Life is just a cake walk for Jeannette Orazietti

Sault Ste. Marie's Jeannette Orazietti has no idea how they found her, but the owner of and uber-talented designer at Jeannette's Custom Cakes is thrilled she answered the phone when the Slice Network called her earlier this year.

The call was to invite her to take part in the network's televised cake design competition, Cake Walk.

Orazietti was speechless.

"I honestly had to hold back from cursing because I didn't believe them," she told SooToday.com. "I thought someone was playing a cruel joke on me."

After discussing the idea with her husband and deciding the opportunity was too good to pass up, the couple packed up her entire bakery and drove eight hours to Toronto for three days of filming.

"We filmed for a total of 15 hours and I learned more in that 15 hours than I have in the last two years," she said.

Orazietti told us the most difficult part of the whole experience was the knowledge that this was going to be televised and seen by millions of viewers.

"Really, the hardest part was trying not to look like an idiot," she said. "I had to keep in mind that it's a TV show first, and a cake-making competition second. We wanted to make good television."

What made it exceptionally hard for Orazietti was the fact she couldn't dart home to grab something she may have forgotten from her bakery like the majority of Cake Walk competitors who are generally from the Greater Toronto Area.

But the graphic designer-turned-ace-of-cakes is no stranger to daunting tasks.

The self-taught cake designer takes great care and hours of planning, designing and creating to provide each client with their cake of a lifetime.

"It's not just throwing icing and fondant on a cake, calling it a day and sending it out the door," explained Orazietti. "Each cake gets its own design and a lot of time. It's a piece of art, not just a piece of food."

Orazietti's crown jewel - her recreation of the Green Bay Packers' Lambeau Field (shown) - took approximately 13 hours to complete.

She told us she could have spent another 12 hours on the massive dessert.

"That was the biggest, craziest, most outrageous thing I've done that wasn't part of a competition."

Although she's contractually obligated to keep the winner of her competition under her cake pan, fans of Orazietti's unique and tasty designs can see her episode of Cake Walk when it airs on the Slice Network on November 9 at 9 p.m.

Anyone wishing an original culinary masterpiece of their own can contact Jeannette's Custom Cakes by calling (705) 942-5323 or emailing [email protected]

But do so soon.

Orazietti has her own cupcake on the way and will be taking maternity leave from November 25 through January 20.

Small cake, cookie and cupcake orders will still be accepted during this time, however.

For more information about Jeannette's Custom Cakes and to view some of her beautiful creations, visit www.jeannettescustomcakes.com

Cake photo by Curt O'Neil