Regina Konstantinova — Before thinking big, Olga Noskova started small: she was on maternity leave and decided to learn to cook French Macaroons.
"The process turned out to be so fascinating to me. I didn't think that the confectionery arts were so interesting and versatile!" the virtuoso confectioner told Sputnik.
When she was learning Olga accidentally ran across mousse cakes, which were not quite popular. "It was completely unusual and new. And I wanted to know the secret of their perfect beauty. It was love at first sight," she said.
Olga worked hard on her skills to get to where she is now. She gained knowledge and experience from the best teachers in Russia and abroad. "But I don't like to repeat after someone. I wanted to find my own way to make cakes in a style, which would be recognized among thousands of others. I began to experiment, mix and create, and finally, I found it — a perfect glaze recipe that made my cakes unique and conquered the whole world!"
Of course, there were several unsuccessful situations in the kitchen, especially at the very start. But Olga never considered them as problems and accidents.
"The cut-and-try-method is the only way you can discover something special and surprise yourself and others. All that occurs during the creation of cakes is an experiment with color, shape and decoration. Successful or not, it will bring benefits and become a lesson. I try as long as I can to reach perfection because I'm very demanding on myself and my creations," the cake-blogger explained.
"Each cake I do with love, tenderness and care. Sometimes I take breaks and in these moments I try to relax a bit, empty my head and let new ideas in. And as soon as they arise, I am unstoppable in translating them into reality," she added.
Olga first became popular in May 2016, after major news outlets showcased her cakes, calling them as "food porn" and setting the Internet abuzz. Even famous pop star Britney Spears wrote on her Facebook that Olga's cakes are "too pretty to eat."
"After that, I woke up famous all over the world. In a couple of days, the number of subscribers on my Instagram increased to 600+ thousand. I could not believe that had happened to me!" the food-blogger said.
Prior to the events of May, her sales were stable enough; there were some regular customers. But after gaining popularity, Olga became completely overloaded. Now she has an assistant and works with a team. However, the process of creating cakes has not turned into a soulless mass production. Depending on her creative spirit, Olga makes from one cake to 5-7 items a day.
"I don't have a goal to sell as much as possible. For me, it is more important to create something unique and bring joy and happiness to my clients," she stressed.
Olga receives a lot of orders from other cities and even other countries. Delivery of her cakes is available, but it looks more like a serious "special-forces raid" because of certain conditions that are required for transportation.
"Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world write to me that they would like to try my cakes. I have a lot of followers on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and more than half of them live in countries other than Russia. The most interest is shown by people from Arab countries, the US, England, Portugal and Brazil. So now I plan to feed all those wishing for my perfect cakes from Olga Noskova."
In the past two years of being a confectioner, Olga realized that it's not just a job or a hobby for her, but a true art.
"My cakes are the canvas on which I paint, pouring in my experience, feelings and perceptions. None of them duplicate another; even if I take the same paints, I always get something new. And each time, I strive to do my new cake more perfect than the previous one," the confectionary artist noted.
The variety of inspirational sources is limitless for Olga: from Impressionists like Van Gogh, Monet, Gauguin and Korovin, to nature and its constant changeability, from the universe and its strength to the world's most significant events.
"I believe in the power of the universe and its inexhaustible energy. The universe always helps me if I ask. For some people, it may sound strange, but it has always worked for me. I have even created a series of cakes dedicated to space themes," she said.
One of the most recent cakes Olga made was after learning of her nomination for The Shorty Awards, which identifies the most popular and significant people and companies on social networks. "To be honest, at first I did not attach any importance to this when I received an email about my nomination; I thought it was spam. But when read through carefully, I could not believe it!"
"Ahead of this, I was talking to my team sharing my dream to get to New York one day. And the Universe heard me! In other categories are nominated such stars like Oprah, Samuel Jackson, Cher, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears — maybe I'll have a chance to meet them in real life. And that would be a great honor for me to represent Russia not only as a country of great artists, writers and athletes, but also for the outstanding masters of the confectionery business and well-known bloggers," she added.
"And by the way, I plan to get in touch with Britney and present a cake to her, in order so that she could judge my cakes not only by photographs but also by flavor," Olga continued.
You don't need lots of specific gadgets or "exotic" ingredients to make such cakes at home.
"Many subscribers to send me pictures of their own cakes, and they look good. But in order to achieve the ideal state, you must not only know the recipe but also polish it with mastery. Every gram is important, so you can't cook precisely by eye. Mousse cakes are very fastidious, especially those with a glossy finish — everything has to be perfectly smooth, with no bubbles. It is a rocket science."
Olga prefers the best ingredients: the chocolate should be Belgian or Swiss, dyes must be French and obviously natural, and of course, fresh fruit is a must.
There is a widespread prejudice that professional chefs do not cook at home. That's not the case for Olga. "My family are the most important and objective critics for me. They are first to try all new fillings, and they always say if it's tasty or something is missing. Their support and participation are very important to me. My little son already tries to help me; on his birthday, he covered his cake himself." Besides cakes, Olga is fond of cooking European and national Bashkir dishes.
At the moment, active negotiations are underway for the opening of Olga's own confectionery in Dubai, Moscow, London, Shanghai and other big cities. The woman also gladly shares her experience and knowledge during master classes, the majority of which are held abroad.
"I get many letters from all over the world asking to share the secret of my mirror glazing. At the moment I can't reveal it, but I am planning to launch online master classes soon, where I will share all the secrets of creating the perfect cake," the confectionary artist promised.
