Amirah Kassem has one of
the most memorable business cards on the planet: Her contact info's
printed on a pack of sugar. An actual pack of sugar. In a way, it's a
symbol of the 29-year-old baker herself — everything she does is sweet,
whimsical, and unexpected.
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As the founder of Flour Shop in New York, she specializes in creating what The New York Times deemed
"playful, high-concept" desserts that appeal to some of the
entertainment industry's biggest names. Seriously — her clients include
Katy Perry, Sting, Beyoncé, and Snoop Dogg. Back in 2013, she worked
with photographer Henry Hargreaves on a dessert-based art exhibit in honor of Wu-Tang Clan's 20th anniversary. (It was fittingly called C.R.E.A.M., for Cakes Rule Everything Around Me.)
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Since then, she's made cakes that look like golden pineapples, Dia de Los Muertos sugar skulls,
giant piles of spaghetti and meatballs, and donuts. Kassem's a
self-taught baker — she worked in fashion for years, baking on the side,
before taking the leap to making cakes and treats full-time. Many of
her designs draw on her years of fashion, design, and on-the-job cake
decorating skills, but what caught our eye was her clever take on a
polka-dot cake that anyone can master. Yes, even straight-from-a-box
bakers.
The concept is simple: Prepare two batches of vanilla cake batter using whatever recipe you like best,
then set one aside, dividing it into four bowls. Put a few drops of
food coloring in each one, mixing it to create four different colors of
batter.
Bake the batter in a cake pop maker and set them aside to cool.
In
two round cake pans, evenly divide the plain vanilla cake batter. Pop a
few cake balls into each one, coating them entirely, then bake the cake
according to the recipe's instructions.
As for decorating the cake, that couldn't be any simpler: Cover it in vanilla frosting, then pat rainbow sprinkles
to cover the top and sides completely. Instantly, any cake looks
professional — even if you're still trying to get the hang of evenly
frosting one.
