Cake Decorating Community - Cakes We Bake

Hi newbies, 

 

Welcome to Cakes We Bake. Please introduce yourself here.

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Hello!! to all the new people posting these last couple of days!
Hi Jo,  Love the garden shed.  It's just perfect!

Joanna Higgs said:

Hi, I'm Jo  from England and I make cakes as a hobby with my friend.  She is the baker, sculpter and coverer of cakes and I do the decorating and modelling.  We have had no formal training, and are able to make nice cakes by combining our skills for friends and family.  It's amazing what you can find in your house/kitchen if you don't have the right tools - Lego pressed into fondant makes a nice pattern on a baby's blanket cake!

We have such a laugh making the cakes - with a bar of chocolate and bottle of beer to see us through the evening.  I'm really excited about how much we can learn on this site - will probably be screaming for help as we have to make our first wedding cake in 6 weeks.   Eeek!  Attached are a few of our creations so far. 

Look forward to chatting to some of you.

 

 

Thanks for all your kind words.    I love this site - it's so friendly.  Hope everyone has a great day.

thats the truth about big corp. I work at walmart in their bakery as a cake decorator and they would rather me focus on quanity then quality.... I've been there 8 years and just recently I've been "allowed" to improve the quality of the cakes i do.... (that doesn't include baking because everything comes frozen)....  I do however bake at home for my family...


June Kowalczyk said:

Not surprised about Carlo's bakery. You know, sometimes the bigger you are, the quality is not the same. You see this in large corporate food too. Biggger is not always better. We had a fabulous bakery near where I grew up. OMG legiondary. A Italian family run business. They joined with another larger more corporate bakery, and.......well you guessed it. Taste & quality went right out the window, they wanted to make $$$$$$. The only good thing left was the great Italian bread. The bread maker there made sure of that. Funny, he made the best Scottish baps, ever. My Mom was Scottish, and my first boss was Scottish, and they both swore by them. I imagine he is long gone now. Doesn't matter, they got bought out.

 I actually prefer to watch Ace Of Cakes cause in my humble opinion, Duff, & his crew are much more talanted. And I have actually learned a little bit from that show.  And I tape Cake Boss so I can fast forward through the crappy parts, like when he complains

"I don't know how I'm gonna manage all this/get it done".  Duh, you have 10 million employees, don't think it will be a problem Buddy.   He is a character, and that is what they want for TV.  My son-in-law is a videographer, and has filmed tons of "reality" TV.  ( Kenny vs Spenny  ck it out on Bravo ) And they like the drama, the yelling.  I ,like that, the fly poking the elephant.  Good description, and I am sure so very true.

Me....just show me the cake.  Don't like the Cake Wars, Cupcake Wars, cause can't stand all the negative critisim.  But that is made for TV too. Ratings, ratings, ratings.  Do like Fabulous Cakes tho, lots to learn there.

Being a hobby baker, would love to try so many techniques.  But some of the hardware....Circut,cutters,molds, etc., etc become expensive if you can't right them off or you may never use again.

Hey June, I posted some pictures of the cakes I did last year. Brian

June Kowalczyk said:
Hey Brian
I am sure your cakes are awesome & you are a great cook to boot. The Chef/Cook at my deceased father's LTC facility was awesome. He really out did himself on holiday's with his cakes & cookies.
Don't be shy, post a few cake picks!!
I worked for Genuardi's until it was bought out, then Safeway for almost 10 years all together. Those can be stifling places to work but the kind of experience they provide is both invaluable and irreplaceable. There is no better place to thearn the ins and outs of the perishable retail business, and no where else where you can get as much standard decorating experience. When you are ready to branch out on your own you will have a distinct advantage over your competition as a result of doing your time in the trenches. Hang in there! There's a light at the end of the tunnel, I'm living proof!



crystal kuykendall said:

thats the truth about big corp. I work at walmart in their bakery as a cake decorator and they would rather me focus on quanity then quality.... I've been there 8 years and just recently I've been "allowed" to improve the quality of the cakes i do.... (that doesn't include baking because everything comes frozen)....  I do however bake at home for my family...


June Kowalczyk said:

Not surprised about Carlo's bakery. You know, sometimes the bigger you are, the quality is not the same. You see this in large corporate food too. Biggger is not always better. We had a fabulous bakery near where I grew up. OMG legiondary. A Italian family run business. They joined with another larger more corporate bakery, and.......well you guessed it. Taste & quality went right out the window, they wanted to make $$$$$$. The only good thing left was the great Italian bread. The bread maker there made sure of that. Funny, he made the best Scottish baps, ever. My Mom was Scottish, and my first boss was Scottish, and they both swore by them. I imagine he is long gone now. Doesn't matter, they got bought out.

 I actually prefer to watch Ace Of Cakes cause in my humble opinion, Duff, & his crew are much more talanted. And I have actually learned a little bit from that show.  And I tape Cake Boss so I can fast forward through the crappy parts, like when he complains

"I don't know how I'm gonna manage all this/get it done".  Duh, you have 10 million employees, don't think it will be a problem Buddy.   He is a character, and that is what they want for TV.  My son-in-law is a videographer, and has filmed tons of "reality" TV.  ( Kenny vs Spenny  ck it out on Bravo ) And they like the drama, the yelling.  I ,like that, the fly poking the elephant.  Good description, and I am sure so very true.

Me....just show me the cake.  Don't like the Cake Wars, Cupcake Wars, cause can't stand all the negative critisim.  But that is made for TV too. Ratings, ratings, ratings.  Do like Fabulous Cakes tho, lots to learn there.

Being a hobby baker, would love to try so many techniques.  But some of the hardware....Circut,cutters,molds, etc., etc become expensive if you can't right them off or you may never use again.

I agree, JJ.  I worked at an Albertson's Bakery when starting out.  I can ice a cake smooth in no time flat and pump out those roses.  Invaluable!  Working there absolutely stunts your creativity.  But, like you said, learning the retail business, profit/loss, understanding perishables, customer service skills and more, all that is worth a stint in those environments.
Hello everyone. I just joined but I found this site searching for answers to the new Florida Cottage Food Law. This site has been very helpful. I am trying to start up my new business and hopefully you all can give me some great advice!
Welcome, Jennifer!!

Hi, I'm Ijeoma. I've been visiting this site since last month, but just became a member hours ago. I'm a cake baker and decorator, though not full-time in the business. I've been a casual baker and decorator since 2003, but started my business outfit 14 months ago in Abuja, Nigeria.

 

I love this site. I came across it when i was searching on how to perfect my gum-paste carnations. There is love in sharing, and we tend to learn more when we share. Thank you all for being there. Keep it  up.

Hello, Ijeoma!!
Hi Jo, I love the shed and its natural look. I hope to try something like that if the need arises. I don't have any formal training as well, my hands are just Blessed.

Joanna Higgs said:

Hi, I'm Jo  from England and I make cakes as a hobby with my friend.  She is the baker, sculpter and coverer of cakes and I do the decorating and modelling.  We have had no formal training, and are able to make nice cakes by combining our skills for friends and family.  It's amazing what you can find in your house/kitchen if you don't have the right tools - Lego pressed into fondant makes a nice pattern on a baby's blanket cake!

We have such a laugh making the cakes - with a bar of chocolate and bottle of beer to see us through the evening.  I'm really excited about how much we can learn on this site - will probably be screaming for help as we have to make our first wedding cake in 6 weeks.   Eeek!  Attached are a few of our creations so far. 

Look forward to chatting to some of you.

 

 

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