Saying it with a cake

Every woman dreams that her husband will do something extra special for her birthday. But Nader Sharif's wife Raziya is one of those lucky women who can be sure of that.

Every year Sharif designs a special cake for her with a creative message and visuals that are sometimes romantic, sometimes funky and often downright naughty.

"Last year she warned me not to do anything mischievous. So I put a sweet romantic message, saying ‘a petal fell from heaven for me 20 years ago; thank you God for that petal; my life is fragrant ever since'," says Sharif.

The UAE national is a successful businessman and enjoys designing cakes as a hobby. He designed his first cake when he was 7.

"I wanted something special for my mother but did not like anything available in the market; so I decided to design the cake myself. Everyone loved it and soon I began getting requests from my family and friends to design cakes," he says.

Celebrity cakes

What started as a hobby has now become a profession for Sharif as he gets requests from friends and acquaintances around the globe to design cakes for special occasions.

"I can only create for people I know, because I try to capture the essence of the person in my words and visuals that are then translated into cakes by a bakery. I have been fortunate to be asked to create cakes for several celebrities such as Princess Grace of Monaco and her daughter Princess Caroline, Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto," he says.

Sharif credits his father for encouraging his creativity. "Our family is in the film distribution and production business and my father was a pioneer in the import of Italian films into the gulf region and the subcontinent."

Joy

Sharif continues, "As a child I loved to design posters and advertisements for our films and my father would always publish them. Seeing my work in print boosted my confidence and motivated me to try my hand at other creative pursuits such as writing screenplays for some Italian movies and designing cakes."

He says that the best thing about his hobby is seeing the reaction of the people he designs for.

"I particularly enjoy creating cakes for children and seeing the joy on their faces. Every year I try to surprise my daughters Sahar and Surur with something really unique," says Sharif.

Rising to the challenge

Nader Sharif has always enjoyed designing cakes for the late Pakistani prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. "I still design a cake on his birthday every year and deliver it to his daughter, Benazir," he says.

Sharif's favourite reaction is a threat he got from former Pakistani dictator Zia Ul Haq.

"Zia insisted that I design for him and I reluctantly did so. But I made my feelings quite clear by playing with his self proclaimed title of Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). The cake said CMLA — Cancel My Last Announcement. I was thrilled when he sent me a message saying he would break every bone in my body," he says.

His big dream is to design a birthday cake for His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and present it to him personally.

"I respect and admire Shaikh Mohammad and as a UAE national I am proud that he is our leader and role model," says Sharif.