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Mark Seaman
Chef Mark Seaman
Certified Master Sugar Artist / Chef Instructor
April 1, 2013
“An exquisitely-decorated cake is created through the mastery of a set of essential skills combined in a unique way by the decorator. This ability to create beauty justifies the long hours of ongoing training necessary to express and evolve one’sown creativity. I like to encourage students to master a basic skill, and then show me something I’ve never seen done with it.”
Mark Seaman first received inspiration to pursue pastry from his grandfather who owned and operated a bakery in Sharon, Pennsylvania for forty years. Seaman studied baking and pastry arts in Chicago where he earned his degree. He undertook additional intensive training with legendary cake, sugar, and chocolate artists such as Nicholas Lodge, Colette Peters, and Rose Viacava de Ortega. Having lived and studied abroad in Europe, Seaman is fluent in French and also speaks conversational Russian. Seaman teaches in The French Pastry School’s L’Art du Gâteau – The Professional Cake Decorating and Baking Program - where he instructs celebration cake design and conducts celebration cake business lectures.
Seaman has earned many awards and accolades in his career including being honored by the Condé Nast Bridal Group as a leading Chicago cake stylist and regional wedding expert at the 2004 Wedding Cake March on the Magnificent Mile. Seaman’s celebration cake business, Marked for Dessert, was named “The Knot 2007 Best of Weddings Pick,” the highest ranking for wedding cakes in the Midwest by The Knot magazine. In 2003 and 2005, Seaman took the Bronze and Silver medals, respectively from the National Wedding Cake Competition. In 2007, he won First Place Honors at the Grand National Wedding Cake Competition in 2007 at the Oklahoma Sugar Arts Festival in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Seaman’s nationally recognized style and cake creations have been featured on The Food Network, HGTV, the Travel Channel, ABC 7 Chicago, and TLC. In addition to participating in competitions throughout his career, Seaman has judged a number of cake competitions, and was the proprietor of Marked for Dessert, a wedding cake boutique in Libertyville, Illinois for many years. Seaman opened a new sugar art and cake studio in Chicago in the Ravenswood neighborhood where he continues to create his cake masterpieces, conduct research, and hold workshops. Chef Seaman also teaches courses at Knightsbridge PME in London, Alliance Française in Chicago, and the International Sugar Art Collection in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 2011, Seaman earned the title of Certified Master Sugar Artist (C.M.S.A.) at the Annual Convention of International Cake Exploration Societé (ICES) in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2013, Dessert Professional named Seaman one of the Top Ten Cake Artists of North America.
