Tips and Tricks: Home-Based Wedding Cake Designers

Reposted from my previous blog, Chronic Masterbakers:

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I have searched the internet, looking for some simple recommendations, rules, tips and tricks to help make your first wedding cake commissions go off without a hitch. However, I was astonished to find so little information on the subject. There are plenty of how-to’s for the bride- and groom-to-be, but not many for the neophyte home-based baker/decorator.  So, I made some up myself based on my own experiences, because I'm awesome like that.  This is by no means a comprehensive list, but these are definitely items that you should make your top priority.

How to plan for making a wedding cake

If you are considering making a wedding cake for a friend or family, and this is your first time at the rodeo, we cannot recommend strongly enough to incorporate these simple rules:

1. Plan for PLENTY OF TIME to do everything you think you need to do, then add a hefty amount of extra time (minimum 15%) for contingencies. If you are having trouble thinking of how to plan your time, think backwards like a Project Manager!

Start with the date the cake is due to be delivered, then brainstorm every major task you need to accomplish for the cake’s completion, and sort in completion order (for example, you can't list the "decorate cake" task on a date before the cake has even been baked!).

Assign "Done By" dates to the major tasks; add the sub-duties and link them to the appropriate major task, then start working in backwards date order, assigning blocks of time to each major and minor task, until you complete the list.  That will give you a good start date (don’t forget to add the contingency time throughout your list!).

2. Don’t promise what you aren’t 100% certain you can deliver. Nothing can spoil a bride’s day like having something not exactly the way they had envisioned it in their heads.
And when the bride’s not happy, you won’t be happy.


 

3. If you are charging for the cake, obtain at least 50% of the cake deposit UPFRONT before you start spending time or money on it; this will ensure all parties that you are both serious about the commission, and any alterations to the original contract will be communicated effectively and with alacrity. If it’s a rush job — we don’t recommend taking these if you can avoid them, but stuff happens — then get that deposit immediately and have them sign a contract stating they will pay you the remainder upon delivery and set-up; if you can get them to give you the remainder of the money prior to delivery then so much the better.  However, if you have a bit of time before you start working on the cake, then get your deposit a minimum of two (2) months before it’s due. You may think this one is ok to slide on, guys, but it’s really not.  Unfortunately, money makes the world go round, so if the bride and groom decide to make a last-minute change to the wedding venue, date, or theme colours expected to be reflected in the cake design, having “skin in the game” (i.e. a big deposit) will make it more likely they will COMMUNICATE these changes to you in a timely manner.

Most importantly, though, is make sure you receive a cheque, cash, or money order for the remainder of the payment by the time you have dropped off and set-up the cake; whatever you do, DO NOT LEAVE THE CAKE WITHOUT YOUR MONEY.  Once that cake has been consumed, there is no longer any product to hold for payment, and you will be over a barrel and in small claims court if they decide not to pay you. Sadly, the world being what it is, this is something you need to consider.

3a). In concert with tip #3, unless the wedding cake is your gift to the bride and groom, you need to place an accurate value on the cake and then ask for it.  It’s irrelevant whether the payment be money or the bartering of a good or service that is of equal or higher value to you (I once made a lovely cake and received a gorgeous set of Wusthof knives in payment!); what is important is that you are being compensated for your time, your skills, and your overhead (i.e. ingredients and utilities used).  Even if you make cakes as a non-monetary hobby, attaching a proper value to your work actually makes it MORE valuable in the recipients’ eyes than if you gave it for free or for a nominal charge.

There is a reason that wedding cakes are so expensive to purchase from professional bakeries; while some of that perceived “inflated” price is admittedly markup, the true value is usually not that far off the mark.  Wedding cakes are considered completely customized and unique to the personalities, needs, and wishes of the prospective bride and groom, and to that end, a ton of research, preparation, and skill goes into each one.  These attributes are worth far more than the value of eggs, sugar, flour and butter, and are worth being compensated for.

 4. If you are asked to make the cake with a new recipe, or you’re tempted to do so yourself, for the love of cookies make one or two test cakes well in advance of the commission due date!  When your reputation is on the line, the week before you’re expected to deliver what you promised is NOT the time to start pioneering new recipes!  This goes double if you are using an oven or ingredients different from what you normally use and are used to. Seriously – as few unpleasant surprises as possible means less stress for you as well as more profit, since a) you won’t be throwing out failed product, and b) you won’t be having to maybe re-buy ingredients at a premium….

