KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — Whoever said success is unattainable without a paper qualification needs to meet baker and cake decorator Karen Leong.

Despite being home-schooled after leaving Singapore’s Yio Chu Kang primary school at the age of eight, Leong has excelled in cake decorating by pursuing her passion.

The latest and most extravagant creation by the 19-year-old is made from 85kg of brandy-infused matured English fruit cake coated with Belgian marzipan and 410 handcrafted sugar flowers.

The cake, for a wedding at The St Regis Kuala Lumpur, is held up by 24-karat support pillars, stands 1.6m tall and costs RM19,000.

It took Leong three weeks to complete.

"I did it all by myself. I was commissioned by a client through an event planning company and it was a challenge for me,” she said.

"That was why I chose to attempt it and I was surprised by the outcome.

"Now I want to move on to more complex pieces.”

The RM19,000 wedding cake made from brandy-infused fruit cake coated with Belgian marzipan. — Picture from Karen Leong Cake Design Facebook page

Leong said because of boredom while being home-schooled, she found her calling and passion for cake decorating.

"If it wasn’t for the fact I was not in school, I would never have ventured into decorating cakes,” she said.

"My main push towards cake decorating was YouTube videos. It was a creative journey for me to try to bake what I saw. Baking was not foreign to me since my mum baked quite a bit at home.

"I loved playing with flour. Whenever my mum needed help I was there beside her.”

Her first formal education with cake decorating was a course offered by Wilton when she was 11.

The next year, she received a diploma in cake decorating from Squire’s Kitchen.

"I was a strange sight to many as I was much younger than the others who were in their 20s or 30s,” she said.

The Cheras-born teen had lived in various locations like Singapore and Port Dickson before moving to Petaling Jaya to pursue her passion.

The eldest of five siblings, Leong said her success was made possible through the support of her family, particularly her parents, who never stopped her from exploring her passion and allowed her room to improve her skills.