Sweet Success by Sandra Jones photos by Tom Powell
SOMETIMES NECESSITY IS INDEED THE SWEET MOTHER OF INVENTION.
“All you need are four tablespoons of water and one minute in a microwave and you’ve got a fantastic cake.” Sarah Neal FOUNDER, InstaCake Cards
4 PASSIONS | WINTER 2021
Just ask Sarah Neal, founder of InstaCake Cards, a unique Parksville-based company. “All my life, birthdays were celebrated with a card and a cake. So, when we moved to Vancouver Island from the UK, I really wanted to continue that tradition with family and friends back home but couldn’t figure out a way to do it. When I tried to ship a cake it was tricky to package, didn’t arrive intact, and was very expensive to mail. A card on its own didn’t seem like enough!” With a background in food science, Neal set out to create a cake she could send in a card. Two years later, InstaCake Cards was born. “The ingredients for a delicious celebration cake including the frosting, candle, and sprinkles as well as a patented pop-up baking case and even the spoons for stirring and measuring water are all contained within a fun card. All you need are four tablespoons of water and one minute in a microwave and you’ve got a fantastic cake,” says Neal. Similar to a mud cake but made with real butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla, this product takes the cake in terms of taste. “The last thing I wanted to do was send my family a cake that tasted like cardboard! I’m known for my cakes so I spent a lot of time finding the authentic ingredients that I would use in my own kitchen.” With the concept finalized and the ink still drying on the product packaging, Neal took a leap of faith when it came to launching the product. “I booked a booth at one of North America’s largest gift and stationery trade shows in New York City. We were flying by the seat of our pants but it paid off. People in the industry told us they’d never seen anything like this before!” The connections made through the trade show were
