Longtime Baker Frederick Blake, 102, Turned His Cakes Into Art

Frederick Blake's first job in the United States was decorating a 25-tier cake in the display window of the Bon Marche. It was 1912, and the department store's 25th anniversary. Blake spun and wove the icing, forming lace and delicate sugared flowers for the crowd.

Roses were his specialty. Although they were made of egg whites and powdered sugar, the flowers looked so real people thought they could smell them.

A native of England, Mr. Blake was a fourth-generation baker. When he left his old country, he brought his decorating tubes, tucked away in his baggage. He eventually founded Blake's Bakery in West Seattle with his son.

Mr. Blake died Tuesday. He was 102.

During World War II, he was assigned as the cook and baker for Base Hospital 50. He served in France until the end of the war.

His first bakery, which he founded with a partner, was at Fourth and Pike. He moved to South Park in 1927.

Making cakes was a living for Mr. Blake, but decorating them was his passion, said his son, E. Carlton Blake.

"He was an artist," his son said. "Nowadays, people make roses and they look like cabbage heads. When my father made his flowers, they were flowers. There were roses and spring flowers as well as daffodils and cherry blossoms. They were ornate and intricate."

Mr. Blake also specialized in marzipan, and molded the almond paste into fine decorations. He actually made petals for his long-stemmed marzipan roses.

Carlton remembers learning his father's trade as a youngster. His father would mix a batch of flour and shortening and they would decorate cakes together.

As he decorated, Mr. Blake would sing hymns or patriotic songs or quote poetry. Sometimes, traces of his British accent would find their way back to his speech.

When he retired in the 1950s, Mr. Blake lived on Vashon Island, where he kept a gentleman's farm, raising berries and maintaining a proper English garden. Often, he strolled down the paths and tended his real flowers.

As he got older, Mr. Blake started making historical tapes for children and grandchildren. In his quiet hours, he sat and talked into the recorder.

Mr. Blake's first wife, Lila Grace, died in 1963. He married Dorothy Bowen when he was in his 80s. He is survived by two daughters and two sons: Betty Shooner, Rhea Mead, Carlton Blake and David Robert Blake. He is also survived by 15 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren, and several great-great-grandchildren.

A service was to be at 1 p.m. today at the Chapel of Howden-Kennedy Funeral Home of West Seattle. Interment is private.