Note: I *do* hope you are buying your ingredients in bulk when there’s a wicked sale on.  Flour lasts a long time, longer if you freeze it, and so does butter, chocolate, cocoa, and baking soda/powder. Sugar and vanilla extract are good for a long time too, and you can always freeze milk or use shelf-stable evaporated milk or skim milk powder.
Ok, back on topic.

5. Be sure to confirm with the bride and groom whether you are expected to deliver and set-up the cake at the venue.  Some couples are perfectly fine with a little DIY aspect, and will have trusted family members pick up the cake  and set it up at the venue. The reason why they may do this? To save money, of course.  How are they saving money? Because you should be CHARGING for delivery and set-up.  At the very very least you need to have them reimburse you for your gas money to get TO AND FROM the event, plus venue parking charges if any, but you should also be charging a flat fee for set-up.  The more intricate the cake you have created, the more skill it will be to set up the cake without it falling, breaking or otherwise destroying itself.  You deserve to be compensated for your skill-set.

6. If you *are* expected to deliver and set-up the cake at the venue, we strongly recommend that, if your cake design allows it, you transport the cake in sections and assemble it onsite.  Make and bring extra decor to replace anything broken, and definitely bring a tipped pastry bag of ready-to-use royal icing to give the cake first aid as needed. However, if the cake design means that the cake absolutely cannot be assembled onsite, then make sure it’s doweled to high heaven; this means doweling each tier, then ramming a long dowel from the top tier through to the bottom tier and into the cake drum.  For more information on how to properly dowel a cake, check out this post.

7. In concert with tip #5, this is one that I cannot stress enough.  TAKE PICTURES OF YOUR CAKE AFTER IT HAS BEEN SET UP AT THE VENUE. If at all possible, don't leave it for others to set it up, but do it yourself...then take photos.  If you don’t own a camera, buy one. Even a disposable one will do.

There are two very good reasons for this: on the positive side, these pictures should be going into your portfolio to show future prospective clients how awesome your mad skills are.  On the negative side….well, not everyone in this world is good. We know this. So, do yourself a HUGE favour and take pictures for evidence that you delivered and set up the cake perfectly and all was well when you left the cake to the mercy of the caterers, restaurant staff, mischievous guests and random Acts of God. The last thing you need is to be refused the remainder of your payment because the cake you left in perfect condition was ruined before the bride and groom got to see it and they blame YOU.

Lastly, but not least, have fun with your budding cake decorating business!  Even if you’re only doing it as a hobby, or a once-or-twice-a-year thing for family and friends, it’s important to not lose sight of the reason you said yes to the commission in the first place.  Whatever the reason, the less stress you put on yourself, the more fun you will have, and I strongly believe that happy baking means the food tastes better ;o)

Tutorial: Dowelling a Cake

Reboot of my original post from a previous blog, Chronic Masterbakers

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What’s a dowel?
Dowels are straight sticks made from rolled paper, plastic, or wood, that are (usually) vertically pushed into a cake in order to support the weight of the above layers.

How many dowels you use, and where to place them within your cake depends on a number of factors:  how many layers your cake is going to be, how large (diameter/square inches) the layers are, and how heavy each layer is once the fondant and decoration has been added.


Why dowel a cake?

Doweling a cake is strongly recommended whenever there will be:

a) more than one tier on the cake, 
b) the tiers are offset or not completely vertical (like on a topsy-turvy cake), or 
c) the top tiers are particularly dense or heavy.

Don’t let this happen to you!

A beautiful action shot of a wedding
cake disaster!

Doweling prevents your cake from allowing gravity to have its wicked way. Two VERY BAD things can happen to undoweled cakes (if they even manage to make it to their destination unscathed): either your unsupported layers will slide off one another (see left) and fall onto the table — if you’re *really* unlucky they’ll hit the floor – or the weight of each unsupported layer weakens the structural integrity of the cake as a whole (see right), and squashes the cake layers beneath due to excessive weight. 
And then it falls to the floor. 

Guess who’s paying the costs for THAT cake?  Hint: it’s not the client!

What is the best doweling material?

Which dowels to use is largely a matter of preference; every professional cake baker/decorator has their favourites. 

No, you fool! That’s her
sternum!

