The Queen Of Piping

How Toba Garrett helped transform American cake design from common buttercream to complex artistry. 

By Carly DeFilippo

ICE Chef Instructor Toba Garrett wasn't always a master cake decorator, renowned for her unusually attractive, skilled, and delicious confections. Her prior careers spanned the fields of theatre, education, and computer science, before she changed her life through culinary education.

Today, juggling the roles of teacher, industry expert, author, and artist, Toba is among the country's foremost experts in the field of cake decorating and design. She has won more than a dozen international gold and silver medals for her designs, and has been featured in numerous media outlets, including Today Show, InStyle, Pastry Art and Design, Gourmet (and many more). In 2010, Dessert Professional magazine named her one of the "10 Best Cake Decorators in America" and she has even had her work featured by the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C.!