A Thread For All Uk Bakers!!
Decorating By hailinguk Updated 25 Aug 2017 , 10:29am by Magic Mouthfuls
I have done one T-Shirt cake and I hired it from my local cake shop. I paid only �3.00 for three days and a deposit of �10-�20 ( cannot remember exactly how much it was).
When I make buttercream I beat the butter, flavouring and coffee creamer (hot). Then add half the icing sugar and then the other half. If the bc is too stiff to the touch, then add a little bit more coffee creamer. I always make a big batch and store it in a box in the fridge. When I need it next time take it out and leave it to come to room temperature. Then just mix it with a spoon. I don't beat it again.
you use coffee creamer that sounds interesting does it make it really smooth then? Mine always seems to stiff tat I need to rebeat which is so annoying when you've done a huge batch for that week. I'll give this a go
thank you 
I use meringue buttercreams exclusively. I can't stand the super sweet taste of butter + icing sugar buttercreams. Everyone raves about my cuppies, they say it tastes like ice cream on top
I actually find it easier and less messy to make the meringues. Also I have just started making IMBC and FMBC and mixing them together so none of the egg goes to waste.
I use meringue buttercreams exclusively. I can't stand the super sweet taste of butter + icing sugar buttercreams. Everyone raves about my cuppies, they say it tastes like ice cream on top
I actually find it easier and less messy to make the meringues. Also I have just started making IMBC and FMBC and mixing them together so none of the egg goes to waste.
I quite fancy having a go at these lisa. How well do they keep in a tub? and do they hold up well in cakes?
Wow £60 for a cake tin someone must have been really desperate. There's no way I would pay that much, no matter how much I would use it or it would help me.
Great idea about hiring, the only problem is sometimes the wilton ones get really dented. I think the shop by me still only charges £1.50 for 2 days & £10 deposit.
As for cupcakes I'm preferring cream cheese frosting at the moment. It's nice & light & produces a great swirl & isn't as sickly as regular bc. I made lemon flavour for my moms birthday which was even better.
bad day.. just dropped my sugar model fisherman on his head - he now looks like he has been in a road accident. Knew i shouldn't have moved the dummy he was sitting on but i couldn't help myself lol
Oh no 
I feel your pain, I did that last week with a fairy princess. I'd just finished her & knocked her off the side. I had no time to redo & dry so had to do a quick crappy one, then that went & fell sideways too 
I'd like to pick your brains for names, i'm thinking of going with a name using with the word "cakery" in it. I really like it, but i'm just worried that the general public who aren't as cake savvy as us won't catch on as to what I'm on about...what do you all think?
sorry for the multiple posts but I keep going back & seeing something I missed.
I'd just go with 'The Cakery' it's short & catchy. I'm thinking of changing mine to Cupcakes Counselling because I seem to get eveyone's life story & problems when they order cakes lately. I must just have that kind of face 
I use meringue buttercreams exclusively. I can't stand the super sweet taste of butter + icing sugar buttercreams. Everyone raves about my cuppies, they say it tastes like ice cream on top
I actually find it easier and less messy to make the meringues. Also I have just started making IMBC and FMBC and mixing them together so none of the egg goes to waste.
I quite fancy having a go at these lisa. How well do they keep in a tub? and do they hold up well in cakes?
I've eaten cupcakes which have been sat room temp for over 4/5 days and they still taste great. The boiling hot sugar cooks the egg whites, the sugar acts as a preservative and the butter is fine left out at room temp anyway.
As it's pure butter (no veg fat) it goes rock solid in the fridge. So it's ideal as a substitute for normal buttercream when icing a cake, you can get a nice smooth finish. I still prefer ganache though lol!
It freezes well too, you have to let it get to room temp then rewhip it with your beater blade (don't try to microwave it!)
