A Thread For All Uk Bakers!!
Decorating By hailinguk Updated 25 Aug 2017 , 10:29am by Magic Mouthfuls
http://jeansonlinestuff.wix.com/cake-jeanie-2
The url is temporary, it will be changed to www.cake-jeanie.co.uk once everything on the site is good to go.
I'd also like some feedback on pricing. I know pricing is a complicated issue, so mainly I would like to know if I'm underpricing.
Kathy, I decided to use wix because I really struggled with moonfruit!
Hi Jean - the site looks fab. I have read everyone's suggestions and they are all good and I agree with them. I like the layout and the pricing is good. I agree with Gray's comments about 3d/sculpted/tiered, etc references - my only comment (if it were me, that is) I wouldn't promise to make any flavour they want. Maybe it's just me but sometimes the customer isn't always right and if the end result is not fab, people might not know they requested it - if you see what I mean. I once had somebody ask me for a light fruit cake - and I have to be honest, I was only interested in a full blown fruit cake at the time. They also wanted it to be light sponge. In the end I didn't accept the order. Not confident in my baking abilities then at all! I didn't want to give them a cake with a layer of sultanas at the bottom! Lol. I am also interested in the comments regarding stock shots - we use iStockphoto in work....I might have a gander at these sites. I think they are great to augment a site.
Re the royal icing - I must have missed the comment about lumps but I never ever put cream of tartar in my royal icing. I made some on Friday and it was lovely. It should be the consistency of whipped cream. I use Meriwhite - 1 heaped teaspoon to two tablespoons of ice cold water. I now have a brand new Kenwood Chef and I just add the icing sugar a little at a time over a period of 20 solid minutes - no less. Use the K beater. I don't measure the powder - I just know that this gives me around half a pound of icing - not a lot to be fair. So on Friday I doubled up the Meriwhite mix and got a lovely royal icing out of it. Hope this helps.
Kathy
AMy recipe is similar to Kathy's.
15 grms meri white 75mls water 500 grams icing sugar
Mix water and meri white leave to sit 10-15 mins mix in the icing sugar by hand (saves the sugar cloud) then in food mixture for 10-15 mins till it's right. Double up amounts for the 1kg.
Never has lumps and is perfect everytime.
Weird science. Sometimes the meri white/water mix will take the 500 grms icing sugar and want more other times it will of taken only 300 grms and be at thickness. No rhyme or reason to this it's just weird science.
Edited to add is you want a strong RI then use pure albumen but mix it with the water the day before you want it and pop it in the fridge. Use the next day the same as above.
ASo if one was stupid enough to consider covering a 2cm high by 3cm wide circle of cake in whipped ganache (scraping for smooth finish), how would one go about keeping the little blighter still whilst attempting said to get a smooth finish?
A
I think I would: 1 freeze it 2 stick it with a tiny dollop of ganache to its own teeny tiny board, just pritstick some foil over a bit of card 3 stick it with a little loop of tape to the middle of a turntable 4 if it still moved about a lot I'd whack 2 big skewers through it board and all into a block of polystyrene
Well, that was an interesting Easter break :/ The decorating went well and the hall looks fab now, but I ended up throwing my back out last Thursday, and then on top of that, I also somehow ended up getting some kind of tummy bug to boot :( So basically I've been out of commission for about a week! And haven't eaten any Easter chocolate yet!! Booo!! :(
I just thank goodness I had booked the week off for the decorating, and only had family baking to do, so cancelling wasn't an issue. This is my biggest nightmare when it comes to doing cakes for customers, I'm very rarely ill (touches everything wood in the house!) but this has reminded me how important it is to steer well clear of anyone who's been remotely poorly, and plan for emergencies! What's everyone else's backup plan for this kind of situation? Currently I'd have to rely on contacting other local bakers who I know are good, and seeing if they could take on an emergency order, or sadly cancel and refund as a last resort, which sucks but I don't know of any other options?
Been trying to catch up with all the news, so bear with me if I miss anyone out..
Jean - I think your site looks really nice, I really like the layout and the colours! I agree with Snowflakebunny about using stock photos, I don't think I would feel comfortable with putting other photos up, unless they were 'prop' ones - e.g. generic wedding or birthday scenes with no cakes in?