WOOD: Old-school decorators usually advocate wooden dowels, as they are very strong, relatively thin, can be sharpened into a wicked point on one end for better driving (like a stake) through the centre of tall cakes (had that tall wedding cake in the pic above had a stake through its little cakey heart, it would probably have never hit the ground). 
The downsides: wooden dowels are getting harder and harder to find as cake designers move to alternate doweling options, and in response their cost is rising. 
Pro-TIP: whatever you do, DO NOT buy wooden dowels from a hardware store or a discount/dollar store that are not SPECIFICALLY LABELLED as food-safe.  Many wood dowels are used for non-food crafting, and may have been coated with a potentially-toxic pest retardant or otherwise handled in a non-food-safe manner. Also, don’t whittle one end of your dowel. Go out and purchase a cheap pencil sharpener and sharpen them that way.

PLASTIC: Other more contemporary cake designers use hollow plastic tubes; depending on the style of your cake, these can be extremely strong, yet take up very little cake “real estate” so the client still gets all the cake that they paid for.  Plastic dowels are good for cakes that have a lot of surface space you can utilize to support your structure, and they are also very light for their strength so they don't add much weight to the overall cake. Cheaper alternatives include the bubble tea straws, though I have never used them myself.

The downsides: they can be quite expensive (with the one exception), can’t be sharpened to a point to drive through multiple layers, and, depending on their shape, are not usually as strong as wooden dowels.

ROLLED PAPER: Also known as “lollipop sticks”, these economical dowels can be used on average sized multi-layer cakes, and are narrow enough in circumference that they can usually be easily inserted anywhere more structure is needed in a cake.  They’re also a breeze to cut to the proper length (most times you can just notch where you want them to break, then just bend them to break them), and due to their thinness they don’t have to be sharpened. 
The downsides: the longest paper sticks available today are still only lollipop-length, and so aren’t long enough to be driven in one piece through a multi-layer cake from top to bottom. They are also not meant to be used exclusively for extremely heavy cakes, or those with large, multiple layers (like a big wedding cake).

What is the WORST product to use for dowels?

NONONO!

Hands down, using cheap plastic straws, like the ones you would get from a fast-food place, is the WORST idea ever (I would make the one exception for bubble tea straws, as noted above, which are surprisingly strong for their shape and size).

I understand and respect the need to reduce costs when making cakes for commissions; you might even have gotten away with it a few times in the past with no bad effects…but TRUST ME, this is NOT where to cut corners.

A cake decorator’s nightmare

I've heard too many stories from my contemporaries and professors about beautiful cakes made for fabulous occasions that never made it to the event due to cheaping out on the doweling.  To me, it’s like building a beautiful house, yet making the basement out of sand.  Sure it looks nice for a while, but as soon as that first earthquake hits, BOOM all that work is destroyed in an instant.



How do I dowel my cake?

It’s actually quite simple.  The two most important things to remember when considering your doweling options are: 

1) Your dowel should never be seen once it’s in the cake, and

2) Your dowel SHOULD NEVER BE SEEN ONCE IT’S IN THE CAKE! ;o)



Wooden dowels pushed sub-surface
prior to the fondant covering. See the
scribed circle line? That is showing
where the above cake will sit.

Seriously, though, for simple 2, 3 or 4 tier cakes, as long as you are a) placing your dowels within the space that will be covered by the cake above (see pic to the left); b) they are equidistant to one another; c) you are using a cakeboard, plate/platter, or a thin cake card on the bottoms of each cake above the base cake; and d) they are cut to be flush, or even slightly below the cake’s height, then you’re good to go.

For larger, taller cakes, the best guide to maintaining stability is to ensure you have a central, 90 degree vertical angle that runs from the top of your cake to the bottom, where you will *gently!* pound a sharpened long dowel from the top through each cake and cake card right to the bottom cake.  You need to measure the height of your assembled cake, choose a dowel of the appropriate height and style (see above for descriptions of various dowels), and cut accordingly. After that, take another dowel, hold it on top of the one in the cake and hit it with a small hammer to make sure that the one in the cake is down all the way through the tiers. No, don’t just shove it in with your finger and hope for the best.

I’d also suggest that you mention to the client that when they cut the cake there will be dowels present, and to please just have them quietly removed after the cake cutting. You never can tell; you don’t want to choke a greedy kid, do you?



