At just 14, the Dunstan High School student entered the Australian Cake Artists and Decorators Association International Cake Show Australia late last year, and has been raising funds since October to make the trip possible. The competition, Australia’s largest cake, cookie and sugarcraft event, draws participants of all skill levels from across the globe.
‘‘I got really excited about it and asked my mum and dad if I could enter and they said yes, so it all went from there,’’ Caja said.
Her love of baking started early, discovering fondant at 7 and using it like modelling clay.
‘‘I used it like clay for a while, just practising, and my first design was a giraffe,’’ she said.
‘‘I made myself a zoo cake and from there it all started.’’
From that first giraffe, her hobby quickly grew. Birthday cakes for friends and family soon led to orders from the wider community.
‘‘It all started to grow quickly from there,’’ she said.
Caja and her mother, local nurse Tisha Paulin, will travel to Brisbane before the competition, where Caja plans to prepare her entry in a rented kitchen. To help fund the trip, she has been selling her baking at the Alexandra Summer Market — cupcakes, cake pops, custom cakes, along with her handmade earring collection of designs ranging from gummy bears and pretzels to coffee cups. She has also raised funds through gardening and garage sales.
Caja says it is the creative side she loves most.
‘‘I like being self-taught,’’ she said.
‘‘I like the sculpting, carving and painting side of it, and I know a baker with an arts degree, and that’s helped them. I’d like to do that for the design side of it, then I just want to keep baking.’’
At home, she keeps busy late into the night, decorating, piping and icing.
‘‘I make a cake a week — sometimes more. I’ve made three this week alone,’’ she said.
Caja jokes her father, Tim Paulin — a station officer and volunteer firefighter at the Clyde Fire Station — has never had so many cakes in the house he was not allowed to eat.
Despite the temptation, the family are her biggest supporters.
‘‘We’re just so proud of her. That’s she wanting to do it, and working hard to achieve it herself,’’ Mrs Paulin said.
Caja is also involved in her local community, using her skills to support charity events. Recently, she created an Easter-themed cake for a raffle at the Clyde Wine and Food Festival to help raise funds for the Sky Tower blood cancer challenge, which her dad will participate in this year with colleagues. She is also preparing bakes and designs for upcoming Anzac Day.
