Julie Deffense Artistry – Sweet Masterpieces

If you don’t know Julie….you should! She is a master in the art of exquisitely-detailed and stunningly-beautiful edible delights. Her creations not only adorn sophisticated weddings and luncheons, but also show up on magazine covers and TV commercials. Lucky for us, Julie and her company Julie Deffense Artistry are based right here in Portugal.

Julie is American. She moved to Portugal in 1998 for a short-term job and never left. She spent 12 years in the rough and tumble publishing business, before deciding to follow a more creative path. Her family of bakers was certainly an influence, as was her education in Fine Arts. So, it seemed natural for her to pursue a career blending the two.

Portugal Confidential was curious about this passion for confectionary creations, so we asked her some questions…

Why cakes?
I have always loved baking (and eating!) and it’s basically a hobby that overtook everything else in my life! My grandmother was a great baker, she was even a cake decorator years ago! My mom is also a great baker. I learned a lot from both of them. I have always loved to bake, even when I was a kid I used to make a terrible mess in the kitchen.

Are you self taught?…or trained in design or culinary arts?
I studied fine arts in university. I am self taught in baking and cooking. I started my career in cake decorating by taking the Wilton Master Course and have since taken countless cake design courses in the USA, Portugal, Spain and the UK.

What was the most amount of time you spent on one cake?
A few years ago I had a commission for a 32-tier wedding cake that when done, stood 3 meters tall and about 1.5 meters wide. It was spectacular. Every tier was painted with an intricate, custom designed gold and white geometric pattern inspired from the bride’s gown, and it took me over two months to make 2000+ sugar flowers for the cake. I spent nine days applying thousands of sugar pearls and beads with a pair of tweezers to create an “embroidered” section across the top 6 tiers. The cake was transported to the wedding venue in two parts: a 125 kg base and a 65 kg top section. It took four men to move the sections into position. 

Since you started your business, it seems that your creativity has increased considerably. 
I’m inspired by my surroundings, and as I am now based in two countries, my sources for inspiration have grown exponentially. As an artist, it’s natural that my creativity is constantly evolving as I am always learning and creating. For every cake that I make, there are always spinoff ideas that arise – new techniques, different colors or textures – details to apply going forward on a future project. The bigger and more detailed the cake is, the stronger the desire to create something even more show stopping than before. I also find that sharing my recipes and techniques through my cookbooks and my Instagram live videos inspires me to constantly come up with new ideas.

What has been your most challenging project? 
Trying to balance and grow the two markets, Portugal and the USA. It’s impossible to be in two places at once, but I’ve found that with technology like FaceTime, WhatsApp and Skype it’s made things easier to connect with clients and planners. Most of my clients are planning destination weddings so at least 80% of the contact is done “face-to-face” online. 

Do you have a fantasy design in mind that you would one day like to turn into a cake?
Anything with flowers – the more the better! I don’t want to give away any secrets or ideas, so you’ll just have to stay tuned and see what I do next!

If you’re inspired to design your own cake creations, check out Julie’s The Great American Cake website. They sell everything you need, from pans and mixes, colors and flavorings, and even fondant and sprinkles.

Julie is an author too! Look for books Os Bolos da Julie (2012, Portuguese), As Festas da Julie (2013, Portuguese), A Bíblia dos Bolos de Casamento (2016, Portuguese), O Grande Livro de Bolos & Festas da Julie (2019, Portuguese) and A Arte da Salada (2020, Portuguese) and The Art of Salad (2020, English).