We are very pleased to include our very own Sarah Bell in the list of teachers at the Bonnie Gordon School of Cake Design. For Sarah, the transition into the professional kitchen was natural as baking has been a life-long passion of hers. She began working as a professional pastry chef six years ago after attending George Brown College where she graduated from the Baking and Pastry Arts Program and the Patissier Course for Apprentices

She was hired by Oliver Bonacini Restaurants to work at Biff’s, their French bistro where she was the assistant pastry chef, developing and creating classic French desserts. Sarah then moved to Canoe restaurant, a sister restaurant to Biff’s, to continue broadening her skills and gain valuable management experience. For three years Sarah was the pastry chef for Canoe, creating Canadian inspired desserts in a busy and affluent restaurant kitchen.

Sarah has traveled extensively through Europe and North America, to stay current and inspired by new culinary trends and techniques and works three days a week at Soma Chocolate Maker making delicious artisan chocolates.

Charmaine Baan developed a great love for cooking early on and knew that she was meant to live her life in a professional kitchen. She showed an aptitude for pastry and baking while studying at the Stratford Chef’s School and shortly thereafter began working as an organic baker, specializing in artisan sourdoughs and whole grain breads. After graduating, she found her true passion working in the pastry kitchen of iconic Toronto restaurant, Susur. She followed that up with a stint as pastry chef of yet another local culinary darling, Splendido. It was around this time that she picked up an interest in cake design and was introduced to sugar work by talented pastry chef Norbert Maushagen. Through her classes, Charmaine continues to delve into the creative possibilities of sugar and all things sweet.

Amanda attended one of the only high schools in Ontario that teaches sugarwork and graduated from the Baking Program with honours. She began as an apprentice for renowned pastry chef Norbert Maushagen straight out of high school and has received top graduate in the Baking Program at George Brown College. She is now a pastry chef at Whole Foods Market Oakville and creates custom wedding cakes for private clients.

Jenny’s first experience with cake decorating happened in 1998 when she took a course at Michaels. Over the next two years, she enrolled in the part-time Cake Decorating Course at George Brown College. Initially self-taught in gumpaste flowers, Jenny honed her skills through a variety of classes and workshops. Now she regularly wins top placement at Sugar Art competitions and can boast eight different first and second place awards.

Allyson has always had a passion for all things creative. Since she was a child she has enjoyed spending her time painting, drawing, sewing and designing various art projects. This included designing and hand sewing her best friend's wedding dress. As an adult she continued building her creative skills on the side while attending the University of Toronto. She received her Hon. Bachelor of Science in Psychology and went to work teaching preschool aged children with autism.

It wasn't until Allyson took a course at Bonnie Gordon's school that she realized her creative talents did not have to remain simply a hobby, and that cake design and decorating could act as the perfect arena in which to express a broad creative skill set. Allyson now feels that cake decorating provides a blank canvas by which any person with a love of creativity can learn to express themselves and develop a wide range of new artistic skills and talents.

If you would like to view some of Allyson's stunning cakes, take a look at her thriving business Allyson Meredith Cakes at www.amcakes.com.