My recipe for royal is exactly the same as Siany's and I never have lumps either. The only time I do anything different is if I'm making a cake for a gluten free client, in which case I don't use Meriwhite and buy the pre made Royal Icing mix from the sugar aisle, and follow the recipe on the side of the pack :)
Catsmum - wow sounds like you are busy, love the sound of the caramel ombre cake too, I might have to try that one out! Look forward to seeing the final cake!
Bashini - glad the move went well and you are settling in! Not at all jealous of someone else having a cake room...........much....... ;D
Glad your little one is feeling better Maisie, but sorry you caught the lurgy though - hope you feel better soon x
Right, I need to crack on with some sugar flowers, and to decide a colour scheme for my demo lace cake! What'd you think - dove grey icing with pearl white lace, or white icing with silver lace? I keep changing my mind LOL!
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So if one was stupid enough to consider covering a 2cm high by 3cm wide circle of cake in whipped ganache (scraping for smooth finish), how would one go about keeping the little blighter still whilst attempting said to get a smooth finish?
I would first go and sit on the naughty step! 
Definitely attach it to a board - I have a clear glass worktop saver - never done ganache (still a virgin) yet though - but you can use a little royal icing and stick it down and then you can hold it up and see where the icing is. Freezing it is a good idea - never thought of that. I have done this for tiny sugarpaste cakes before. I usually just slide a palette knife under it.
And you are right about icing - weather does have a big impact. I also never sieve.....on my new Kenwood, there is a plastic guard so no icing cloud any more and no more masks! Yayy!
Kathy
AI will try 2&3
The cake is super stale. Been in the fridge since last night to make sure of it. No one is eating it so that's not a problem so I don't need to freeze.
The two big skewers could work :) however I may replace with 3 small tooth picks :d
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Right, I need to crack on with some sugar flowers, and to decide a colour scheme for my demo lace cake! What'd you think - dove grey icing with pearl white lace, or white icing with silver lace? I keep changing my mind LOL!
How about dove grey and pale peach? I saw that somewhere and I loved it - you might hate it of course! Sorry you have been ill - glad you are on the mend!
Kathy
AWow good luck Siany LOL! I'd go with sticking it with royal or ganache to a board, then use a nonslip mat under that?
Thanks Kathy, feeling a lot better than last week! And I love peach with grey! The flowers going on this cake are actually going to be peachy LOL, I just can't work out which combo of icing and lace colours to do with it :D
AThanks Mel.
It's just trialling ideas for my college assessment. I'm thinking if I can get a smooth flat finish doing it that way then putting the transfer sheet would go on better.
I may end up throwing it at a wall when I do it though so we'll see if it's one of my better ideas lol
Wow love all the advice- loads of good stuff!
Re photos- I think what I'll (try to) do is make some more cakes- dummies and cupcakes and try to take good photos of them. I've made a diy lightbox and I just need some bright lamps now and a background. Failing that, taking photos outdoors with very blurred backgrounds lol!
I like the featured cake idea! I'll find some software to sort out my current pics and see if I can spruce the backgrounds. I did try one that was a free one where you tweaked photos online, but it wasn't that great. Can't remember what it was called.
I'll definitely tweak my inquiry form and will make my pricing categories more generic.
I'm going to have a think about paying for the website so that the ads will disappear.
Will also rethink offering flavours I've never tried before, although at the moment all I've had requested are chocolate and vanilla cake. I guess once I start doing more cakes for adults there will be more variety in flavour!
I think the landing page definitely needs the most work- first impressions count and certainly websites are no exception.
Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to look at the site and your advice! Really helpful :) Sorry I didn't put the names down alongside my response to your suggestions- there are rather a lot and I'm a little strapped for time today!
Mel, I love the grey with white combo! Sorry your back's poorly.
Is meriwhite the same as meringue powder? I've been buying Dr. Oetker.
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Originally Posted by petitecat
Is meriwhite the same as meringue powder? I've been buying Dr. Oetker.
I have no idea. I wouldn't buy dr oetker unless there really was no other alternative.
This is what you want.
You don't have to get the culpitt one there are lots of makes out there. If you have a cake shop near you that sells supplies they may also stock it.
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Is meriwhite the same as meringue powder? I've been buying Dr. Oetker.
I don't think so...as far as I know, meringue powder is used as a stabilizer for stuff made with egg whites but meriwhite is designed to help make stuff more, well, white! I think people use it for butter cream made with real butter to try and whiten it. I've never used either though so maybe someone could help more...?
