Sugarcraft chat

[wem]

I started a thread for cake people a while back but it got a bit lost in Chat so thought I'd try to tempt people into our lovely new baking topic.

Hopefully I'll see some of the posters from the chat thread, but for any new people popping in, introductions: I'm wem, I'm a recent cake obsessive and have been bothering mumsnetters about it a fair bit as I'm starting up cake decorating business. I don't have anywhere near the experience or knowledge of some of the posters in here, but I do have an excessive willingness to chat about cake :)

Let's try this again, eh?

my comment has started an interesting discussion re pricing cakes. I do remember what the outcome was now for her- she got a friend of her Mum's to do the cake for next to nothing. I never saw a photo so can't say what it looked like or tasted like. Obviously not everyone has access to a talented cake maker and decorator who will do it for next to nothing. I've done 3 wedding cakes as gifts for family / close friends . 2 were completely free of charge, 1 I asked for the cost of the ingredients.

A question about ingredients - after a thread on here about using stork for sponges I bought a tub to use with dd1 for fairy cakes, but I think they taste horrid, even dd1 turned her nose up at them. Is block stork different to tub stork?

Yes, block stork is different to tub stork. It has a higher fat content and is dairy free too, although it doesn't say so on the pack. Helpful of them....

Nigel, that explains it then. I was under the impression that food safety legislation meant that posy picks had to be used, as wires aren't food grade, but obviously I am wrong.

Stealth, have you seen Elaine Thomas's dragon cakes? They are amazing, as are all her cakes. (you'll need to scroll through the pictures, but dragons and fairies are her 'thing')

www.creativecelebrationcakes.co.uk/page5.htm

blimy your eggs are cheap. Surely 6 eggs are £1.50 ish but mine are my own (not laid by me but by my lovely girls) so I would def cost out £1.80 for 6.

eggs £1.50
Butter x2 pats £1.20 each £2.40
Quality vanilla extract/real paste £0.50
sugar 50p
icing sugar 60p
flour 50p
Regalice x4 + 1ish modelling @ £2 per pack £6 but could be more if local craft shop and could be more if more colours needed
cake board £1.20
Jam £0.50
ribbon £0.50 depends
dusts, special nozzles, bits etc varies
yet to supply box

Basic workings approx £ 13.70 but £15 would be fair assumption. I would guess a chocolate fudge using quality chocolate £25ish.

Now I work my cakes on taste has to be great. I have had experience of bland, dry boring cake and think cakes should be fantastic in taste and not just look good but agree that people dont care as long as its a pretty cake but this goes against how I work and I aim for quality ingredients being of farming stock I'd like to think origin and quality pay dividens. If profit margin and orders are priority then costs would have to be squeezed like you said.

I'm only doing it for fun really (yes fun with stress and anxiety attached to it). I only do the odd cake.

Ive looked at the Elaine Thomas some of the dragons are excellent but is it all modelling paste? While there are lots of fantastic designers out there I wonder how edible some cakes are and I know many people complain to me that the majority of the cake was paste and had to be binned which is what I agree with. Some cakes are just sugarpaste on layer after layer with inedible parts suppose like modelling clay. I really dont like her figures I have seen much nicer ones. I do like her childs dragon.

These dragons I saw recently on FB and the quality is fantastic www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/photo.php?fbid=237252133046892&set=a.237251706380268.42602.235354883236617&type=3&theater

I'm envious of your hens Bacon! We were not allowed to being ours here (army) so my friend took them to live on her small holding with her own hens and cockerel, until a fox sadly got them. I get my eggs either from a friend who has her own hens or from Costco, they have free range in offer a lot.

I make them for fun/practice too, although I usually do at least a couple each month, my busiest month was 22 cakes. NEVER again! I would like my own cake business one day, but it's obviously not really possible until we live in one place. I gave up my last business (not cake!) when I married DH.

I sort of agree on the taste thing. Some people don't care. Some do and when they spend a lot on a cake they do want it to taste good as well as look good. I have a few friends who've got bookings for wedding cakes based on people tasting their cakes and we paid a fortune for our chocolate wedding cake 12 years ago. I would have been furious if it wasn't absolutely delicious.

I'm not sure how much is paste, but I know she uses a lot of rice krispie models for smaller things and I assume if a customer orders a 20 portion cake then that's what they get? I suppose a lot depends on the style you like and I really like Elaine's, especially her fairies as they are kind of cute but dark at the same time. The Frances Mcnoughton (spelling?) fairies are great too, but a different style completely.

