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- Leslie Vigil is a California-based cakeartist who creates floral icing designs that look like they've been embroidered.
- Speaking to INSIDER, Vigil said she began baking at a young age, and learned many of her skills from her mother.
- Vigil is inspired by her Mexican culture, textiles and fabrics found in Los Angeles, and other fiber artists.
- In addition to her tapestry-inspired cakes, Vigil also makes desserts that look like animals and succulent plants.
- Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.
Throughout her childhood, Leslie Vigil developed an interest in baking.
The California-based artist, who also works as a baking instructor, is now known around the world for her unique desserts, which feature floral icing designs that look as though they've been embroidered. She also creates cakes in the shape of animals and succulent plants, and shares photos of her work with more than 129,000 followers on Instagram.
INSIDER recently spoke with Vigil about her work, and what it takes to create such detailed desserts. See photos of her stunning cakes below.
Leslie Vigil became interested in baking at a young age.
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Speaking to INSIDER, Vigil said she was inspired to start baking while playing with a cooking-themed toy as a child.
"I'm almost positive that the Easy Bake Oven sparked my interest for baking," Vigil told INSIDER. "My parents had gotten it for me for Christmas and within the week, I baked through all the packets of mix it came with."
"I think my mom could see I wanted more of a challenge, so she encouraged me to use our actual oven instead," she continued. "Bless my mom for being so resourceful."
Her first attempts at baking resulted in desserts that impressed the people around her.
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"My mom would have me assist her when she'd bake, so I learned how to read a recipe and measure ingredients," Vigil said. "I'd take cookies to school to share with friends and they never believed that I was the one who baked them."
"But seeing other people enjoy what I enjoyed making gave me an immense sense of pride," she continued.
Vigil says her mother played the most crucial role in helping her hone her craft.
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According to the artist, she was able to learn cake-decorating skills through books that she took from her mother.
"As for cake decorating, my mom takes the credit," Vigil said. "She took cake-decorating classes, and I saw firsthand what could be done with cake and icing."
"I don't know if she ever knew that I would take her decorating books to study what all the piping tips could do," she said. "I was obsessed."
She then developed her tapestry technique while creating a cake for her niece's birthday.
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While working on a cake for her niece's first birthday, Vigil became inspired to incorporate textile designs into her work.
"The theme was Eva's First Fiesta," Vigil said of her niece's 1st birthday party. "I wanted to make a cake that was colorful and festive to match the theme, but I didn't want to go the kitschy or stereotypical route."
"Once I saw the dress she would be wearing, it came to me," she said. "Brides would often ask me to incorporate details of their wedding dress into their cake design, so I transferred the same concept. I loved the idea of paying tribute to a textile that is iconic to our culture."
Today, Vigil says she finds inspiration everywhere, though her ideas are commonly sparked by fabric.
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Vigil particularly loves to search for inspiration while shopping on Olvera Street, a Mexican marketplace in Los Angeles that's lined with vendors, cafés, and old buildings.
"Olvera Street is a fun one to get inspiration for Mexican embroidery, with all the dresses and garments on display," Vigil said.
"I love texture," she continued. "Lately I've been inspired by fiber artists who work with punch needle, cross stitch, weaving, and macramé. I'd love the opportunity to explore some techniques that emulate those textures."
It can take Vigil up to three hours to create the floral icing designs seen on her cakes.
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Creating such intricate cakes "can take hours and hours," according to Vigil, as she spends time baking, creating unique frosting colors, and drawing designs with icing.
"Tapestry or embroidery cakes take, at the very least, three hours for piping alone — more so if the cake is three tiers or more," Vigil said of decorating her cakes with icing.
"And that doesn't include the time it takes to bake, ice, or develop colors," she continued. "Not to mention the addition of any floral work."
In addition to her tapestry creations, Vigil makes cakes that look like succulent plants — and they're entirely edible.
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While Vigil's succulent cakes look nearly identical to real plants, they're all entirely edible. According to the artist, only the boards that cakes sit on and some internal pieces that help them stand cannot be eaten.
The same goes for the rest of her cakes.
While Vigil says she doesn't have a favorite cake out of the ones she's made, she says she does love when clients give her space to be creative.
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"I feel like every cake I'm working on at the moment is my favorite one," Vigil said. "Although my absolute favorite cakes are the ones when my clients let me have some free reign to play with a concept and a color palette."
"That's when I really feel like something special happens," she said.
Vigil is now extending her baking business into an educational opportunity.
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While speaking to INSIDER, Vigil said she's recently started to host cake-decorating classes, during which she teaches people how to create designs or pipe with buttercream.
"It had been a dream and a goal of mine for some time and it's now starting to happen," Vigil said of her classes.
Vigil says it's an art to work with buttercream frosting, and she hopes to share her passion for the technique with others.
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"I couldn't be more thrilled to work with students who are eager to learn the art of buttercream," Vigil said.
"It's even more humbling when someone wants to learn from me," she continued. "It's been so great getting to meet all these individuals who are just as excited to work with buttercream as I am."
To learn more about Leslie Vigil's work, visit her website and follow her on Instagram.
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