A
Original message sent by Snowflakebunny23
I don't think so...as far as I know, meringue powder is used as a stabilizer for stuff made with egg whites but meriwhite is designed to help make stuff more, well, white! I think people use it for butter cream made with real butter to try and whiten it. I've never used either though so maybe someone could help more...?
Meriwhite is albumen substitute, if a product is called meringue powder the it is probably also an egg white substitute, I quite like Dr oetkers egg whiteppowder because its more readily available than renwhite which is actual egg white powder as well.
Personally I use meriwhite for meringue but for royal I prefer renwhite or egg white powder.
AEgg white powder is an ingredient of meri , you can read the label here: white https://www.cakecraftshop.co.uk/shop/products/id/bfpmeriwhite.htm
I just use egg white powder personally - I got a body builders 'bulk pure albumen protein powder', it's waaaaaay cheaper than those little pots, although I've had 2kg for over a year and barely made a dent lol ....anybody want some????
ps.... NOT a body builder... well I do build the middle flabby part pretty well.......
A
Original message sent by Crazy-Gray
Egg white powder is an ingredient of meri , you can read the label here: white https://www.cakecraftshop.co.uk/shop/products/id/bfpmeriwhite.htm
I know. It just has a lot of other ingredients that weaken the over all effect of the icing, which I why I prefer pure egg white (as opposed to egg white plus....) If you get me?
The body building stuff is a genius idea though!
Just want to pick your brains on this; I am making a tall art deco style wedding cake quite plain and think a single cake board will be a bit flat. I have an idea to stick 3 together stepped.
Unsure how to finish these. If I leave them unfinished then it will look cheap. But cant think how to sugarpaste a narrow area. A strip of ribbon to finish the edges. It came to me earlier that if I make a long sausage and put this around the outside, roll and smooth then place the second board on top, trim excess and stick this on with glue and same principal for the 2nd board - will this work? What about silverleaf it all but is that hard, will this stuff stick and not stick to someones sweaty hands when picking it up?
The base of the cake will be 20cm/8" - ideas on what size cake boards I should be aiming for - 10, 11, 12"? or is 11,12,13" better.
A
Original message sent by chasingmytail
[COLOR=404040]Just want to pick your brains on this; I am making a tall art deco style wedding cake quite plain and think a single cake board will be a bit flat. I have an idea to stick 3 together stepped.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=404040]Unsure how to finish these. If I leave them unfinished then it will look cheap. But cant think how to sugarpaste a narrow area. A strip of ribbon to finish the edges. It came to me earlier that if I make a long sausage and put this around the outside, roll and smooth then place the second board on top, trim excess and stick this on with glue and same principal for the 2nd board - will this work? What about silverleaf it all but is that hard, will this stuff stick and not stick to someones sweaty hands when picking it up?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=404040]The base of the cake will be 20cm/8" - ideas on what size cake boards I should be aiming for - 10, 11, 12"? or is 11,12,13" better.[/COLOR]
By far the easiest would be to cover each board separately, leave for 2 days to get good and firm and then stack the boards using a dab of leftover filling for glue. The wasted sugarpaste is so minimal it far outweighs the saved effort and they don't slide, the weight of the cake above keeps them in place... That's what I did for this cake: http://cakecentral.com/g/i/3219973/a/3471497
I would also go at least 2 inch board increments so you have a good inch of board showing, I think 10, 12, 16 would look best depending on the style of your cake of course :)
Thanks Crazy Gray - Glad someone understood my predicament. I agree that the increment rises may be too close I will give this some thought.
A
Original message sent by chasingmytail
Thanks Crazy Gray - Glad someone understood my predicament. I agree that the increment rises may be too close I will give this some thought.
you're very welcome :-)
Excuse me while I have a pity party... :-P
I'm making a friend's wedding cake and baking in advance then freezing so it's all ready and I don't have any surprises. So I was making the 10" strawberry tier this afternoon (as I have a meeting tonight), with my three children pestering me as well as two neighbouring children. Kept banishing them to the garden so I could concentrate, but they kept have reasons to come back in. Long story short, while I was adding the eggs my daughter put a full cup of water right by the mixer so I knocked it over - then in the distraction of clearing that up, I only put in four eggs instead of five. It was only when I was clearing up after putting it in the oven that I realised what I'd done :-(
It's a cake full of fresh strawberries, butter, sour cream and extract - I can only wait until it finishes baking but I expect it is not going to have worked. Any reassurances, or should I go out to the shops while I can?
@crazy-gray I have just been nosing on your FB page and have to say you are very talented. You can well and truly call me impressed!!!
