I think this last week has been a big blow to many of us weather wise. Floods, winds and genuine cold for the first time in what feels like a long time. My time to put away the summer clothes and reach out for the heating switch has sadly come which has made me reflect back to the summer months.
I can honestly say, I don’t think I have had such a busy summer in all of my cake business history. Of course wedding cakes take up a majority of my working time during the summer months but one cake in particular has stuck with me this year. This is mainly down to the challenge I was faced with and some recent feedback I received from that special day.
I received an email from Andrea earlier in the year telling me she lived in New York and was planning her wedding to take place in August – in the UK! Everything was being done via email and she had come across my website and liked the look of my designs.
I know I can be trusted to produce something that both tastes and looks exquisite but how do you convince someone of that over email, understanding full well how stressful this must already be for her?
I was given a brief, a colour scheme and an understanding of their special day. She wanted it country fayre, vintage, lacey but elegant at the same time with sugar flowers to match her bouquet.
I sketched out a design that I thought may fit, took a photo and emailed it over to her. Her response? ‘perfect! Exactly what I want!’. So I am thinking ‘but it’s a biro drawing of a wedding cake with a few scribbles of flowers!’. We then discussed flavours and she chose to have white chocolate raspberry, lemon and traditional fruit. Something summery and to please all tastes.
This is the feedback I received from Andrea a few weeks ago once things had settled and she was back to busy ‘married’ life in the Big Apple:
‘I must say a massive THANK YOU for baking such a beautiful and delicious cake!! It was absolutely stunning to look at and matched the decorations perfectly, and then the added bonus was that it tasted divine!! I honestly sometimes think about it and wish I could have another slice. David (my new husband!) also thought it was delicious, and all of our guests thoroughly enjoyed it!’
It is so rewarding to receive such positive feedback from my customers and as this came with a little story, I wanted to share it with you. I will also be sharing little business and baking tips with my future blogs and today’s tip came to me as I typed out ‘white chocolate and raspberry’. Here is a little tip for this week:
Use up that old fruit. If you’ve got some shrivelled blueberries, a brown banana, a soggy mango sat in your fruit bowl, don’t throw them away as many people do – put them in a cake! By simply folding some cut fruit or whole berries (lightly coated in some flour to avoid them sinking in the cake mix), you are saving waste and making a plain sponge cake more exciting. Get baking as the dark nights start to draw in and enjoy some real winter comforts!
Photograph supplied by: Martin Beddall Photography