Meet Karin Klenner
Sweet Little Treat Cakes
Hamilton, New Zealand
See more of Karin's cakes at
Bakels Pettinice has always been my preferred fondant, it's perfect for covering my tricky novelty cakes as it blends together and firms up so well. I love the colour range as a base to create any colour I want, I find I use my gel colours less now which saves on cost and mess! It makes gorgeous pastels when mixed with white and vibrant dark colours that don't fade.
My son Rocco's birthday cake.
Meet Karin Klenner - Sweet Little Treat Cakes
Karin is one of our original Pettinice Ambassadors and runs her cake business and school out of Hamilton. We had a chance to ask her a few questions about her cake journey, and this is what she had to say...
I'm a mum to two little boys which are my world (and have been known to destroy my world by attacking the odd cake) and married to an amazing guy who, thank goodness, is very good with a drill because my favourite cakes to do are 3D sculpted cakes. I love doing animals especially.
What is the very first cake you remember making?
I started decorating when my eldest son was born and now I am OBSESSED!!! Ben 10 cake for my Nephew, I hand painted it like acrylics but with buttercream haha. It looked terrible 😂
What was the defining moment you realized you would do this as a business?
I think it accidentally happened! My friend set me up with a Facebook page and messaged me 'your live' and I had an instant panic attack. Buuuut I started getting orders so thought I better make it legit!
What has been the most challenging cake you have made to date?
Probably yoda holding a wedding cake... Two full allnighters with two little kids... Very stressful.
What was the last cake that made you cry? (from joy even!)
Hmmm I handpainted Arnold Schwarzenegger and cried because he wasn't perfect 😂😂.
What cake do you wish someone would order?
Hmmm any realistic animal! Maybe a German Shepherd.
What is your favourite part / step of the cake decorating process?
Painting!
What do you listen to while you are decorating?
Podcasts or just a fun playlist, I do like acoustic covers actually!
What is your favourite Pettinice colour?
I love them all, I can't believe I used to muck around with gel colours, so messy!
Do you make your own birthday cake?
Usually I'll make a raw cake for my birthday.
What’s your favourite cake delivery story?
Braxton's birthday cake last weekend, the geode one was literally swinging from side to side. I turned to him and said 'bud... Not sure if your cake is going to arrive in one piece' haha. it was totally fine though but wow it got some swing!!
What’s something you wish people would know about your business?
It's just me doing everrrryyyythhinnngggg 😂.
What’s next in your cake world?
I have a bunch of cool classes I'm teaching coming up. I would like to learn more about pastry and chocolate though! One day ❤️
As well as her own private classes, Karin has demonstrated for local cake guilds. Her cake highlights include being featured as Cake Decorator of the week on Cakes Decor in July 2015, and regularly features as a Daily Top 3 on the site. Her awards include 1st Place - Novelty at the Auckland 2015 cake show, 1st place - Tiered and 2nd place Novelty at the Tauranga 2015 Cake Show. She is regularly featured by Shawna McGreevy and has had a write up in the Waikato Times for her Gollum piece from the New Zealand Peter Jackson's cake collaboration. 
