Cake Decorating Archives - Sugar Sugar Cakes

Oct 17 2018

Sprinkle Freckles Tutorial

Freckles…! What a childhood classic. Choccy, crunchy lil’ bite-sized treats that are sure to send any child (or adult for that matter) into squeals of delight.

I came up with this idea as I wanted to incorporate Sprinkles into a Cake Design, but wanted to do something different rather than throw em’ all on the cake (thought there’s absolutely nuthin’ wrong with that at all). Suddenly, a picture of a giant chocolate freckle popped to mind… What if I made a giant freckle out of sparkly Sprinkles?? Wait, what if I made… LOTS of giant Sprinkly Freckles?! I could call em’ SPECKLES!!

If you’re at loss at what to adorn your beautiful baked creations with (and you’re wanting something a lil’ snazzier than a chocolate sail) than this is just the thing! It’s quick, easy and makes a big, bright impact.

How to Make Sprinkle Freckles aka ‘Speckles’

Materials & Ingredients:

1 cup (approx) Compound Chocolate or Candy Melts
Assortment of Cookie Cutters (plastic or metal)
Sprinkles
1 TBSP Vegetable Oil
Non-stick Baking Parchment
Small offset spatula

Method:

Rub vegetable oil on the sharp cutting edge of your chosen cookie cutters
Melt down the White Compound Chocolate/Candy Melts (pre-coloured or white) in the microwave or bain marie (double boiler)
Pour the melted chocolate or melts onto a clean sheet of non-stick baking parchment and smooth out with an offset spatula (I also place a cutting mat underneath the parchment so it’s easy to transfer to the fridge afterwards)
Pick up the Parchment from both edges with 2 hands and lightly tap/drop it onto the bench to help the chocolate smooth out perfectly. Do this 1-3 times.
Before the chocolate sets, place your cookie cutter directly onto the smoothed melted chocolate. Once placed, be sure not to move them around. Try and place them as close to each other as possible.
Very quickly, sprinkle in your Sprinkles of choice into the cookie cutters. Do this whilst the chocolate is still melt-y.
Once you’ve covered the insides of your cookie cutters with sprinkles, transfer the entire sheet to the fridge and chill for 10 minutes
Carefully remove the cookie cutters from the set chocolate and unmould your Sprinkle Freckles. Your SPECKLES are now finished and ready to decorate with!

Note: Speckles can be made ahead of time and kept in cool room temperature away from sunlight. You may also keep them in the fridge if necessary for your local climate.

*Additional Tip: To prop them up, Buttercream or big balls of gumpaste placed behind the Speckles work as great as supports 😉

Use them to top cupcakes, cakes or even decorate pastries… The possibilities are endless! What will you decorate with Sprinkle Freckles? I can’t wait to see so remember to tag me on Instagram and Facebook so I can see and share your incredible work!

Apr 09 2018

Essential Guide to Hardware Tools for Cake Decorating

I know what some of you are thinking…this Blog Title sounds a lil off-kilter. Hardware tools? For cake decorating? Just when we thought a mixer & whisk were all the equipment we were gonna need..

True, there are TONS of magical concoctions we can whip up without the need of the following tools listed on this page. But today in this blog post I’ll be sharing some helpful & nifty hardware store finds which can help make our caking craft more – convenient, efficient & exciting!

THE BASIC ESSENTIALS

There are 4 basic tools that over the years, have become my must-haves for creating a whole range of cake support structures… from the simple right through to the complex.

Drill

A reliable drill with an assortment of drill bits is probably at the very top of my “essentials” list. Drills are much needed tools for building support structures and making holes in boards. I use them on a regular basis to securely stack my cakes with a sturdy & safe central dowel system (a must if you’re not a fan of having your cake tiers slide off or your cake masterpiece fall over). I personally prefer to use a cordless drill but that said, there ain’t nothing wrong with a corded one too.

Drill Bits

Then, onto the fun BITS (pun totally intended). The drill bits! I invested in 2 different sets. The first is a high speed Driving drill bit set (mine has 21 bits) which allows me to drill teeny tiny holes all the way up to 1cm holes.