As a filling it's great, you can whip fruit or chocolate into it or leave it on its own. I mixed passionfruit curd into my IMBC the other week and it was amazing.
great, im know going to make SMBC with the raspberry jam thing mixed in for the filling and just plain SMBC for the actualy icing under the fondant. although i know when you fridge the cake to get the ciing to stiffen up, I'm always worried that when i cover the cake with fondant on stiff icing, once it's warmed back up to room temp where it will stay for the rest of its life, it will go all soft/disform from the smoothness it was? am i making sense? has this happened to anyone?
i also love and prefer the taste of the meringue bcs although only tried the Swiss, then comes cream cheese and then normal bc when needs must!
allaboutcakeuk, I don't like the taste of the normal butter + icing sugar taste. IMO the coffee creamer gives the bc lovely taste and take away the too much sweetness.
For my cupcakes, I have meringue based buttercream and it is fantastic. Its called whipped buttercream and you can keep on eating it!
bad day.. just dropped my sugar model fisherman on his head - he now looks like he has been in a road accident. Knew i shouldn't have moved the dummy he was sitting on but i couldn't help myself lol
Oh no
I feel your pain, I did that last week with a fairy princess. I'd just finished her & knocked her off the side. I had no time to redo & dry so had to do a quick crappy one, then that went & fell sideways too
I despair sometimes of models but they always so popular! I have this cake that has a huge model car on it but they have given me the actual car plastic model. it's huge though. I'm still figuring out how to get it all to tie in well with the theme and look a good cake! Now I have more sugar shoes to do at last min 
oh inbetween doing a mickey mouse cake I forgot I promised to a friend oh and a parcel cake. I need more sleep ha ha
allaboutcakeuk, I don't like the taste of the normal butter + icing sugar taste. IMO the coffee creamer gives the bc lovely taste and take away the too much sweetness.
For my cupcakes, I have meringue based buttercream and it is fantastic. Its called whipped buttercream and you can keep on eating it!
that sounds great. I've been thinking of changing as a lot of people don't like the sweetness of straight bc. I also wanted something I could add some more flavours etc to as I don't think bc is that great for doing that
Wow �60 for a cake tin someone must have been really desperate. There's no way I would pay that much, no matter how much I would use it or it would help me.
Great idea about hiring, the only problem is sometimes the wilton ones get really dented. I think the shop by me still only charges �1.50 for 2 days & �10 deposit.
As for cupcakes I'm preferring cream cheese frosting at the moment. It's nice & light & produces a great swirl & isn't as sickly as regular bc. I made lemon flavour for my moms birthday which was even better.
they must have! yeah wilton do dent up quite a lot I find. If only i had a nice cake supply shop near me - i'm in the middle of nowhere on that one!
Hi Allaboutcake
I am slowly but surely working my way through this fabulous thread. I noticed you'd mentioned you'd been given a spot in a bakery. I was just curious about whether or not you'd had to do anything different in terms of registration (council etc.) if you are supplying a shop rather than selling the cakes out of your home?
Cos -x-
Hi Allaboutcake
I am slowly but surely working my way through this fabulous thread. I noticed you'd mentioned you'd been given a spot in a bakery. I was just curious about whether or not you'd had to do anything different in terms of registration (council etc.) if you are supplying a shop rather than selling the cakes out of your home?
Cos -x-
Hi Cos
No nothing different as I work out of my home for my own business also so I am already registered with the council etc. I supply the bakery with basic cakes that they sell in their bakery as they often get requests for decorated cakes but no one there can ice/decorate cakes. sometimes they bake cakes and I do simple messaging on them etc or I just supply them with a cake if a customer requests it for which they take a percentage for the referral
I despair sometimes of models but they always so popular! I have this cake that has a huge model car on it but they have given me the actual car plastic model. it's huge though. I'm still figuring out how to get it all to tie in well with the theme and look a good cake! Now I have more sugar shoes to do at last min
oh inbetween doing a mickey mouse cake I forgot I promised to a friend oh and a parcel cake. I need more sleep ha ha
You sound like me. I remember the one week having so many shoes & handbags drying everywhere, my house looked Jimmy Choo factory.
I'd just got to that point where I enjoyed doing models & I could do them easier & quicker. Then this one, nothing seemed to go right with it at all. Serves me right for getting too confident
Car one sounds tricky especially when it's something you're not comfy with. I think that was my problem with the fairy. I'd already done a beatiful fairy cake, for this lady, with little models, a toadstool house, little flowers & butterflies. Then with this one she was sort of "oh can you do the same but I want pink icing frills instead of all that other stuff" & I guess I just felt a bit what am I putting all this effort in for when she wants a cake from the 80's.
