Cash from Baking??

karenccs67

Pink_Mummy wrote: »

Awww stardrops, I am hoping to start NVQ1 in cake decorating.. Starts in September though!! Stick at it though hunni, you'll be joining the other side in no time I bet!!
Has everyone else done courses!?? x

Ive completed c&g level 1 sugarcraft and im about a third of the way throught level 2 and i love it.

karenccs67

stardrops42 wrote: »

Well just got back from my first cake decorating and sugarcraft class. Not for me I think, I was losing the will to live about half way through:wall: There was a couple of people on the other side of the classroom who were doing the next level, sugar flowers etc and all I wanted to do was go over and have a go! We were getting taught how to do basic piping which I found soooooooo boring. We have to take a sponge cake in next week to decorate but I don't know if I want to go back:undecided

what course and level was it stardrops, the trouble is with some of these classes people have different levels of experience, ive found that on mine but my tutor is so good and she takes time to give those with little experience extra help/tuition, also whilst you can pipe you have to show evidence that you can pipe to the exam board. karen x

stardrops42

Thanks guys:o Its just a beginners cake decorating and sugarcraft course I suppose. Don't get me wrong I am no expert in piping, infact I'm fairly useless at it:rotfl: It just doesn't interest me, I'm more into the modelling part of cake decorating. I like to make little figures etc but piping just holds no interest for me. I know its all part of cake decorating but I've made quite a few cakes so far and never used piping and they turned out quite nice, so does it really matter if I can't pipe?? Will will be doing sugar flowers etc on week 3, think I might have just got off to a bad start;)

karenccs67

stardrops42 wrote: »

Thanks guys:o Its just a beginners cake decorating and sugarcraft course I suppose. Don't get me wrong I am no expert in piping, infact I'm fairly useless at it:rotfl: It just doesn't interest me, I'm more into the modelling part of cake decorating. I like to make little figures etc but piping just holds no interest for me. I know its all part of cake decorating but I've made quite a few cakes so far and never used piping and they turned out quite nice, so does it really matter if I can't pipe?? Will will be doing sugar flowers etc on week 3, think I might have just got off to a bad start;)

fingers crossed for you, as part of my level 2 were making a spray of flowers, no figure modelling but my tutor does run modelling classes (privately) on weekends once a month, ive been to one so far but in april or may shes doing a bride and groom course over 2 days and i cant wait for that. i think piping is a bit outdated now, not really called for but professional qualifications require you to demonstrate it unfortunately.

babyplum

I have been asked to make a cake for a joint 40th, 50th and 60th birthday!! eeek!

My boss asked me to do it for 3 of my collagues, all female, but all very different. She is leaving everything entirely up to me so i need to get my thinking cap on. Would love to hear if anoyone has any bright ideas?!

At the moment i am thinking of doing just a 1 tier round cake (probably about 9 or 10 inch) and then a load of cupcakes to go with it. The cake will need to serve a lot of people and i just really don't fancy making a huge tiered cake.

I was thinking of maybe trying to make a little figure of each of the ladies to sit on the top of the cake with a '40' '50' and '60' on wire to go behind them. Thought i might add little things to make them a bit more personal too, (like a surfboard and VW sign for one of them, little blackboard and apple for the teacher one, etc). Then for a bit of wow factor i thought i might do TONS of really birghtly coloured flowers to go around the bottom of the cake. (i have quite a few flower cutters i haven't used yet)
Then i could tie in the cupcakes by putting bright flowers on those too.

This is literally the first thing that came to mind so i am open to hear other ideas if people have them. Please?

Also a couple of questions:

What recipe do you use for red velvet cake and do you have to keep the cake refrigerated at all times?

Is there any way of avoiding little decorations made from flowerpaste (or sugarpaste with gum trag added) from going floppy and soggy when put on top of buttercream. Within 24 hours they have always gone totally floppy!

Bluefire

babyplum wrote: »

What recipe do you use for red velvet cake and do you have to keep the cake refrigerated at all times?

On this page is the red velvet recipe I use for my cupcakes, I can't see any reason why you couldn't use it for a cake though. It's gorgeous, definitely the softest most moist cake I make. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/3343601/Recipes-cupcakes-Sex-and-the-City-style.html As far as I know it's not the red velvet sponge you need to refrigerate, more the cream cheese frosting that traditionally goes with it.

I'm drawing a blank with the decorating ideas, all my brain is showing me is a 3 tier cake with a different age etc on each tier, and you've already said that's not what you want to do! If you could get ahold of a 4 tier cupcake stand though that could be quite effective - cake on the top with happy birthday on, & then 3 layers of cupcakes underneath all personalised for each age. 60 gets the most cupcakes of course!

Bluefire

In other news, I was thrilled to bits this morning to discover I've been featured on the Cupcakes Take the Cake blog, which I've been a fan of for ages! (http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/ - the post entitled '6 fun cupcake flavours') They're based in America so it probably won't bring much business my way but my Facebook page is definitely getting some more hits and 'likes'

Things are going really well at the moment, I'm dealing with 3 wedding enquiries, 2 of which have already made bookings without tastings(!) and I've got my first 'official' tasting this Saturday, which is both exciting & terrifying. The only down side has been putting my back out just before Christmas, it's still not that much better & every time I get an order I'm having to beg for help from my Mum to get it done! Not exactly idea, really hope it improves soon...

HelenPie

Hello all,

After being extremely motivated by reading through this entire thread, I had my first go at sugarpaste work (I'm usually more of a cupcake and buttercream girl ). I would be really greatful for your honest opinions....?

I made my own sugarpaste (probably not the best idea for a novice but I think it worked out ok).





I hope this has worked - I've not uploaded pictures before!


EDIT: Ok, if anyone has tips on how to attach pics that would be much appreciated!! It seems to work if you right click (should go to a FB page..)

H x

ElisesMummy

Hi everyone, i have spent ages reading through the thread and looking at your beautiful cakes!
These are a a few i have made and i'm thinking of setting up a facebook page to sell to people in my local area.

Click for larger pics

ElisesMummy

Following on from above - I am expecting a baby in May, so it would just be for a bit of extra money until then and would have to stop once he arrives until we're settled!
So a few questions and would be most appreciative of any help
Would i have to register as a business or would a EHO visit and a food hygiene cert be enough?
What do you use to cover your cakes? I have been using regalice.
Can you recommend a good (cheap) website to buy sugarflair pastes, sugarpaste cutters, regalice from?
Thanks so much