Works of Art
THE INTRICACIES OF MARION ATTAL’S CAKE-MAKING
By Isabel Hochman // November 30, 2021
The Berkshires has always been a place for creativity. From transcendentalists, free thinkers, poets, musicians, playwrights, artists, and dancers, we have seen new ideas flourish and take hold within a strong, supportive community.
JEFF NIKI, COURTESY MAMIE BROUGITTE CAKES
Artist Marion Attal has given new meaning to the creative process. In 2013, she founded Mamie Brougitte Cakes, after her French grandmother who taught her the basics and gave her “the baking gene.” When Attal started baking, she was living in a small town on the coast of South Africa and brought her goods to sell at a local farmers market. At first, she was more interested in French pastries, but her customers kept insisting that she bake cakes. Attal did some research and learned about acclaimed cake baker Maggie Austin, who specializes in sugar flowers. She trained under acclaimed Washington, D.C.-based baker Maggie Austin. It was then that Attal realized that she could combine her love of art with baking, and Maggie took her on as a mentee.
Attal’s focus has since been on developing sugar flower sculptures for her clients’ wedding cakes. “The sugar flowers last forever as long as they don’t get wet. The customers get to take the flowers home with them after their wedding, and it serves as a keepsake.” She makes her cakes from her licensed kitchen and assembles the cakes 24 hours before the event. They are stacked and then decorated, which she notes “is unusual for a cake business, as it requires a huge amount of fridge space, but necessary for such highly decorated pieces.”
ON VIEW Marion Attal works on and displays her cake decorations and sugar flowers at His Daughter Paloma Gallery in Lenox.
On any given week, Attal will be focusing on two cake orders. With everything customized, she tries to work with one client at a time. She does not mass-produce the sugar flowers, but rather each flower is made from scratch for a specific cake. She focuses on gathering ingredients locally from the community and makes her own butter, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. For her, “quality over quantity” is one of her main focuses, and she puts love and dedication into each and every cake she designs. Attal takes inspiration from Impressionists like Renoir and Monet, as well as objects that have decayed and aged. This shows through her use of layering colors and creating the look of crystallization.
She took a leap of faith when moving from Brooklyn to the Berkshires to develop her business, although she knew of the region’s foundation and passion in food. Today, her work is being shown in His Daughter Paloma gallery located on Church Street in Lenox, which opened in early 2021. Attal displays her cake decorations and sugar flowers at the gallery, along with giving people the ability to view her process. The response from other businesses in the area was overwhelmingly positive after her move to the gallery. “Lenox women-owned businesses like Design Menagerie and MacKimmie Co. have always been super-supportive and super-optimistic about my business.”
JEFF NIKI, COURTESY MAMIE BROUGITTE CAKES
Her business has grown not only from her Instagram, but also from the support she has received from Her Daughter Paloma owner Justin Carafotes. In 2019, he and Rachel Renchner-Kelly were planning their wedding when they came across Attal’s designs after their original cake had been canceled. As an artist and patron, Carafotes was impressed with her aesthetic and sustainable approach, which was an aspect that ran constant with other wedding vendors they used. In October of 2020, Carafotes and Rachel relocated to the Berkshires from New York. When they decided to open the gallery, Carafotes had ambitions of not only creating a commercial gallery, but also a creative space for artists-in-residence and larger exhibitions. “Attal’s sugar sculpture is pretty phenomenal, and we offered up the space for the first artist-in-residence to work in the gallery and produce these sculptures.”
In May 2022, Attal will have an exhibition produced by Carafotes at the Stockbridge Train Station, which he exclusively operates for the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum and is working to turn into a local event space, in addition to maintaining the Lenox gallery. “The gallery is producing ‘Immersion: The Inner Child,’ a solo show of Attal’s work where, out of the residency, she’ll take over the space of the Stockbridge Train Station,” Carafotes says. He envisions the experience to be as if it had been abandoned and nature had taken over. “We will have different sculptures, certain elements, and glass domes and prints for sale.”
As Attal works on this show, she has expressed interest in having an apprentice work with her to develop the sugar sculptures. For a local young person, this would mean that she would train and teach them her skills as a baker and an artist. Carafotes has also been working to collaborate with Williams College on creating internships.
COURTESY MAMIE BROUGITTE CAKES
Attal continues to grow her business and remains focused on staying true to her beliefs of not mass-producing her decorations, being mindful about where her ingredients come from, and taking the time to work intimately with her clients on their special day. Since the pandemic began, Attal has noticed that her clients have begun to define their priorities more. “When they come to me, they are fully prepared to immerse themselves in an artistic cake,” says Attal.
If you are interested in an internship with Attal or Carafotes, please visit their websites at mamiebrougitte.com or hisdaughterpaloma.com