How Working At McDonald's Taught TikTok's Robert Lucas How To Make Amazing Cakes -Exclusive

The cakes that TikTok star Robert Lucas makes for his page, @thesweetimpact, are anything if not elaborate. We're talking cakes that closely resemble Michael Jordan's iconic shoes, a strawberry tsunami confection exploding with chocolate, and — in a video that brought in a breathtaking 21.3 million views — a spiral geode design that looks like it was made from something out of a science museum gift shop. So how did Lucas learn his incredible culinary maneuvers?

Would you believe the TikTok legend credits a part-time job at McDonald's for his mad cake design skills? In an exclusive interview with Mashed, Lucas revealed that not only was he not professionally trained at a culinary school, but that it was his handiwork with those Egg McMuffins in between college classes that gave him the foundation to be the cake master he is today. "I learned about all the proper food temperatures, especially when I worked with a lot of eggs and everything like that," said Lucas, who was recently named to the 2022 #BlackTikTok Trailblazers list. "The kind of frosting I make has to be right — it has to be pasteurized and used properly. All of those skills I learned [and] I still carry with me."

While Lucas learned quite a bit about food prep from his McDonald's days, he also credits other cake decorating artists on YouTube and TikTok for teaching him the ins and outs of great designs. In fact, Lucas' first TikTok cake — a gold-winged unicorn – was the result of studying other videos. "I learned from others, and I applied it," Lucas shared. "I've been making cakes for like two years. I was bored one day and made a cake, and I was proud of it. I wanted to start with recording my process because I was proud of myself, and I wanted to show my family the process, and they were like, 'You should post a TikTok! People will love it!' And I did! I didn't expect the reaction, but it's all great."

Still, Lucas admitted that people are always stunned when they find out he had no formal culinary school training. "I get asked all the time, 'You're self taught, how did you do that?' I give my advice, how I did it," he said, and added, "I don't keep that secret because I want everyone to know you can do it, too!" 

Follow Robert Lucas and his breathtaking baking videos on TikTok.