Another set of drill bits that I find ultra useful is a set of Spade drill bits. I have a set which lets me drill holes from 1cm all the way up to 3.8cm. It fits just as any other bit does in a regular hand drill which makes it easy to use.

There are other tools for boring large holes through boards such as self-feed bits, hole saws & Forstner drill bits. Definitely have a look a those and purchase what suits your budget, ease, ability & needs. Personally, I find having a simple set up of 1 hand drill, 1 drill bit set for small holes and 1 spade bit set for large holes perfectly sufficient for my basic caking structure needs. It’s low cost, uncomplicated and doesn’t take up a lot of room. Tick, tick, tick!

Hacksaw

A third necessary tool is a hacksaw. A sturdy, sharp, non-rusty cake saw. This is especially handy for cutting central dowels as well as cutting pipes & pieces of wood for novelty structured cakes. For little jobs, even a little hand saw will suffice. We’ll chat about some other more advanced cutting tools later on.

Glue Gun

When I was first starting out in this whole caking thing, a craft store glue gun worked decently enough for most jobs. The trouble I started to find over time, was that these little craft glue guns wore out pretty quickly and couldn’t heat the glue hot enough for larger gluing jobs (which resulted in my futilely trying to press pieces of structure together with hardened glue).

If you face any of the above issues or are simply looking for an upgrade, I personally am a big fan of my Bosch 200w Glue Gun. It’s durable, heats glue reeeeaal hot (which gives me a bit of time before it hardens up completely) and has a longer, narrower tip (great for squeezing glue into tight spots). This is totally not an ad pitch, I just think it’s awesome if you can afford the upgrade and if you use your hot glue on a frequent basis.

SUPPLEMENTARY TOOLS & SUPPLIES

So these items here aren’t exactly essentials. Meaning, you’ll probably be able to cake rather effectively without them. But these tools are things I’ve discovered along the way that in one way or another, enhance the cake making experience with convenience, ease & speed.

Level

Topsy turvy cakes are awesome, but outside of that .. we cake decorators need our cakes to be level & straight. Whilst our eyes do an OK job of this, the best way to check if your cakes are level is to pop a level tool on top to check. It’s a very inexpensive tool and such a simple gizmo to help ensure our cakes are finished off professionally.

Floor Protectors

Have you ever have trouble picking heavy cakes off the bench top and wondered if there was a way your fingertips could be spared from weekly punishment? Enter self-adhesive floor protectors. These lil’ guys are stick-on tabs that are normally used under furniture legs to prevent scratches to the floor surface. I normally purchase the non-slip cork or rubber ones for added grip and to apply: it’s simply a matter of sticking a few under your cake drum prior to building your towering cake masterpiece. *[Alternatively, small pieces of foam core work well for this purpose too].

Scrapers

The next time you’re at your local hardware store, I would recommend perusing the paint scrapers section if you’ve never done so before. I know some decorators who swear by industrial paint scrapers as some of the best scrapers for getting smooth fondant & ganache finishes. I myself picked up a handy chisel which I regularly use for scraping hardened bits of isomalt, chocolate & batter off my workspace. Just a note to make sure that the materials used to make the scraper won’t rust and are food-safe

Pipes, Joiners & Flanges

I must admit, I do enjoy a lil browse down the pipe aisle. Who doesn’t? I particularly like to see what bits & bobs exist and the cake structure possibilities they present. In the States, plumbing pipes, joiners and flanges (all with joining threads) abound and work perfectly for creating crazy & kooky gravity-defying cake support structures (pictured*). Locally in Australia, we have access to PVC pipes, copper pipes & threaded rods which work too with some tweaking & twiddling. So go on, have a browse and see what possibilities you can find in your local hardware store!

