“I love cake, I really do,” says Irene Maston, owner/founder of Irene’s Cakes by Design. Her passion dates back to an Easy-Bake Oven and a neighbor who loved to bake. Later, Maston attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, graduating with honors, and went on to work with award-winning European pastry chefs before opening a restaurant and catering venture with her husband, Michael.

For 15 years, the couple owned and operated Truffles and Such, a 100-seat restaurant, bakery, and catering company in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. In January 2000, they purchased the Andrie Rose Inn in Ludlow, Vermont. Here, in an elegant country setting, they serve dinner to guests at the inn, and on weekends, they open to the public; they also cater intimate weddings, honeymoons, and other private parties.
                    
Maston is a longtime member of the American Culinary Federation, the International Cake Exploration Society, and the Vermont Association of Wedding Professionals. And she has earned her share of professional accolades: She was the featured Vermont wedding cake designer in People magazine’s July 2007 wedding issue, and that same year she took home first place, professional division, for her tiered-cake entry in the Mid-Atlantic Cake Show.

After decades of cake making, Irene is as passionate about her craft as ever, especially when it comes to wedding cakes. “Weddings are magical,” she says, “and I love playing a part in bringing a couple’s dream together …personalizing a cake with details that really showcase their personality.” Some might call it work. For Maston, it’s clearly a labor of love.