Nashauna Drummond, Lifestyle Coordinator

Who said traditional has to be boring? Shaun Grant adds some life to this basic fruit cake with her Sage Delight. - Contributed photos

Shaun Grant always wanted to be a designer. Today, that dream is a reality with Sage Delights. Her material of choice, though, is not cloth, but sugar. Yes, sugar. Grant brings her cakes to life with her sugary creations of bright, bold and beautiful tropical flowers.

"My focus was finding something I enjoy and I'm happy I've found it," she told Food.

The detail and complexity of her designs are amazing, especially for someone who just three years ago couldn't even bake. "I did pastry making at the University of Technology in 2005 and I fell in love with it," she said.

"I liked cooking but I couldn't bake and I wanted to try something new."

Other possibilities

Her lecturer, Annette Chin, introduced her to the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's culinary arts competition which opened her eyes to other possibilities. In the competition, she won four gold, one silver and three bronze medals for her creations.

At first, her love was making and decorating wedding cakes, then she saw someone doing sugar art on television and instantly fell in love with it.

"It was something I wished for," she recalls. Grant started researching the art and with encouragement from her former lecturer, now friend, without any formal training, she taught herself sugar artistry.

"I said, 'God, I want to learn that', and did it. I can sit for hours and do it. I love to see the finished product because while making a particular design, I will tweak it so it's exciting for me to see what I'm doing."

The first flower she created (free hand) was a Calla lilly and today it's her favourite. During the process of refining her skill, she read the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Richard T. Kiyosaki. "It's about how to expand your mind by taking in new content. It has you thinking you can do it; make something from nothing."

Everything should be edible

Grant's designs are so extensive that, at times, it will take her as long as three weeks to finish a cake. "I don't like to see artificial things on a cake, everything should be edible." So far, she hasn't found a design that has her stunned. "It's not hard until I look at it and say I can't do it."

For the holidays, Grant is busy with her chrysanthemums for the season's fruit cake as she notes, "Jamaicans love traditional things".

Grant can be contacted at sagesugarflowers.jam@hotmail.com/www.myspace.com/sagesugarflowers Tel: 489-6629

Shaun Grant, with one of her Sage Delights cakes in the background