Serious Cake: Rising to the Occasion

DeliveryRank has the pleasure of chatting with the very talented Seri Lopez, founder of Serious Cake, who discovered her passion for baking early in life, starting with a Suzy Bake Oven and evolving into a self-taught expert in cake artistry. After a successful career as an Executive Assistant, she followed her calling and turned her creative gift into a full-time business. Now a certified cake decorator trained by world-renowned artists, Seri brings her love of baking, chocolate, and sugar work to each custom creation, making every celebration a little sweeter.

Your cakes are renowned for their intricate designs and flavors. How do you balance artistic creativity with clients' specific visions and preferences? 

Thank you for your question, as much as I would love to go over the top with all my cakes and artistic vision, I have found that working with each couple’s dream board, vision, and budget works best. I really love art from centuries past and the intricacy and beauty but as a cake artist it takes a lot of time. I can only take on so much work each week and to work within the clients budget is important. Honestly cakes can take weeks to months of work when creating intricate details such as sugar flowers, sugar appliques and fine details that go on the cake.

Operating in the Portland area, how do local culture and trends influence your cake designs and offerings? 

Every couple is unique and so is their wedding, whether it be over the top ornate details to simplistic, creating their vision with speed and efficiency over a meeting through zoom with articles of inspiration from their wedding is key. Some will bring the latest trend which is fun and sometimes challenging to create because each artist has their own style, and some brides want the exact replication of a cake and honestly you can’t do that without going to that artist. I prefer incorporating the bride’s dress details or floral from the bouquet, family traditions such as the beautiful artistry of Henna or natural scenery such as the unique Northwest or sometimes bringing in a little fantasy to their cake. All of this helps me create dream cakes for their wedding or a special occasion cake. 

With a variety of services like custom designs, private tastings, and dessert buffets, how do you ensure consistency and quality across all offerings? 

Everything is baked to order. Paid in advance, this keeps everything fresh and consistent, I also only take on a few projects at a time. I use the same ingredients and offer To Go tastings to couples for their wedding so they may taste and experience my baking style and privately assess my cakes without me looking over their shoulder. We then meet over zoom for a design session.

They may select three cake flavors and filling choices to taste; they each receive their own sampling of the same cakes. Sometimes couples would like to try additional flavors, but I have found it becomes confusing for them, keeping the flavor of samples to a minimum is best. Once they have tried their flavor selections this should give them an idea as to how I bake and how delicious my cakes are. We then can add additional flavors to their order and talk about a dessert table, as needed. 

Given the importance of dietary considerations today, how do you accommodate requests for nut-free or other specialized options without compromising on taste and presentation?

I purchase the best ingredients I can buy; I sanitize and sterilize my kitchen but do let my clients know that I use wheat, nuts, gluten etc. in my kitchen. If someone is celiac or has a severe nut allergy, I will send them to a truly gluten or nut free establishment. I would not want anyone to take a chance. 

How do you approach the process of creating highly detailed elements like 3D sculpted cakes and sugar flowers, and what techniques or inspirations guide your craftsmanship in those intricate designs?

Through years of my own experience in making cakes, collaborations, competing, and training under highly skilled artists I have developed my own style. Through research I will design the item, sometimes with lots of engineering and support systems being built to ensure transport and stability of the cake. I will print photos design to scale if I am recreating an object to make it as close as possible to the real piece. I work on processes that work with my design and style. Since I teach techniques of cake artistry, flower making, sugar work etc. and have been published in several different cake and wedding magazines I have set techniques in place. You may find tutorials of my work with chocolate and sugar flowers, sugar work, hand modeling, and 3D sculpted work on my website or social media accounts. 

As a veteran-owned and woman-owned business, how have your personal experiences shaped the ethos and direction of SeriousCake.com?

As the wife of a retired 21-year military Master Sergeant I have learned to be open and flexible, ready to change in an instant and to work as a team. I come from a large family that is diverse, my father was an engineer also in the military, so I believe I have some of his talent and I have been blessed with and am so thankful to own my business. I love the creative outlet, and love I work with all people; I am a woman of faith, I always seek the Lord to bring the those He would like me to work with. In an ever-changing world I have found His Ways to be the Best and to Guide my Steps.

If you would like to find out more about Seriouscake, please visit

https://seriouscake.com/, https://www.facebook.com/SeriousCakecom-155812504431839

https://www.instagram.com/seriouscakecom/