Question I keep meaning to ask. Do any of you do many 3 tier stacked sponges & if so what kind of support system do you use?
I was taught that you never do more than 2 tiers of stacked sponge, but I have a bride who ordered a 3 tier on a stand & now wants it stacked. I've read on here that a lot of people use bubble tea straws but I'm not really sure about that.
I'm now worried if I do it with dowels it will collapse, especailly as the brides sister wants to collect it herself the day before the wedding.
I always use plastic/wooden dowel rods. Never had a problem so far!! Last year I did a 4 tier cake, stacked using dowel rods. And a good blob of royal icing under each tier.
I have trasported 3 tiers already stacked, but this 4 tier one, I stacked two top tiers together and the two bottom tiers seperately and put them together at the venue.
For the 3 tier castle cake in my photos, the cakes were bottom = marble, middle = vanilla sponge, top = vanilla sponge soaked in baileys. I used straws instead of dowels and glued the tiers together using ganache. I had to drive the cake about 10 miles away and it was fine. McDonald's straws would be good to use as dowels, I have a pack of black ones I bought from Macro. I don't like using the plastic and wooden dowels as they are a PITA to cut.
Hi Guys
Just discovered this thread and I'm slowly getting through the posts.
I'm about to start up my own business and have most of the info and paperwork i needto get going, however I have a problem in order to register I need a business name!! I can't believe how difficult it is to find something unique - I've enlisted all my work mates and friends and we're still struggling - Do any of my creative friends (you guys ) have any pearls of wisdom!!?
Thanks
Question I keep meaning to ask. Do any of you do many 3 tier stacked sponges & if so what kind of support system do you use?
I was taught that you never do more than 2 tiers of stacked sponge, but I have a bride who ordered a 3 tier on a stand & now wants it stacked. I've read on here that a lot of people use bubble tea straws but I'm not really sure about that.
I'm now worried if I do it with dowels it will collapse, especailly as the brides sister wants to collect it herself the day before the wedding.
Hi there, I seem to have ALL my customers having stacked cakes. I have done 4 tiers no problem with the last being a 14", 12", 10" and 8" that had to be transported. I have to say I used the bubble straws once although they are from a cake shop in NY so decent support system straws. Now I don't mind these for smaller cakes but for bigger ones I use the sturdy plastic dowels and if it's really big I use the slightly thicker ones. You'll have no problem at all as all the cake rests on the dowels not the cake. Just make sure as I'm sure you do that the dowels are just above the icing by a tiny bit so nothing is resting on the icing, that's when you're likely to get a blow out of icing ... as I found out myself the night before I had to deliver a 2 tier cake ha ha now that made me feel sick!
The only thing I wonder is this.. what do you do with someone who wants a fruit as a top tier or a middle tier? I do get asked and I normally steer them away from it as I worry about the weight even though the dowels support it just doesn't seem right to me being top heavy! lol
Hi Guys
Just discovered this thread and I'm slowly getting through the posts.
I'm about to start up my own business and have most of the info and paperwork i needto get going, however I have a problem in order to register I need a business name!! I can't believe how difficult it is to find something unique - I've enlisted all my work mates and friends and we're still struggling - Do any of my creative friends (you guys
) have any pearls of wisdom!!?Thanks
it is really hard I spent days/weeks trying to decide esp as every time i thought of something it was taken on the website domains! sometimes you need to think of something other than cake.. and something may come to you. A name that doesn't actually mean anything in particular but with cake attached in there. Like people who do things like Wistful Cakes etc... or the most random choccywoccydoodah lol HTH
I need some help with pricing. I've just got the cake boss software but I haven't finished programming all the information in yet, so don't know what to charge for a cake I've been asked to make by a colleague.
It'll be a 3 tier topsy turvy. Top tier will be 6"-5"-4" carved into shape, 2nd tier will be 8"-7"-6" carved into shape, 3rd tier will be 10"-9"-8" carved into shape. They will be covered in ganache, it will probably be chocolate and vanilla sponge. Covered in fondant.