Sanding Sheets

Sandpaper is a pretty handy thing to have on-hand if you work with foam dummies. Occasionally, foams come with slight imperfections.. Imperfections which are easily be scrubbed off with the use of some sanding sheets. Sandpaper is also useful when carving foam pieces for novelty cakes as it allows you to round off edges and create smooth surfaces for decorating. I prefer working with a fine-grit sandpaper on my foam projects and rougher-grits for smoothing off the edges of freshly cut wood pieces.

Jig Saw

By this I’m referring to a groovy hand-held tool that enables you to cut odd shapes & angles through wood and not, a puzzle that leaves you scratching you head well after dinnertime. Those 3D animal cakes and gravity defying constructions we see floating around the internet? Chances are a lot of them (note, not all of them) are built upon custom cut boards, cut with a jig saw or other similar tool. Another fantastic option that you could look into in a RotoZip (only available in the US to my knowledge) which does its cutting with a rotating drill instead of a saw.

Table Vice & Clamps

Don’t forget that with all this cutting, drilling & sawing, there needs to be something to securely hold these objects that you’re working on in place cause trust me, sawing with one hand whilst holding down a stick with your foot is NOT..I repeat…NOT a wise idea (so I hear anyways *cough*). These tools are pretty much a need if you plan on doing any of the aforementioned work. Similarly, clamps are also pretty handy for holding backdrops in place when photographing your edible works of art.

Toolboxes & Toolkits

Cake tools have an unscrupulous way of taking over the entire house, studio & kitchen. Wherever it is that you conduct your caking practice, chances are at some point, you’ll run into a space shortage issue. There is a plethora of organisation & storage solutions in your local hardware department. Think peg boards, tool boxes, shelving, stackable trays, compartment boxes … the works! It’s a great way o get organised and reduce the clutter so we can make room for…(you guessed it…) more cakie toys! whoop*whoop*

So tell me dear reader, what other Hardware Store treasures do you find useful for cake decorating?

Mar 11 2018

Complete Guide on How to Safely Deliver Tiered Wedding Cakes

There ain’t no stress like a wedding cake delivery stress. If you’ve made (or are planning to make) tall tiered cakes, you would be all too familiar with the nervous churning in ya gut prior to transporting your cake to the venue. Nightmares of fallen cakes, dropped cakes & snapped decorations are all too real in the profession with virtually every cake decorator having a story to tell.

My disaster story happened fairly early on in my career… In short, I was travelling an hour out to the country via windy lanes with a slender, buttercream beauty when an oblivious cyclist unexpectedly swung out directly in front of my vehicle, forcing me to slam on the brakes. Then I heard it… the blood-curdling, soul-quenching “thud”.

My 20-hour-labour buttercream beauty had submitted to gravity and was jostling about it’s box as I was forced to continue my drive up the narrow, windy lane. Enduring the walk of shame past the wedding planner, into the fine-dining venue, I spent the next hour frantically re-icing the entire cake (it ended up looking exactly as it did prior to delivery thanks to some nifty saves which I’ll be outlining below).

Moral of the story…? Take all necessary steps to ensure a SAFE & secure delivery. So you don’t ever have to endure a similar trauma, I’ve compiled a complete A-Z guide outlining the fine details of how to safely transport tall tiered cakes below.

From important stacking techniques, to on-site fixes; you can rest easy and drive with the music cranked up whilst your cake masterpiece is safely nestled behind you.

Securely Stacking Your Cakes with a Central Dowel

Had I properly stacked my cakes with the inclusion of an all-important central dowel system, I would have very likely spared myself the fallen-cake-fiasco. Hands down the most secure and sturdy method to stack your tiers is by first dowelling each individual tier (except the top one of course). These tiers are then built around a central dowel construction which holds all the tiers in place. I cannot recommend this method of stacking quite enough. It allows you to confidently deliver your cakes whilst knowing that there stands a strong spine holding your towering masterpiece together and firmly acnhoring it to the base board. You can get my step-by-step detailed instructions on how to properly Stack Cake Tiers & Build a Secure Central Dowel structure in this tutorial here.

