Meet the science teacher who has just scooped a national award for her wedding cake designs

A Shotton based cake maker has scooped a national award for her stunning wedding cake creations.

Dr Alison Bushell who has a PhD in Clinical Biochemistry was named North Wales Cake Designer of the Year at the Welsh Wedding Awards in Cardiff.

More the 250 wedding specialists and suppliers attended the lavish awards ceremony at the Exchange Hotel last Wednesday.

The star-studded evening was hosted by radio-broadcaster, Polly James. She presented the winners, as chosen by the public and congratulated them for their driven passion to leave every customer satisfied and deliver elegant weddings.

Alison’s Rowley’s Drive based business ‘The Cake Doctor’ came out top despite stiff competition from some of the regional best wedding cake designers.

She was “genuinely gobsmacked” at winning the award, “I was convinced I was not going to win, when they called my name I was like – flipping heck, what’s going on here.” Said Alison.

The Cake Doctor’s reputation has steadily grown over the past ten years, mainly through word of mouth Alison says.

“I feel that one of my biggest strengths is the quality of my cakes.

I have experimented with and tested my recipes and flavour combinations rigorously over the years and I know that my cakes taste as good as they look.

I use the best quality ingredients and all my cakes are finished to the highest standard. Nothing leaves my workshop unless I am happy with it.”

Being a wedding cake designer may not be the most obvious choice for a science teacher with a degree in Biochemistry.

Alison says she has “always had a love of baking” but the career switch came after her disabled son Ben became very ill. She said:

“When Ben’s condition became so severe I made the difficult decision to give up teaching Science and become his full-time carer.

I continued to bake from home for friends and family but word of mouth brought more and more people asking for cakes.”

“Four years ago the opportunity came for me to move into my own premises and I am pleased to say my business has gone from strength to strength.

It has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears but it is so worth it.”

[Cakes created by The Cake Doctor]

Making wedding and celebration cakes is not a job for Alison its a passion she says.

“I love to see the joy and amazement on the faces of my customers when they first see their cakes. I have had more than a few tears of joy over the years from my brides and grooms.”

The name for the business came from some of her pupils whilst she was still teaching, Alison said:

“The children called me Dr B and if they did particularly well in a test or if they all got their coursework in on time then I would bake them a cake. One of the pupils said, You are the Cake Doctor, Miss and I thought what a good name for my business.” 

The Cake Doctor also runs a hugely successful sugarcraft school at its Deeside Enterprise Centre workshop on Rowleys Drive with evening and weekend sessions.

Alison says for many of her students the sugarcraft school is their one social outlet a week, “the class is so much more than a place to learn sugarcraft; it is a refuge, it’s somewhere to have a cup of tea and a piece of cake whilst putting the world to rights.”

You can find out more about The Cake Doctor here: thecakedoctor.co.uk