The Cake Artist

How Robert Lucas became one of TikTok’s biggest baking stars

October 2022

by Alex Lim-Chua Wee

Johnesia Lucas

Robert Lucas

If you’re on TikTok, maybe you’ve seen Robert Lucas’s cakes. Some of them are covered in candy bars. Others look like giant strawberries or ice cream cones. One is even shaped like a Nike Air Jordan!

As a cake artist, Robert’s job is to make cakes look amazing. But that’s not all he does. He also films every step of his baking and decorating process. Then he shares his videos on social media for millions of viewers. We asked Robert all about his tasty job.

Courtesy of Robert Lucas

Robert’s very first cake!

Have you always loved baking?

Not really! I only started making cakes in 2019. One day, I saw a photo of a really colorful unicorn cake online. I wanted to try making it—and it turned out surprisingly good! I knew I wanted to explore baking more after that.

How did you learn how to bake?

I taught myself! I read baking blogs and watched a lot of videos online.

Why did you start making your own videos?

When I began baking, I didn’t just want to share the finished cakes. I also wanted to show people how I created them. I had to teach myself how to film and edit videos. It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun.

Is this your full-time job?

At first, it was just a hobby. I worked with computers during the day, then baked at night. But earlier this year, I decided to quit my day job to focus on cakes. Companies like Oreo and PlayStation now pay me to make cakes inspired by their products.

Where do your ideas come from?

I love getting cake ideas from movies and TV shows. One of my favorite recent cakes was of the red panda in the movie Turning Red.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

Editing videos. I can have hours of footage that I have to edit to 60 seconds for TikTok!

What do you hope people get from watching your videos?

I hope that people watch them and think “I could do that!” If I make mistakes, I often leave them in the video. I want people to see that you don’t always have to do things perfectly.