Transforming dreams and passion into stunning cake art

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.’The words of Albert Schweitzer, a French philosopher, come to life with the passion of Nukhet Dora, a Doha-based Turkish expatriate.She loves baking and decorating cakes, cupcakes and cookies. For her, it all started as a hobby and has become a passion and a source of happiness.“One day I baked a caked and decorated with sugar paste for the birthday of my daughter in 2009. I was so excited and enjoyed the experience that I have been baking and decorating cakes since that day.”With her passion started the journey of further learning and mastering the skill of not only baking delectable cakes but also decorating them with colourful sugar pastes. “After sometime I noticed that all I could think about was baking. I started gathering recipes and books on the art of making and decorating cakes. I am a self-taught baker and designer, but I also attend different cake-making events and classes even today to keep brushing up my skills.”As the fun started with baking a cake for a birthday party and decorating it for the gathering, Nukhet continues to enjoy preparing cakes for birthday parties at her home. “I love decorating cakes for birthday parties and especially for kids. I used different attractive colour combinations to make the cakes look artistic. I also make cakes of different shapes as desired by the children. I have constantly been receiving orders for birthday cakes. I bake and decorate cakes at home.”Nukhet, along with her family, moved to Doha in 2012. After she settled in Qatar, she has started organising workshops and classes teaching how to bake and decorate cakes to the women from different countries living here. “I read everything I can find, tried several receipts, joined classes and called my work ‘Nuku’s Cakes & Cookies’ at the end. I have also started sharing what I have learnt. Basically, I have three different classes. Each of my class I runs for six hours. Mostly moms come to my classes. They cannot spend six hours with me on a single day so I teach them for two to three hours a day.“The cake decoration class is very special one. The course does not include baking. It is all about making fillings and frosting the cakes. After the class, all participants get chance to take the decorated cakes to their homes and as well as the recipes along with their training notes. “I also organise cupcakes decoration classes. We bake altogether three different cupcakes recipes at kitchen and then we start to decorate them with sugar paste and butter cream.“The third one is cookies decoration class. We bake two different kinds of cookie recipes at the kitchen and then we learn how to decorate them with sugar paste.”The Turkish cake designer has been organising classes at her home. She is going to have her next session this October. “There is a lot of interest in the art of cake decoration among women of different nationalities living in Qatar. I have come across some very good cake makers who are keen to learn more and more about cake decorations. The trend is getting a lot of momentum.”The delicate designer says she does not intend to make it her business. “I am a house wife and take care of two children. I cannot do this on a commercial scale. However, people pay me when they ask for special birthday cakes. I do not charge much. I always keep cakes ready at my home for the guests. I started it as a hobby and carry it on as my passion.”