On that note, some of you may be curious to know whether its best to stack your cakes before delivery OR at the venue, and here’s a system that’s worked for me over the years (its perfectly fine if you choose to do it differently based on your preferences & requirements):

2-4 tiered cakes: Stacked & decorated in my home studio, delivered fully assembled to the venue

5 tiered cakes and over: The bottom 3-4 tiers are centre dowelled & assembled . The remaining upper tiers (usually all foam) are fully assembled as a separately stacked “fake cake”. The bottom section & upper section are boxed separately and transported to the site as 2 separate sections with the upper section attached to the bottom section at the venue using royal icing.

*Note: I would not recommend having ALL CAKE tiers for anything more than 4 tiers. I learned the problems of this the hard way when I ambitiously constructed an all-cake 6 tier wedding cake which, though delivered to the venue in pristine condition, subsequently succeeded to snap my gleaming new $100+ stainless steel cake plateau like it was a flimsy child’s plaything. Simply explain to your clients that due to structural risks, anything above 4 tiers needs to be made partly in foam (upper tiers).

Contacting the Venue

It ain’t ever a good idea to rock up to the event venue unannounced. Despite receiving confirmation from the client of the address, delivery times & other details…I always recommend ringing up the venue directly approximately 1 week or a couple days before the event date. Some venues only open for short windows of time during event day or have specific parking zones for deliveries which you would need to be aware of beforehand. Other situations I’ve encountered are venues with a long dirt-road entries which require some preparation for (e.g. more spare sugar flowers needed in the event of breakage!). So yes, its always, always beneficial to ring up beforehand and chat to the corresponding event manager. You should also brief the organiser of your anticipated delivery time as this will help ensure that the cake table is prepped and ready before your arrival.

Making a DIY Wedding Cake Delivery Box

Tall cakes need tall boxes. If you’d like to make a sturdy DIY tall-cake delivery box with full coverage, here’s how I’ve built them:

Purchase a new (one or a few) tall cardboard box from a removalist or packaging supplier [make sure it is taller than a 5 tier cake height]. Make sure its clean & new
Using a serrated knife or saw, slice all the way down 2 side-edges of the box (so the front of the box opens downwards like a “doorway” flap)
Seal the top roof of the box with duct tape in such a way that allows the front flat to still open out like a “doorway” as prepped
Line the inner base of the box with non-slip material
Optionally, you could line the inside walls of the box with a heat-resistant material (e.g. foam sheets) to keep your cake cool
Place your cake inside the box and close the front flap
Use masking tape to secure the front flap in its upright (closed) position
At the venue, simply remove the tape to release the front “doorway” flap of the box and slide your cake out

Prepping an Emergency Cake Kit

Very likely, at least 1 out of 10 wedding cakes is going to need a fix at some points. Be it minor or major, you certainly need to be prepared. With every tiered cake I deliver, I pack along a kit with tools & materials that will allow me to fix up the cake in the unlikely event of a mishap. The kit is different every time depending on the type of cake that is being delivered. Buttercream cakes would obviously mean additional frosting and spatulas need to be brought along whilst fondant cakes will require additional fondant, a mini rolling pin, a knife, a bag of icing sugar and spare decorations. The best thing to do is to think of what is likely to be damaged mid delivery and to prep your kit according.

Transporting the Cake to the Venue

Make sure you have ample time to make your way to the venue. Under no circumstances do you ever want to cut it fine as sometimes, delay factors do unexpected crop up. Always aim to have your cake delivered at least 2 hours prior to the event start time to account for slow traffic, roadworks or unexpected damage. My personal policy is.. the earlier, the better! A majority of venues have walk in coolrooms where you can store your cakes for a couple of hours prior to the event (if it’s warm in your locality) or you could otherwise request to have the cake in air-conditioning.

It goes without saying, you’ll most certainly be driving at “granny” speed most of the way. I would suggest having some form of “Cake Delivery in Progress” sign which you can purchase online or have custom-made. This will help ward off dreaded tailgaters & hot-collared motorists, thus affording you the luxury of an uneventful ride.