Here are a few pics of perfectly doweled cakes, to show you how excellently it can be done:

A lovely five-layer cake.  Perfect.



A perfectly balanced cake!

Beautiful example of dowelling!



One of my favourite cakes from Pinterest!



So now you know everything there is to know about doweling cakes, or at least all that *I* know! Good luck to you in your next doweling adventure, and remember: be confident but be careful, and things will go well.

Don’t forget to take lots of pictures of your little beauties!

Tutorial: Gumpaste Baby Converse Sneakers

Reposted from my previous blog, Chronic Masterbakers:

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Presenting:

The Most Adorable Baby Converse Sneakers in the World!



These l’il guys are small enough to fit both in the palm of your hand

The creation of these adorable little sneakers was a challenge I was both enthusiastic to attempt for the first time, but also slightly dreaded, since I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out.

All in all, they were not as challenging as I was concerned they would be, but, to be fair, it took doing them a couple of times to get them as perfect as I could (you’re looking at set #2, ahem…).  To that end, I thought that it might be useful to teach you, my readers, how to make these adorable little converse sneakers for yourselves.

So….let’s get started, shall we?

I found a semi-useful template online for cutting out the pieces you need; however, I discovered during the swear-filled creation of my first attempt that the templates were a little off (somewhat like myself...but I digress). So, I recreated and recut the templates to better fit the second attempt. 

Note: at the bottom of this post is the corrected template for your use; all you have to do is decide the size you want (default is the size I made the shoes with), then print out the template.  I recommend you use a nice, sturdy piece of cardboard (like the cardboard from the back of a pad of paper) for the templates; paper is a little too flimsy to get the most accurate cut. Also, if you plan on making more than one set of these cute l'il guys, cover both sides of your template with clear masking tape to keep them from getting damaged.

Step 1: Prep your area. 

You will need a cutting mat, x-acto knife and/or small rolling cutter, #1 or #2 plain piping tip, shaker container of cornstarch (NOT powdered sugar), small amount of vegetable shortening, small fondant rolling pin, tiny amount of slightly thinned clear piping gel (this is your glue) and a small pointed-end paintbrush, clean damp washcloth, clean dry kitchen towel, paper towel and/or plastic wrap, and a stitching tool.

Make and cut out your templates.

Step 2: Prep your gumpaste.

We actually recommend that you use what is called “50/50″ in the industry, which is a roughly equal amount of gumpaste and fondant.  The reason for this?  Gumpaste is an excellent medium for making figures and other ornaments that you wish to dry to hardness, but it’s stiff to work with and can be quite fragile.  Fondant has the pliability and softness that makes working a mound of it so pleasant, but it takes a long time to dry (it can take days), and its very softness and pliability is a disadvantage in trying to keep your piece’s shape while drying…especially in a humid environment. Hence, mix equal proportions together and you get the best of both worlds…at least in our experience!

At this point, you want to make enough 50/50 to have enough for your white pieces and your coloured pieces.  Make sure it your pieces are separated and well-wrapped in air-tight coverings while you are rolling and cutting out your pieces, as 50/50 dries quickly.  We recommend plastic wrap, ‘press n seal’, or a ziploc bag.  If your 50/50 does start to dry out too quickly, you can “rejuvenate” it by re-working it in your hands, using a little bit of vegetable shortening.  However, be sure to pick out and discard any hard clumps, as this can ruin your rolled pieces. If your 50/50 gets too soft to work with, usually from the heat of your hands, you can add a little bit of corn starch. BEWARE! If you add too much, you can’t *just* add more shortening until you get it right. After the second time of fixing it, you’re better off just to start with a new hunk of 50/50. 

Step 3: Start your engines!

Lightly dust your working surface with cornstarch and roll out a portion of white 50/50 to approximately 1/8″ thickness; cut out two baby shoe soles (make sure one is reversed from the other) and place to the side. 

Cover your remaining white 50/50 and start work on the coloured portion.  Roll and cut out the front toe pieces.  Gently attach the toe pieces to the front of your soles, using the piping gel as glue. Use paper towel and/or plastic wrap to gently support the curve in the toe and the tongue.

Cut out the back of the shoe, pattern the edges with the stitching tool, add the holes with the piping tip, and glue into place. there should be a small overlap between the back and front pieces.  Repeat.