She gave me this picture as a reference:
http://cutestfood.com/uploads/2010/03/CutestFood_com_4001668018_7ed2e6d02f1.jpg
I did a practice one, but it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped it would.. and stupidly I didn't keep track of my costs
Any help would be appreciated
allaboutcakeuk, once I did a 2 tier cake and the top tier was a fruit cake. I used the same dowels I always use and didn't have any problem transporting it.
allaboutcakeuk, once I did a 2 tier cake and the top tier was a fruit cake. I used the same dowels I always use and didn't have any problem transporting it.
thanks Bashini - what size was it out of curiosity?
It was a 9" and a 6". If you do the doweling properly, no need to worry!
I need some help with pricing. I've just got the software but I haven't finished programming all the information in yet, so don't know what to charge for a cake I've been asked to make by a colleague.
It'll be a 3 tier topsy turvy. Top tier will be 6"-5"-4" carved into shape, 2nd tier will be 8"-7"-6" carved into shape, 3rd tier will be 10"-9"-8" carved into shape. They will be covered in ganache, it will probably be chocolate and vanilla sponge. Covered in fondant.
She gave me this picture as a reference:
http://cutestfood.com/uploads/2010/03/CutestFood_com_4001668018_7ed2e6d02f1.jpg
I did a practice one, but it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped it would.. and stupidly I didn't keep track of my costs
Any help would be appreciated
Hi Lisa if it is with all that detail minimum £250 I'd say up to £295. My one on my website that doesn't have modelling but lots of decorating detail I charged £295 that was 10, 8, 6 (before carving) in chocolate and vanilla sponges. I've just charged a bride £300 for that one in her wedding colours as she is having bottom fruit in 9". Hope this gives you an idea. I'm not sure how well you know this colleague if you want to give her a mate's rate discount. Mine is normally 10% off depending how well i know them
It was a 9" and a 6". If you do the doweling properly, no need to worry!
thank you - yeah it's all in the dowelling. i'm taking a mickey mouse cake on an hour's journey to my mum's tomorrow then a 45 min journey on to my friends after that. dreading it as although it's dowelled the top body part is same size as the base so no gap hoping it sticks fast and no slippage! what with that an ears to worry about and warm weather ha could be a fun day!
Good Luck with that allaboutcakeuk! Take an emergency kit, in case if you have to fix it here and there!
i bought some of those bubble straws from ebay, they are quite large and sturdy (apparently made for a Vietnamese thick tea type drink) , not as bendy and small like normal MCDonalds straws. Here: [/url]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/50-giant-jumbo-big-fat-straws-bubble-pearls-tea-/130478432450?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_Drink_Wine_Bar_Accessories&var=&hash=item641edddf68[url] I haven't used them yet, but might do tonight for the 2 tier I'm working on. i bought them because I hate trying to get the wooden or plastic dowels exactly the same as i find them difficult to cut.
poohbear love all your model figures, they are so perfect! My son's 2nd birthday is coming up and I was planning on making Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy models, if I can manage it that is! Problem is I don't have any experience making models. Do you generally just look at pictures and go from there or have you found any tutorials for particular characters? Any tips would be most welcome!!
Had a right diasater with my SMBC last night. I had made it up a day before and it was all lovely and smooth and creamy. And I made about a kilo's worth too. But I was worried about leaving it out too long so I stuck it in the fridge overnight and took it out, let it warm up a bit, but obviously not enough as it was still firmish, then tried beating it. It turned into one big soupy mess and the liquid just split from the fat, it truly looked horrible. Luckily I had some cream cheese and soft butter on hand so I mixed up a batch of that and iced my cakes. But such a waste of SMBC!! I've never refrigerated it before but had read on here some others had and it wasn't a problem. Never doing that again!! Has anyone had any luck refrigerating meringue based BC?[/url]
idontknow, I bought online tutorials from aine2 aka Lorraine McKay. Here is the link to her website.
http://www.extraicing.co.uk/
If you become a member you have access to her little videos which she does only for the members.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%