Meet the Family

My mom has a Masters degree in Medical Biochemistry, lectured at the University of Cape Town, got her private pilot’s licence (PPL), is a self-taught expert on small business accounting, ran the Comrades marathon, has written and published 5 books and subsequently won 3 awards at the Richmond Book Festival AND she used to make all my birthday cakes as well as a number of wedding cakes for friends and family.

In case there was any doubt, I have always been unapologetically quirky!

When I was little I was obsessed with the old VW bugs! So for my third birthday, I got one in cake form!

I have a vivid memory of sneaking down the passage the night before my birthday to try catch a glimpse of my 4th birthday cake and getting soundly told off and sent back to bed!

As a 90’s baby, it’s a rite of passage to have had a Barbie birthday cake!

I have always loved ladybugs so for my 6th birthday, my mom made me a ladybug!

My sister and I grew up riding ponies and we both still love horses. Needless to say, many birthday cakes involved ponies!

I loved trains, so for my 7th birthday, I got a gorgeous train cake!

Because of a set of ears on a babygrow, my whole family calls me ‘Micci’ - pronounced like Mickey Mouse - but I spelt it differently!

I believe this was one of my sister’s birthday cakes, an amazing chocolate creation!

My sister went through a stage when she loved everything weddings. So one year, she got a wedding cake for her birthday!

I still remember how my mom used coconut covered marshmallows as hay bales on this cake for my sister’s birthday. Unfortunately, while we were leaving the house for the party, Mom put the cake down on the stoep while she locked up. Excited and pre-hyped on sugar, my sister accidentally stepped in it! Luckily, it was still delicious.

My mom made this wedding cake for family friends who got married in Stellenbosch in December - the peak of South African Summer! It was covered in white chocolate curls, and to stop everything from melting, she ended up working in the farm’s cheese room! I still remember the footsy smell…

She also made this gorgeous traditional Wedding fruitcake covered in marzipan and fondant.

Just for the record, both my parents are extremely multi-talented! My dad is a dentist, trains dogs, got his commercial pilot’s licence with a jet rating, built his own smoker, smokes his own bacon, makes his own sausage, is an amazing cook, an incredible artist, also ran the Comrades marathon, and can fix just about anything! He always has a new hobby - most recently, growing chillis and making chilli sauce, though he is currently venturing into making chocolate! The only chink in his otherwise impenetrable armour of talent is that it’s nigh on impossible to get a photo of him…

Rhys and I got married in the Timbavati Big 5 Nature Reserve in South Africa in 2023. Rhys’s aunt and uncle brought the cake in from Joburg and my mom decorated it with edible pressed flowers that I brought all the way from the UK from Nurtured in Norfolk!