Vendor Spotlight! Sugar Breck

Cutting the cake has been a integral part of wedding celebrations for hundreds of years. When the tradition first started in England, it was customary for the bride and groom to share a Bride’s Pye which contained oysters, pine kernels, cockscombs, sweetbread, and other strange ingredients. Thank goodness we have amazing bakers today, like Katy Pierson of Sugar Breck, to create much more delicious and beautiful cakes for our couples to share! Katy’s creations are intricate in design, but don’t let that fool you; the cakes taste just as amazing as they look! We asked Katy a few questions to get to know her and her business better!

KKWE: Tell us a little about you and Sugar Breck!

Katy Pierson: I grew up Minnesota and moved to Colorado when I was a wee 19.  I  worked at a little Bakery in Breckenridge and really enjoyed what I was doing so I decided to go to pastry school in 2008.  I headed out to Napa Valley for my education, which was one of the best life decisions I have ever made.  I packed my big sweet Malamute and everything I owned into my little Subaru and took off.   I got to live in beautiful wine country,  work for a lovely florist part time, drink wine, eat good food and learn from amazing pastry chefs.  8 years later… here we are!  I think my greatest professional achievement in the last year has been finding balance.  Any small business owner knows this feeling and finding balance for me has made a world of difference.  Not to mention all the beautiful wedding days I have been part of and all the creatives I have had a chance to work with.  Oh and being recognized as one of the top places in the country to get a wedding cake by Martha Stewart was not so bad either!

KKWE: How would you describe your style or aesthetic?

KP: My aesthetic tends to be more on the natural and organic side.  I love to make a cake that looks beautiful as well as something you can’t wait to get your fork into.  I feel so lucky to call Colorado home and the natural beauty of this great place certainly helps with conceptualizing design ideas.

KKWE: Who (or what) inspires you in your life and work?

KP: I have some pretty amazing individuals in my life that inspire me all the time.  My mom for one, she is a talent all her own.  She was always teaching me and my siblings to be creative. We always had a project to work on, a class to attend or an art store to get to.  I love finding inspiration all over, you never know what is going to hit you, from a delicate flower to a setting western sky.

KKWE: How would you describe your creative process?

KP: My creative process is fairly simple though I love a good day dream.  I usually start with a few images, create a portfolio for that project along with a sketch or two.  I’m a very visual person so any images or anything I can touch, feel or taste helps.

KKWE: How do you unwind?

KP: There is nothing like a good cross country ski or skin up a mountain, this is my cure all solution to unwind.  Tequila helps too.

KKWE: If you weren’t a baker, what would you want to do?

KP: If cake wasn’t my jam, I dream of being a wildlife photographer.  Not that I know the first thing about using a camera.  I have a good eye for spotting wildlife wherever I am.  I swear they come out to greet me.