Creator Close Up with Carol Ravagnani

Meet Carol, UK based cake designed, renowned instructor, Mother and the face behind Alice and Rosa Cake Design.

Carol is known for whimsical, botanical designs and particular skill in colour mixing. "Colours can elevate the level of design, grab attention amid so many distractions and intentionally express emotions. I have no doubt that colours play a crucial rose in my work as a cake designer."

Hello! I'm Carol Ravagnani, a baker and cake decorator based in London, where I run my business and online school, Alice and Rosa Cake Design. I'm also the proud mum of Alice and Rosa, which inspired the name of my business, and most recently, Cookie – our little puppy.

When I'm not in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes, creating designs, or teaching classes, you can find me in the park with my girls or exploring what London has to offer - culture and food. I feel incredibly fortunate to have cake decorating as my career; it's been a journey filled with challenges and yet extremely rewarding - especially meeting students from all over the world.

For a very long time, I worked in office jobs that made me very unhappy. So when I got pregnant, I decided that during my maternity leave, I’d take on a creative project (as well as learn how to be a mother!). At that time, the Great British Bake Off was just beginning, and I started noticing amazing cakes popping up on Facebook that I had never seen before, and I loved it. So I decided to take up baking and make Alice’s first birthday cake. I enjoyed the creativity and hands-on nature of cake decorating and decided to pursue it as a hobby. And... I'm still here!

I think I’d describe it as botanical minimalism with a contemporary twist.

It is important to master the medium you are working with, whether it's buttercream, fondant, ganache, or any other material you've decided to work with. The more you understand how it works, the more confident you'll be to experiment and try new ideas.

Secondly I’d say it is important to understand what you like (and what you dislike) and gather inspiration from outside the cake field. Explore interiors, ceramics, fashion, painting —there's so much art to draw inspiration from.

With confidence and a real understanding of what inspires you, anyone will be well-equipped to create their own work by translating their ideas into the medium of their choice.

Just do it. If your inner voice is telling you that's where your heart is, then don't ignore it; go for it. No one else is going to do it for you. As with any new business, the journey is far from easy but incredibly rewarding. You will learn so much about yourself—it's a real journey of self-discovery. But be prepared to work—as you only get what you give. Lastly but not least, have fun! There’s no point otherwise, right?

I'm fascinated by colours and the profound effect they have on us. It's such a simple yet incredibly powerful tool of communication—representing a brand, evoking a mood, defining a style, conveying a message. Colour has the ability to transform something average into a work of art, a capability that's especially crucial in today’s online world, where our work competes with countless other images simultaneously.

Using complementary colours to create more subdued hues (I teach how to do this in a simple and practical way in my course, Colour Mixing for Cake Designers).

That’s easy! - Red, Yellow and Sky Blue because I can create so many gorgeous colours from them! They are must haves in my base palette. I really love the Rust, Eucalyptus and Olive from Colour Mill.

Check out Carol's work, tutorials and online courses on her website!