Can't get the link to work, maybe as I'm on my phone? Will try on laptop once the baby is in bed.

Hi All

Been busy with cake and summer and yet more cake. I now have had a wedding fair sprung on me for Sunday! A friend was let down by the woman doing the cakes for her fair, so called me and I just can't say no!

On another note, I recently saw a cake I wanted to see if I could re-create but have lost the image! It was choc fondant covered with 2 little owls on the side. I am so cross I lost the image and I don't have the details. If anyone sees it in their travels can you let me know?

I am off to make carrot, choc and lemon cakes for a cake for Friday!

I was under the impression that food safety legislation meant that posy picks had to be used, as wires aren't food grade, but obviously I am wrong.

I didn't explain it well then ! No, what I mean is that I put in the posy pick, then put some icing inside the posy pick so it is less obvious and the icing holds the wires steady. Then I put the wires into the icing inside the posy pick. None of the wires come into contact with the cake - do you see what I mean ?

bacon - we have a smallholding near us that sell misshapen free range eggs for £4 for 3 dozen :) That's what I use

Bacon, you really use 2kg of icing for an 8" sponge ?

Evening all, I haven't had the use of the internet because i've moved house, i've missed quite abit by the looks of it, you sound like you've all been really busy, however i did make a cake in the middle of hell last while packing boxes etc etc, it isnt on my profile yet, but will be in time.

Wem, love your dragon, so realistic.

OMG !! Will you have a look at the price of this cake !!!!!!!!!!!! How can they justify that price ?

I'm clearly in the wrong area

To be fair, that's a very big cake! If you choose only two tiers it goes down to £205, which is still a lot for a simple cake, but not that surprising when you look at others.

£545 for a two tier cake.

Ah, thanks for explains Nigel, that's what I do too. That pink thing is vile, I wouldn't want it if it was free, let alone for that price! Not sure how many portions it would serve, but it does seem a lot really.

Wem, to me that MF cake looks like the 9" tier is double depth, in effect making it a three tier cake in reality. Im not sure if I think it's a lot, although no doubt something is added on for the name.

I never get why people (as in general public) are so shocked by cake prices. I reckon the average wedding cake must take 15 hours at least if you include the consultation, designing etc, so even at £10 an hour that's £150 just for labour. Plus, you'd pay £2-3 for an undue orates slice of cake in a cafe/coffee shop and how many people pay £30 (plus!) for a cut and blow dry, which takes less than an hour.

these are the 2 dragons I have done: baby castle (not my finest hour, the castle was collapsing!). I think I want to do a cake version of this if I can - any tips for how I could make his/her head support itself, though??

You can make the head out of rice krispie treats and then buttercream and cover in fondant and push a dowel or two through it into the cake to hold it in place. Not sure how big it would have to be/how much cake that would leave though?

Otherwise you'd have to use a board cut to shape for the head I think, and dowel throug the board into cake, but I think it would be too heavy to support.

Oh, your dragon is brilliant!

this one is based on a Debbie Brown design (I think I have the book) - I could probably adapt that if I give it some thought.

midori - I didn't mean to suggest that was a crazy amount, I was just comparing to the other cake that Nigel linked to. You're right though, it does look like a double height tier. It's still at the cheaper end of the range for Maisie Fantaisie

Blueberry - I've been looking for your owl cake, it sounds cute. Not having much luck though, owls seem to be the big thing at the moment - there are a lot of them!

stealth, I love the dragon on the castle, and that dragon toy looks great for recreating in cake. Rice Krispies for the head is a good idea, you'd need something light like that I guess. Or maybe a bunch of wires and bind them in the right shape, sort of like a bended straw, and mould the paste round them? Not sure if that works in terms of food safety though...

Sorry Wem. You're right, Nigel's linked cake is almost a bargain compared to the MF one.

I'm so tired tonight. I was ready for bed at 8 really but had a few things to do, then at 9 thought I'd pop in the kitchen to have a go at making a few sugar flowers and now it's almost midnight!

Hello all - what would you say is the maximum time that you can make a cake ahead of it being eaten?

I know the question is asked a lot on here, but it's generally, 'It's wednesday, can I make a cake now to be eaten on Saturday' or something.

My sister has asked if I can make a cake for an event in London. I can't justify going down there just for that, but my parents are going to be visiting me a couple of weeks before, and she might ask them if they can extend their stay and transport it for me/her. So the question is - how much would they need to extend their stay for?