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Excuse me while I have a pity party... :-P
I'm making a friend's wedding cake and baking in advance then freezing so it's all ready and I don't have any surprises. So I was making the 10" strawberry tier this afternoon (as I have a meeting tonight), with my three children pestering me as well as two neighbouring children. Kept banishing them to the garden so I could concentrate, but they kept have reasons to come back in. Long story short, while I was adding the eggs my daughter put a full cup of water right by the mixer so I knocked it over - then in the distraction of clearing that up, I only put in four eggs instead of five. It was only when I was clearing up after putting it in the oven that I realised what I'd done :-(
It's a cake full of fresh strawberries, butter, sour cream and extract - I can only wait until it finishes baking but I expect it is not going to have worked. Any reassurances, or should I go out to the shops while I can?
Depends on the recipe was it a 250g mix and egg sizes can made a difference. I use a BBC good food basic vanilla sponge that requires a 5 eggs but thats a 8" - yours is a 10" I assume it doesnt rise high? Mistakes happen and extactly why doing it in advance pays. Allowing for mistakes or errors - bonus is you can either eat it or freeze it for a trifle base in future if you are concerned.
Its a nightmare baking with the children around I know never works for me.
Just want to pick your brains on this; I am making a tall art deco style wedding cake quite plain and think a single cake board will be a bit flat. I have an idea to stick 3 together stepped.
Unsure how to finish these. If I leave them unfinished then it will look cheap. But cant think how to sugarpaste a narrow area. A strip of ribbon to finish the edges. It came to me earlier that if I make a long sausage and put this around the outside, roll and smooth then place the second board on top, trim excess and stick this on with glue and same principal for the 2nd board - will this work? What about silverleaf it all but is that hard, will this stuff stick and not stick to someones sweaty hands when picking it up?
The base of the cake will be 20cm/8" - ideas on what size cake boards I should be aiming for - 10, 11, 12"? or is 11,12,13" better.
chasingmytail, just saying I agree with crazy gray, both in covering all the boards with fondant to lessen the hassle and 2 inch increments in size. I use the supermarket fondant for covering my boards, and sometimes add some tylose for added firmness.
lizzieaylett, I'd go to the nearest supermarket just in case! Although if your local shop is close enough, I'd wait till the cake was out and you can test it. I've a feeling it may be ok, do let us know!
I've had a look at crazy gray's fb too- my daughter saw the man on the motorbike cake topper and said "Wowcher" LOL. Yes, definitely wow.
I've had a look at dayscakes', Natt's and nanny's pages too and everyone is very talented! Siany, what is you page? May I have a look?
Jean - we have put some oldies on today! Still work in progress though! Have a laugh
We are looking for photos of some of the first ones (including the giant Dairy Milk bar cake!) - only problem was ... no digital cameras!
https://www.facebook.com/cakedays53
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Jean - we have put some oldies on today! Still work in progress though! Have a laugh
We are looking for photos of some of the first ones (including the giant Dairy Milk bar cake!) - only problem was ... no digital cameras!
https://www.facebook.com/cakedays53
They may be oldies, but goodies! There's a lot of really good pipe work that I see. Gosh I need to practice piping a cake!
A wee update - the cake is out of the oven, and it seems to have cooked ok. The only problem is that is seems rather more fragile than it should be - so much so, that when I took it out of the tin (after letting it sit for ten minutes), it's not held up too well to the movement. It looks like this one is destined for lunch at church, and I'll bake a new one in the morning.
Chasing my tail, I'm using the Summer's scratch strawberry cake recipe from here. It does a 10" quite nicely, although I think I'll do it 1.5 times this next time to make sure to get the height to match my other tiers.
Good news Lizzie - never baked with fresh strawberries before - might give the recipe a gander!
Kathy
Hi everyone first of all i have been looking at everyone's cakes and they are all fantastic you all very talented ladies i hope to learn a lot from all your great advice. Secondly i was in need of a few flower nails for a large cake and decided to try to make some myself and save so pennies in the process. I found some food save BBQ skewers in the poundshop and cut them to size with with my pliers and bent them to make them stand. I baked one cake with a proper flower nail and the other with one i had made and it it worked perfect.
It is my daughters birthday today this is the cake i made for her, she loved it. There is nothing better than seeing your kids face light up when they see their cake.
Roxylee that is super cute! I know what it's like when you see your family loving what you did for them!
Kathy
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