Flowers in the head, sugar in the heart. Sophia Stolz creates cakes and tarts from butter, sugar and flour,
that are more than just sweet sins. Her creations are almost too good for the gift table, but how about
with the museum display case?
FACES: Who taught you how to bake, and did you always have a dream of making a living at it?
Sophia Stolz: Nobody. I discovered my love of baking at the age of 15. Back then, I was bullied a lot and was often alone, which in turn gave me a lot of free time. I discovered baking by chance and started memorizing recipes and cookbooks every day. It was never my goal to earn money with it. What I wanted to do was tell stories and reinterpret food. Cakes, tarts, bread – all of these are simply more than just a source of energy. When I started out, there was still too little acceptance of food as an art or luxury product and everyone thought I was crazy.
F: Which pastry do you associate with the most emotions?
Sophia Stolz: With sandwiches. I never had a big sweet tooth, but was very fussy about food. If I didn’t have what I wanted to eat at home, I was given a sandwich or pasta with butter instead. When I think about it, butter might even be the emotional component. (laughs) After all, this is the ingredient I use most often.
Surreal cake creations and sinful eye-catchers
F: Some of your cake creations look surreal. How do you come up with such abstract ideas?
Sophia Stolz: For me, food is art, although I consider the eating factor to be completely secondary. I am fascinated by the transience of food and the moments when cakes are used. I am interested in the memories that ultimately remain, the feel of food, its simplicity and banality and making art out of it all. I like to test my limits and see how far I can go. You don’t play with food – or do you? My ideas are extremely dependent on my mood, and I draw most of my inspiration from fashion, art and any images in my head. I never know what my final products will look like because I often have the best ideas during the process.
F: Your cakes are particularly eye-catching – are they also so exotic in taste?
Sophia Stolz: Not really. My cakes are certainly unique in taste, but only because I don’t follow recipes, I simply experiment.
F: Which of your creations so far is your favorite and which is your biggest nightmare?
Sophia Stolz: My cakes are like my babies. My favorites change from day to day, but my piercing cake or the cakes I created for Home in Heven are currently my favorites. I like everything I bake and design, and I wouldn’t implement any concepts that didn’t appeal to me or convince me.
F: How do you create your designs?
Sophia Stolz: I’m actually very stubborn and therefore accept almost no input from outside – apart from the occasion, the setting and the color schemes, of course. Most of my customers give me a free hand, but if someone has precise ideas, I naturally incorporate them as inspiration.
Too beautiful to eat?
F: Do you eat the cakes after baking, or are they too good for you?
Sophia Stolz: No, I never actually eat them. In fact, I don’t particularly like cake for dinner. (laughs)
F: What is the biggest challenge in baking and decorating?
Sophia Stolz: The fridge! Everything depends on this and on cooling in general. Many people think the oven is the challenge, but in fact most problems arise because of the fridge.
F: Inside or outside, taste vs. appearance: what is more important to you in your creations?
Sophia Stolz: Of course I want my cakes to taste good, but the look clearly comes first. That’s one reason why I now also create Forever Cakes, cake sculptures that last a lifetime without you actually having to eat them.
With or without a recipe – the main thing is delicious!
F: Is there a recipe you haven’t ventured into yet?
Sophia Stolz: Yes, there are many. After all, I’m not a pastry chef.
F: What was your biggest baking accident to date? What went wrong?
Sophia Stolz: So far, the fridges have always thwarted my plans.
F: Which recipe can you do in your sleep?
Sophia Stolz: Chocolate cake.
Sophia Stolz – young entrepreneur with a vision
F: You are 28 years old and run your own company. How did you have to prove yourself along the way?
Sophia Stolz: I’ve always just worked, never looked to the left or right and always kept going straight ahead. I only know this independent work and I don’t want to complain about it at all. I believe that in every job and in every career, you always have to prove yourself and push yourself to your limits in order to learn how to move forward.
F: Some of your designs are dedicated to luxury brands. How did such collaborations come about?
Sophia Stolz: I always ask myself that too. (laughs) I think I owe it all to Instagram.
F: Would you rather have your cakes displayed in a pastry shop or museum display case?
Sophia Stolz: I didn’t and don’t want to run a patisserie. The museum is definitely my thing, even though I have huge respect for it. I would prefer to work even more absurdly, abstractly and on a larger scale. However, I’m neither a good team player nor a good boss – that’s the reason why I do everything on my own.
A chat with Ryan Gosling and Vito Schnabel
F: If you could bake a statement cake for one person of your choice, who would it be?
Sophia Stolz: I would love to realize an installation for the Design Week in Milan. Otherwise, I would love to bake for Ryan Gosling or Vito Schnabel – but mainly so that I could get to know them personally. (laughs)
F: You turned down contracts with large companies in order to remain self-employed. What reactions did you get, and has your decision paid off?
Sophia Stolz: This approach has proven its worth. The reactions to my rejections were always surprised, but quite nice and cool. I don’t wanna scale, I’d rather go even crazier, test even more limits and not mass produce.
F: What do you do for sugar shock?
Sophia Stolz: My motto: Don’t get high on your own supply.
Sophia Agnelia Anita Stolz
Instead of battling tooth decay as a budding dentist, Sophia Stolz is really boosting the oral hygiene business as a cake artist and food stylist. In 2013, she posted her first cake on Instagram and quickly landed big fishers such as Chanel, Fendi, Miu Miu and Netflix. Her creations are more art than cake, which is perhaps why they are so fascinating.
Follow the lovely Sophia on Instagram and discover her sugary creations there.
Simon Lohmeyer is just as creative as Sophia Stolz. Here you can read our interview with the Munich photographer, who is currently traveling the world in his van.
Teaser photo: © Sasha Ernst
Photos: © Sophia Stolz