*Bonus Tip: Always brake much earlier than you normally would at junctions & traffic lights

Setting Up Your Cake

Before lugging your cake to the front door…the first thing you should do the moment you arrive is to conduct a brief preliminary scout. If you have another person in the car, ask that person to stay in the delivery vehicle with the air-conditioning running or if you’re by yourself, leave the cake in the locked vehicle momentarily (obviously without the engine running) and make a beeline into the event space. Ask for the event manager or coordinating staff and after introducing yourself, confirm where they would like the cake to be positioned. You would then be able to unload the cake(s), cake stand and any remaining equipment from the vehicle to complete your cake set up.

Before Leaving the Venue

Hold ya horses… it ain’t time to make a run for it yet. There are 2 crucial actions you should take before leaving the premises. The first thing is to collect evidence of a safe delivery & set up. This might sound excessively cautious, but I have heard of countless incidences of cake makers being wrongfully blamed for cake damages by venue staff or other causes in their absence. So take a photo or two of the completed cake set up, even a simple iPhone snap would do.

The next thing to do is to pass on all cake-related instructions to the event manager/coordinator. Speak to the person in charge and provide any relevant information such as portion sizes, tier flavours, dietary specifications, decorative elements that need to be removed etc.. I normally have all this information typed up beforehand on a form that I refer to as a Handover Sheet.

In addition to this, I have a separate form for the event manager to sign to which I ask them to confirm that “The cake has been received and set up in proper condition”. I also include a term in this signed form that “Any damage to the cake caused in any way by the venue, factors within the venue’s control or hired staff/clients whilst the cake is kept at the event location is at the responsibility of the venue”. This is a form that I keep as insurance in the event of any unforeseen accidents that occur after I’ve completed my delivery.

And that’s it! You tiered cake delivery is DONE & DUSTED. You can now have full permission to bust out a happy dance and return home after a good day’s work.

So tell me dear reader, what you concerns you the most about tall tiered cakes?

Feb 12 2018

How to Style a Modern Kid Birthday Party

It’s true what they say.. when you have a child, its a series of long days and short years. How on earth is my little ittie baby already ONE?

For years as a cake decorator I’ve been so immersed in creating lovely things for others… The truth is, I’ve never actually made or done something special for myself. Don’t get me wrong, I loved to do it (and it’s mostly cos I get a bit funny about throwing myself a party). Sooooo… after years of making birthday cakes and farewelling them to other’s homes & parties, I FINALLY had a chance to make a birthday spread for my own baby boy’s First Birthday!

Having worked on countless dessert buffets for major events & parties, and was so looking forward to creating something special to celebrate surviving the first year as new parents! (cause really, in reality a baby’s first birthday is more or less a big celebratory pat on the back for mum & dad). We did it!

The 3 things I had in mind when styling this party were: Modern, Happy, Fresh

I worked towards creating a Contemporary-styled event (cause if you know me, I’m reeaaally into modern cakes & sweets) yet keeping a recognisable “kid” element. I drew inspiration from the incredible artwork of Beci Orphin and transformed our home into a fantasy URBAN|ART technicolour dream party.

So here is this Blog, I’ll be walking you through every element of the party and showing you how to create a modern, unique baby/kid themed party with minimal stress and without breaking the bank.

Ideas on How to Style A Modern Urban Art Theme Baby/Kid Party

The Decor

I knew from the get-go I wanted to create an immersive colour experience for the event. I had long fantasised of having a stunning balloon garland as a focal point behind the main dessert table, so you can only imagine how overjoyed I was to find the perfect DIY Balloon Garland Kit from Ruby Rabbit Partyware. Despite how impressive and intricate it looked, we were surprised to discover that it was rather easy to blow up and put together – proving to be the perfect job for my hubby Henry to complete whilst I ran fussing with my cookies & such. My sweet sister helped cut out strips of coloured card to make “sprinkles” for the walls to make our home look like one ginourmous cake! (cause who doesn’t fantasize about living in a house of cake?!). With a scrapbooking paper cutter/guillotine, it was a snappy job to do; and we stuck sprinkly goodness all over the walls with a small touch o’ white tack.

