Shirley Conde

by Christi Marsico
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 4:05 PM MDT

Shirley Conde was about 9 years old when she baked a dessert for the first time.

"My daddy has a sweet tooth, and I made him brownies. And being a daddy's girl, I was hooked after the look on his face -- he loved it," Conde said.

Born in Russellville, Ala., she went on to attend business school in Birmingham, Ala., where she also took her first course in decorating cakes in 1974.

After six weeks of learning how to make, bake and decorate cakes like a pro, Conde received her certificate from Wilton, a world-renowned cake decorating school.

She continued to make cakes for her family, and Conde declared, "It's just mushroomed ever since then."

Supporting her passion, for many years her husband has bought her Wilton's annual cookbooks, which introduced her to fondant, which she uses in her decorating.

"Fondant has texture like Play-Doh," Conde explained. "It gets stiff, and you can work magic with it."

Making cakes for more than 34 years, she has had a few favorites along the way, including the Strawberry Shortcake ice cream cake she recently made.

One of the most exotic wedding cakes she created was a hibiscus flower cake for a Hawaiian wedding while one of the most unusual cakes she has decorated was for another wedding, which was a little out of the ordinary.

"It was like a Dr. Seuss cake for a hippie bride, and she wanted these symbols on top and wanted it look tie dyed, so I spray painted the frosting on it, blending colors," Conde said.

While taking on cake orders of all sorts, she has pioneered into new territory with her decorating, creating anything from chocolate seashells to diaper pins.

And Conde's home-style hospitality is apparent as her passion for decorating cakes knows no boundaries.

Loving to learn, this Betty Crocker implements her own techniques into whatever creations are on her plate.

Cake decorating is an art to her for the simple reason that she creates an edible vision to make someone's day special.

If needed, she will convert one of her 200 cake pans, aided by frosting, to whatever is needed to create the desired look.

"I had a grand piano cake pan, and I turned it into roller skates with donuts for the wheels," Conde said.

Making everything from scratch as much as possible, this baking lady's favorite personal cake is chocolate with red velvet frosting, referring to it as a "southern thing."

Conde moved her Southern hospitality to Casper in 1995 and notes that she and her husband seldom eat cake anymore.

Teaching cake decorating classes, she is eager to share her skills with anyone interested. The comfort of her kitchen is as soothing as her ease in frosting cakes, which she noted is a stress relief.

With a graduation cake, a baby shower cake and a wedding cake on her future baking “to do” list, this mother of two won't be taking her apron off anytime soon.

"It all goes back to the joy I saw on my daddy's face after I made those brownies," Conde said. "I just want to try and fulfill a person's dream."

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