Ten Top Tips for Everyone

Great cake covering skills – When I first started out, this was one of the most important things to learn for me. A beautifully covered cake will look amazing when it’s decorated and no matter whether you’re a beginner, a home baker or professional, will give you a huge sense of satisfaction

Learning how to master the trend setting sharp edges AND the lovely, feminine soft edges will give you so much confidence when making birthday cakes, wedding cakes and even cakes just for your family

TIP – Learn all the tricks of the trade and then practice,practice,practice…… you’ll be amazed at how quickly you improve once someone has shown you how xxx

Flower skills –  I started learning basic flower skills at the beginning and stuck to this until I was confident. I learnt wiring, taping, dusting and understood the best tools for the job, which florist paste was the easiest to work with and what I actually enjoyed making. Then, when I was really confident I moved onto more technical flowers with lots of detail. It only took a handful of really good classes before I was on my way to being able to create anything I wanted

TIP – Be patient, start at the beginning and then slowly build on your flower skills

Pricing – This is a tough one and a frequently asked question by everyone. The two things that most people take into consideration are cost of ingredients and  your precious time. Remember that ingredients don’t just stop at flour and eggs, they are also ribbons, petrol for the supermarket run, dowels, boxes and drums…. Make a list!!!!

Make sure you research your market and know what others charge for cakes in your area. Take this into consideration when you are designing a cake, don’t spend weeks working on your project if you are only getting a small amount of money for your time

Find your own style and be brave enough to stick with it. If you love pink flowers (my absolute weakness) make them your signature style. If you love little sugar animals and cupcakes, get making cute bunnies and owls instead. If you love what you do, it will show in your work

Be patient with marketing, it takes a long time for your name to get out there. Put lots of work and photos onto Instagram and Facebook…. And wait…. People just need time to fall in love with your work!! xxx

Take the pressure off of yourself – none of us are perfect at everything!! If you can’t pipe easily move on and spend more practice time with the things you are comfortable with. Better to be great at a few things than average with everything

Plan ahead – work out every thing need to do from start to finish with your cake and put it on a big list. This is always a helpful thing to do whether you are a beginner or a professional and then gives you some spare time to actually eat cake and drink tea xx

Transporting cakes – You can buy big, strong, tall cake boxes to transport your cake in, which will keep it safe. Always put it on a flat surface if driving (NOT the backseat, the cake will be at an angle and you’ll end up delivering crumbs)

Once you’ve iced your cake, NEVER put it in the fridge, it will become a sticky mess and you’ll have to start all over again. Keep it at room temperature and it will be perfect

Have fun, enjoy what you do and remember to give yourself a pat on the back for every beautiful thing you create.