Nicholas Lodge

Nicholas Lodge
Nicholas Lodge holding an arrangement of gum paste flowers that he created.
Born (1962-06-12) June 12, 1962
Education National Bakery School
Occupation Pastry Chef, Cake Artist, Instructor, Author, Business Owner
Website www.nicholaslodge.com

Chef Nicholas Lodge (12 June 1962) is a pastry chef, master cake artist, author, and instructor. He is the co-owner of Atlanta-based International Sugar Art Collection, a retail gallery and school teaching all levels of cake decorating and sugar arts. He is best known for creating botanically correct gum paste flowers. Nicholas is an instructor at the French Pastry School in Chicago, Illinois.[1] He was a recurring judge on Food Network Challenge,[2] he judges annually at the Omni Grove Park Inn National Gingerbread House Competition and other regional competitions (Nicholas has judged pastry competitions on the regional, national and international level).[3]

Early life

Nicholas was born in Essex, England. He decorated his first cake at the age of ten, in honor of his parents wedding anniversary.[4] Around the same time, while recovering from a tonsillectomy, Nicholas' grandmother gave him an Australian cake decorating book. Using this book, Nicholas made his first sugar flowers, white carnations.[5]

Education

At age 11, Nicholas entered Moulsham High School in Chelmsford. The school facilities and curriculum divided boys and girls, boys received training in woodworking and engineering, while girls took home economics. Nicholas knew he wanted to become a chef (an uncommon career choice for a boy in England at the time), and requested to take home economics. The principal was hesitant to grant permission, but Nicholas' parents supported his choice and insisted he be allowed into the class. At 16, Nicholas entered the National Bakery School in London. He was in class Monday through Thursday, Friday and Saturday he worked at a bakery, and Saturday afternoons he worked at a flower shop.[5] He often dissected flowers, and by making detailed notes and templates, Nicholas was able to work out how he might recreate the flower exactly using gum paste.[6] Upon graduation, Nicholas was awarded the distinction of Most Outstanding Cake Decorating Student.

Career

England

Upon graduating from the National Bakery School, Nicholas was offered the position of Principal Wedding Cake Designer at Woodnutts, one of England's top sugar arts schools.[3] While at Woodnutts, Nicholas created cakes for Harrods, the Savoy, and the The Ritz.[7] Nicholas next held a teaching position at Mary Ford's Cake Artistry Centre in Bournemouth. At this time, Nicholas was commissioned by the royal family to make a cake for the Queen Mother's 80th birthday.[5] Nicholas was accepted by the royal family to create one of the 24 official wedding cakes for the royal wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles. The cake was nine feet tall and weighed over 300 pounds. Three years later, Nicholas was once again sought out by the royal family to create a christening cake for Prince Harry. The cake was finely detailed with swans, water lilies, and a miniature baby in royal swaddling clothes.[6]

In 1985, Nicholas was commissioned to write his first book.[3] More books followed along with instructional videos and international teaching tours.[6] After the publication of his fourth book, Nicholas returned to Moulsham High School with a gift of approximately $30,000, books, sewing machines and various other equipment for the home economics department.

United States

Nicholas traveled to the United States in the 1980s to demonstrate at the International Cake Exploration Societé (ICES) convention. At the time, most American cakes were covered with thick buttercream icing. Many of the students in Nicholas' classes had never seen the techniques he was using to decorate cakes with royal icing and rolled fondant. Feeling like the cake decorating field had become saturated in England, Nicholas decided to move to the United States and teach classes on cake decorating. During a two-week class in Atlanta, Georgia, Nicholas decided to make the city his new home. The two-week class turned into a three-year teaching position.[5]

In 1992, Nicholas and business partner Scott Ewing opened their own school and retail gallery, the International Sugar Art Collection (ISAC) in Norcross, Georgia; there is also a Nicholas Lodge International Sugar Art Collection Japan sister school in Tokyo, Japan, which opened in 1995. Nicholas taught classes at ISAC as well as across the United States and abroad. To date, Nicholas has instructed cake decorating classes in 26 different counties.[3] Teaching kept Nicholas so busy that in 1993 he was unable to accept an invitation from the Clinton Whitehouse for a one-year presidential fellowship. In 2001, Nicholas was inducted into the ICES Hall of Fame; to date he is the youngest ever recipient of that honor. Beginning in 2003 the annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida has invited Nicholas to be featured as a guest pastry chef. This relationship has led to classes that Nicholas teaches exclusively for Walt Disney World Resort pastry chefs.[3] The Food Network sought out Nicholas in 2005 to be a judge on two seasons of Food Network Challenge. At the same time, Nicholas was offered another annual judging position at the National Gingerbread House Competition held at the Omni Grove Park Inn; he now holds the title of head judge.[5]

From 2009 through 2014, Nicholas was the spokesperson for Albert Uster Imports (AUI). Nicholas hosted AUI roadshows across the United States showcasing AUI rolled fondant and other products as well as demonstrating how to use different techniques in wedding cake designs.[3] Beginning in January 2015, Nicholas became the brand ambassador for the Renshaw line of rolled fondant and gumpaste.[8]

Nicholas has taught classes at Le Cordon Bleu, Johnson & Wales, the Art Institute of Atlanta, and the French Pastry School. Nicholas initially taught the gum paste section of a 24-week program at the French Pastry School, and in 2010 Nicholas joined the teaching team as a Chef Instructor for the 16-week L'Art du Gateau program (aimed specifically at those wishing to pursue a career in cake decorating and sugar artistry). For many years, Nicholas was a judge, demonstrator, and guest instructor at the World Pastry Forum, and beginning in 2013 Nicholas accepted an invitation to be a recurring judge and demonstrator at Pastry Live Atlanta.[9] In 2012, Nicholas began offering online classes through Craftsy.com. Currently, Craftsy offers nine Nicholas Lodge courses, with more planned for the future.[10]

Honors

Bibliography

Nicholas Lodge has written numerous cake decorating books and instruction manuals.

Videography

Nicholas has created a series of videos and DVDs to compliment his instructional books.

References

  1. ↑ "The French Pastry School". www.frenchpastryschool.com. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  2. ↑ "Food Network Challenge -Episode CC0303H". www.foodnetwork.com. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "About Nicholas Lodge". www.nicholaslodge.com. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "2012/2014 Judges- Nicholas Lodge". www.pastrylive.com. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Howard, Michelle. "Reinventing Royal". Edible Artist.
  6. 1 2 3 Bentley, Rosalind. "Baker's artistry draws students to school of sugar art in Norcross". www.ajc.com. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  7. ↑ Schultz, Susan (2014). "Instructor Par Excellence". American Cake Decorating (July–August 2014): 28–31.
  8. ↑ "Chef Nicholas is the brand ambassador for Renshaw". Nicholas Lodge. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Nicholas Lodge". www.pastrylive.com. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Nicholas Lodge". www.craftsy.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

External links

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