A mid economic and political turmoil in Italy, some pearls are found in the ashes of defunct businesses and ventures thriving in the spirit of never giving up. One such gem is La Belle Aurore, the brainchild of an Italian trio composed of Massimiliano D’Orso, along with Aurora and Cristina Bonafede.
Aurora and Massimiliano are trained in fine arts and schoolmates in art school, while Cristina is an interior designer who once owned her own store. But, alas! Economic difficulties caused them to morph their respective trade, and what was a sideline became their main calling.
While working on their day jobs, they also dabbled in cake decoration and as the demand for their unusual decorating talent skyrocketed, they decided to join competitions first in the Italian circuit. Then they went on to conquer the European ones, as well.
This year they decided to go beyond the European borders, joining their first competition in Texas. They bagged top honors in all of them, thus making a name for themselves and eventually shifting to the highly rewarding training aspect of their art.
Fortunately, they were brought to the Philippine shores by Anna Ocampo Sarmiento’s OC’s Kitchen. La Belle Aurore conquered the hearts and minds of local cake artists, as well, through a three-day master class held in a most inviting environment provided by Sarmiento.
Skills were taught and shared principally by Aurora, who crafted their trademark cake toppers with Massimiliano and Cristina, who, in turn, supervised the students as they were executing their newly acquired skills, offering DVD tutorial and tools for a more faithful application of their art.
Aurora successfully transferred her fine-arts ability in developing porcelain, like dolls entirely made with edible modeling paste by Saracino, a family-owned Italian maker of specialized cake-making products enthusiastically endorsed by La Belle Aurore for its highly malleable characteristics that make it ideal for them to develop their cake decorating techniques.
Each doll is an original creation with its own personality and individual clothing and accessories, all made from scratch through a surprisingly user-friendly technique that has been increasingly embraced by cake-decorators since its introduction in the field.
The master class, while very informative and creative, was never dull. It was filled with laughter and fun, leaving the students satisfied and thoroughly entertained with the lively exchange between the Italian and Filipino culture. New friendships were forged with promises to return, to gather once again in this cake-decorating haven or meeting in Rome.
But let the photos of the amazing art of La Belle Aurore speak for themselves. The story of a truly wonderful sideline that thankfully became the main occupation of this quirky Italian trio.
Thank you for raising the Italian flag high in art of cake decorating!