About Miscellany Cakes
From Business Analyst to Confectionary Artist!
Having grown up in Dublin and with a background in finance, Sarah is now happily and creatively baking and supplying cakes from a unit that has family and retail history.
There are many locals that will remember the Main Street Portlaoise Shop under its previous guises as O’Sullivan’s and subsequently Miscellany Gift Shop. The former was owned and run by Sarah’s grandparents, while the gift shop belonged to Sarah’s aunt Molly.
With the opening of Miscellany Cakes, our founder Sarah Walsh has turned her dream of creating delicious and elegantly designed cakes into a reality:
My first ever creative cake was for my nephews first birthday almost a decade ago!
Baking for family and friends became a new passion and it wasn’t long before I wanted to progress from self-taught cake decorator to invest in my professional training. A leap of faith had me resign from a career in Financial Services to enrol at the Bonnie Gordon College in Toronto and what an amazing experience it was! I learned from renowned pastry chefs and qualified as a Confectionary Artist.
I was fortunate to be selected for internship and learn first-hand from world famous cake designer Ron Ben-Israel in New York. Now based in the town of Portlaoise, I’m delighted to be bringing my designs to the Midlands and to be opening my cake shop in my Mum’s hometown, in a premises that’s full of family history. Happy customers are key for me and my passion is in perfecting every detail so that my cakes look every bit as good as they taste! Sugar flower decorations are my absolute favourite to make and I relish in the intricate, delicate techniques that bring them to life.
