Liz Marek


Liz Janean Marek is an American cake decorator and teacher known for her elaborate sculpted cakes. She is the founder of Artisan Cake Company based in Portland, Oregon and online cake decorating school "Sugar Geek Show".

Life and career

Marek went to Linn–Benton Community College majoring in graphic design. After a short career in graphic design, she decided to look into other creative fields. In 2007 she started cake decorating as a hobby.
In 2009, Marek founded the Artisan Cake Company in Portland, Oregon.
In 2014, Marek published her first cake decorating book, Artisan Cake Company’s Visual Guide to Cake Decorating. She also took a decision to close her public bakery and focus her attention on teaching others.
In 2015, Marek and her husband Dan opened her online school, Sugar Geek Show through which she teaches new techniques and processes involved in cake production and decoration.
Marek has been featured in various editions of American Cake Decorators Magazine, Cake Masters Magazine USA, Cake Central Magazine, and other related publications.
Marek is an alumnus of Oregon Culinary Institute. She has competed and won in several cake making shows and food network competitions across the US and beyond.
She was a contestant in the 2022 show "Is It Cake?" and was the winner of one episode.
In 2025, Marek won Netflix’s "Is It Cake? Holiday 2" after creating a hyper-realistic Santa cake.

Awards and honors

  • 2017 - Top 10 Cake Artists by Cake Masters Magazine USA
  • 2018 - Nominated to represent the US in the 2019 World Cake Designers Championship

Personal life

Liz was previously married to Dan Marek with 2 children. She divorced in September 2025