all of the mixture from the bowl and gently smooth the surface of the cakes.

4. Bake the cakes on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 minutes. Check them after 20 minutes. The cakes are done when they’re golden-brown and coming away from the edge of the tins. Press them gently to check – they should be springy to the touch. Set aside to cool in their tins for 5 minutes. Run a palette or rounded butter knife around the inside edge of the tins and carefully turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.

5. To assemble the cake, place one cake upside down onto a plate and spread it with plenty of jam. If you want to, you can spread over whipped cream too.

6. Top with the second cake, top-side up. Sprinkle over the caster sugar.

11. Your advice to budding cake artists?

Work on yourselves. Don’t be in a hurry to start selling or teaching. But, it’s important to be patient, learn the skills, and perfect your foundation before climbing up the ladder. So, give yourself the time to learn and participate in competitions so you can use the feedback constructively and work on yourself.