Julie Deffense
Julie Deffense Artistry
“This summer, I made a 1,000-pound cake,” says Julie Deffense. “It was nine feet tall, six feet in diameter and had 35 cake tiers airbrushed with edible gold. Every round had a stencil pattern based on the bride’s dress, with a six-tier panel of sugar beading I applied with tweezers. It took nine days just to apply them. It took months to create the 2,000- plus sugar flowers that adorned the cake.”
There are few things that leave me speechless, but when Julie, an internationally renowned luxury cake designer, explains one of her biggest undertakings to date, I find myself at a loss for words.
If “1,000-pound cake” didn’t give it away, allow me to explain further. Though most of her cakes are toddler-sized, not tower-sized, Julie is still no ordinary cake maker. She’s spent the last 20 years in Portugal, with the last decade devoted to creating exquisitely designed and personalized wedding cakes that have garnered international recognition and led to three immensely popular cookbooks. In college, she studied fine arts, graphic design, and publishing, as well taking time to study architecture in Italy. When an opportunity to work on web design opened up in Portugal, she jumped on it not realizing she would soon meet her husband-to-be and would eventually use her education in such a delicious way.
“When I began creating cakes, my background created a full-circle experience as I could apply all of these design skills to my cakes and cookbooks,” explains Julie. “It sets me apart because, as an artist, I think it’s necessary to be clear about who you are and what your style is.”
That style isn’t just confined to looks. After all, it’s what’s on the inside that counts the most, right? “I make huge cakes, but I consider myself small-batch. I make everything from scratch, even the buttercream,” she says. “I bake like I would for my family.”
Julie will be spending winter wedding season here in Sarasota and summer wedding season in Cascais, Portugal, though she is open to travel and can be persuaded to make a non-wedding cake for a very special event, so long as it aligns with her aesthetic. Which, folks, does not include requesting a small cake just because you really like cake. Trust me, I already asked.
