By KIMBERLY LEWIS

News Leader Editor

Featured on a full page of Brides magazine's March/April issue, the three-tiered peach fondant cake decorated with delicate white flowers is a feast for the eyes of any bride.

Created by pastry chef and 1996 Minerva graduate Tony Wright of New York City, the cake is featured in the magazine's America's "50 Most Beautiful Cakes."

Wright was chosen by Brides magazine's Wedding Style Director Maria McBride. According to Erin Miller of CondeNast, which publishes Brides magazine, in early 2007, McBride put together a list of 150 bakers from across the country for the first-ever spread. She then narrowed down the list to more than 50, asking each baker to submit sketches and details of the cake designs and requesting they send a sample of the cake they had in mind.

"The finalists then created their designs on Styrofoam dummy cakes to ship to New York for the week-long photo shoot in late summer," Miller said.

Wright's featured cake was inspired by "a field of voluptuous flowers on a sunny day."

"I'm inspired by anything from china patterns to material patterns, to billboard signs to wood carvings -- just about anything," Wright explained.

"I always like a good challenge and often find myself wondering, 'how could I translate that into a cake design?' when I find something that interests me. I'm a bit of a minimalist and love repeated patterns. I always keep a sketch book on hand so that I can take notes when I'm out and about in the city. Ideas often creep into my brain when I'm traveling on the subway."

Wright did not set out to be a cake designer. It was after graduating with a bachelors degree of music from The Ohio State University that he discovered his keen interest in pastry arts. He began cooking and baking at an early age, "strongly influenced" by his family.

Wright is the son of Gloria and Dave Donohue of Minerva and the late Freddie Wright and the grandson of Jack and Shirley Saling of Minerva and the late Ollin and Augusta Wright.

He started baking out of college and was self-taught before becoming a primary assistant to "world-renowned" pastry chef and cake designer, Jan Kish. He trained with her for several years in Columbus before moving to New York City.

Making custom cakes and pastries for private clients at his business Cakes by Tony, he offers "well-made, high-quality, custom-baked goods to clients."

"I strive for absolute perfection in both taste and appearance," he noted.

"I decided to move to NYC simply for the experience," he said. "I've been here for just over a year and have been making cakes on the side, honing the craft and learning about the city and the cake business here. I'm still quite new to the scene, but things are certainly on the upswing."

Wright has also been featured in the New York Daily News and will have another cake featured in an upcoming issue of Brides magazine.

When asked if he had a "cake" story, Wright acknowledged he does.

"The first wedding I ever made a cake for, I was asked to stick around to cut and serve the cake and serve it buffet-style. As you might imagine, the line was quite long, with 150 guests, and people were just standing around the table waiting for their cake. I was very nervous, trying to keep up.

"Well, inside every tiered cake, there is an infrastructure of dowel rods which support the stacked cakes. When I started unstacking the cakes, I also pulled out the wooden dowel rods and laid them close to the cake I was cutting. It wasn't long before one of the guests noticed the cake-covered dowels and picked one up asking, "mmmm, what are these?" I didn't have a chance to respond before she put one into her mouth and started chewing on it. I was at a loss and before I could really think about a proper response, I blurted out, 'That, ma'am, is a piece of wood.' Everyone near had a good laugh over it."

Wright also has a favorite. "I think my favorite cake that I've worked on has been a multi-tier chocolate sponge cake, molded and iced with chocolate mousse and then sprinkled/covered with chocolate savings. Soooo yummy," he said.

Wright's creations include a lemon-almond pound cake, red velvet, carrot and marble, as well as the classics - chocolate, vanilla, yellow and lemon-vanilla.

"The most challenging cake I've ever done would be anywhere I need to travel long distances," he pointed out. "For example, the baby shower cake that I just drove to Ohio with. Very stressful."

Another challenge, possibly the biggest, is the preparation of the decorative sugar pieces.

"Sometimes these things have to be done in stages. So, I'll start them one day, but they may take several days to finish since the sugar has to dry before proceeding. And they are also very fragile, so they tend to break," he explains.

Laughing, he notes, "And my neurotic nature forces me to make way too many of these things to ensure that I'll have at least one usable piece (in case one or more breaks). And I'm the classic perfectionist type -- I will not stop until I think the piece, the whole cake, is absolutely perfect. My mother often jokingly reminds me of how uptight I am about these things. But, some of the cakes can have up to 40 to 80 man-hours, depending on the complexity of the design, and I want people to feel that they are getting their money's worth out of me."

Anyone looking at Wright's cake would find perfection in the beautiful black-and-white cake, or the sparkly, purple cupcakes topped with hearts.

For Wright, designing and decorating cakes just might be the music for his soul.

"I love seeing peoples' faces and hearing their exclamations when the see and taste my cakes," he explains. "I strive for absolute perfection in both areas. I've often been a guest at an event where one of my cakes is being served. I can't tell you how nice it is to hear 'this is the best cake I've ever eaten' from someone who has no idea that I've made the cake."

"To me, the look and taste are equal components to the job."