Roll and cut out the half-moons from the white 50/50.  Gently pattern the pieces with a vertical stripe using a thin, dull bladed implement or your rolling cutter (be careful not to cut through).  Attach to the toes of your shoes with piping gel.

Roll and cut the longest strip out of the white 50/50; pattern along the edges with the stitching tool and glue into place around the back of the sneaker, meeting up to slightly overlap the white toe piece. Repeat.

Roll and cut the medium-sized strip out of the white 50/50; pattern along with edges with the stitching tool and glue into place around the front of the sneaker, meeting up to slightly overlap the back strip.  Cut if necessary to fit properly.  Repeat. Cut out the circles and paint/draw the stars with the appropriate colour.  Put aside and let dry.

Now for the laces: thinly roll out some white 50/50; cut long, thin lines for the laces.  You have the option to make flat or rolled laces for the sneakers; we went with rolled. 

Eyeball the length you will need for the inside “criss-cross” on the tongue; cut and affix with a small amount of gumpaste.  Gently swab the inside of the eyelet holes with gumpaste and repeat the process for the outside laces.  Lace as per your preference.

Almost there!  All that’s left:

1) Make two tiny bows for the front of the laces (optional).

2) Pattern the tongue with lines and dots (your choice).

3) Roll, cut, stitch, and affix the shortest strip (from coloured 50/50) vertically along the “back seam” on the heel of the shoe, gathering to a loop at the top.

4) Affix the star circles to each shoe (be sure to glue them to the “outside” of each shoe, away from the inner curve!).

5) Make a small, thin snake of coloured 50/50 and affix around the toe of the shoe.

6) Draw the classic converse blue line along the base of the shoe.

And there you have it! 
The total time it took me to complete my second go-round with these shoes was about 3 hours.



Below is a copy of the template I used to make the shoes. I’d LOVE to hear if anyone else has tried these shoes, and how they worked out for you.  Pictures would be AWESOME too!  Good luck!!!

Tutorial: How to Make a Swirl Cake

Reposted from my previous blog, Chronic Masterbakers:

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Here are some pics and a short tutorial on how to do a perfect colour swirl in your cakes!

Ooh, colours…..

Step 1: Make your cake batter, and separate out into roughly equal portions in separate bowls, for as many colours as you are using.  Tint each bowl with the desired colour (we strongly recommend using gel or paste colouring, as the quantity of liquid food colouring you would have to add to achieve more intense colours could change the consistency of your batter and give you a sub-optimal final product).

Why is this? Because, if you take two different batters of different viscosity, then they will not combine properly. The thinner batter will be outweighed by the heavier batter and you will not get the effect you want. If you do only have liquid colours, then maybe take out some of the liquid from the recipe, or make sure that all of the batters hold the same consistency. Just remember that if you thin the batters out too much, you compromise the quality of the product.   

Plop, Plop, fizz, fizz, cake-making makes you a whiz.

 

Step 2: Prepare your pan and preheat your oven.  No science to this next part: just dollop your tinted and original batters in random blobs around the pan; be sure to get some in the corners and try not to build up any one area too much.




It should look a little bit like this:

Blobby goodness right here!

Step 3: The SOOPER SEE-KRIT tool to make the best swirls in your cake is shown below!

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Yes, it’s a butter knife.  Woooo.

Seriously, no special tool is needed.  Simply use something thin and blade-like that won’t damage your pan.

Step 4: Starting from the centre and radiating outwards, gently but firmly drag the knife in concentric circles to the edges, taking care not to damage the pan underneath nor disturb much of your grease-and-flour pan prep.

Round and round…

Step 5:  But wait, there’s more!  After the circles, gently but firmly drag your knife in parallel lines from the left edge to the right edge, top to bottom.  I also like to do one pan “perimeter sweep” (i.e. around the pan edges) for good measure.


The picture below is what your pan should look like before popping it into the oven...

Up and down…

 …and this is what your cake should look like once it comes out of the oven.

The finished Swirl Cake

But wait, don’t panic! You haven’t done anything wrong…at least that we know about, you naughty monkey…
You’ll see your beautiful colours preserved in all their glory once you trim the edges, like so:

Purty, ain’t it?

Look at that gorgeous colour!  You’d think I did this for a living, or something! *wink*

This offcut was so tasty!

And so endeth one of the easier tutorials I will probably post here.  If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you!