The streamers were mostly sourced from Ruby Rabbit but I wanted to add some element of geometry to the bundle to reinforce the theme. So I went about making a few paper streamers from cut pieces of cardboard (circles, squares, triangles) sewn together with a simple running stitch using a sewing machine. Floaty shapes… me like!

The Cake

I can’t tell you what a BALL it was to make this cake. The entire cake was covered in fondant and topped with gumpaste decorations which I had made a day earlier. I painted on fun splashes in my signature graffiti style using Edible Art Paint by Sweetsticks (one of my favourite decorating mediums of ALL TIME). Elements that I wanted to include in this design were strong contrasts, bright colours, geometry, grid lines and fluid painted motions.

I drew grid lines using an edible marker and creating textured decorative pieces using a fabric texture mat.

The Dessert Table

More angles, shapes & bright colours! Yeehaw.. I had envisioned a table covered with funky, coloured blocks & shapes and my craftsy interior designer sister helped me bring this to life. She covered foam dummies (cut to customised measurements) with coloured cardboard, cut to size and stuck on rather simply with glue. It formed the perfect prop setting to feature the choc flavoured cake popsicles, sugar cookies & green tea custard eclairs. Oh, and if you’re wondering where we got the cute lil’ wooden “house” blocks from, those were made (by a friend) from wooden offcuts, cut at an angle and sploshed with paint.

The Grazing Table

If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that I didn’t want to be sweating in the kitchen cooking on the day of Josiah’s party. No sir-ee! I opted instead to have a grazing table of nibbles, which suited my strategically timed “afternoon tea” party to a tee. My wooden island bench was transformed into an overflowing oasis of dips, bread, cheese, crackers, fruit & nuts lushed up with a blend of foliage & florals. It ended up bring such a hit with my guests as it was a far cry from the party pies & cold sandwiches that we had all grown accustomed to at kid parties. And the prep? All that was involved was laying out my collection of platters & vintage stands, opening a mountain of food packets and spilling them on the table in a fashion that can only be described as “organised chaos” …aaand voila! A generous grazing galore sure to satisfy any peckish posse.

Fun, fresh, bright. This is one event very dear to my heart and I hope this party DIY helps spark new ideas on how you can style and jazz up your next celebration. If you’ve got a question, hit me up! And if you wana hold on to any of these party images as inspo for future reference, you can go on right ahead and pin them to your Pinterest boards 🙂

xx Amanda

Ruby Rabbit Partyware: https://www.rubyrabbit.com.au/

Jan 28 2018

How to Make Your Cake Career Dreams a Reality

Sometimes our “dreams” can seem so far away from where we are right now, it gets overwhelming. Trust me, I know this. Often we gape at the sheer magnitude of the mountains ahead of us and just decide, “It’s simply too far away” or “It may never happen”. We look at the dream and realise it’s all too much and walk away.

But here’s the thing you gotta ask yourself. How is it possible for other regular human beings to get to live out their dreams despite the odds? What are THEY doing that I’m not?

Last week, I shared my Behind-the-Scenes Story of How I Started My Cake Business, and for those of you who read it, you would know that my beginning was far from perfect. I had a million reasons to walk away and do something “easier” or “safer”. But somehow deep within my gut, intuition and heart I knew I had to pursue this.

So you’ve heard my story, and now you’re dreaming up a storm for your life. What now?

Today I’ll be sharing the 4 things that helped me position myself towards actually ACHIEVING my career goals. 4 actions that made sure that I didn’t fall down the slippery slope of wishful thinking but actually DO the things I so wanted to. These are goal-setting pillars I learnt from business coaches & life mentors which helped propel me towards my own career milestones. That said, I am still walking out my own journey, and I’m soooo not done kicking goals yet (cause I always believe in the potential for even “greater things” ahead no matter what we’ve already accomplished).

So today I’m sharing my insider goal-setting actions that I know from experience will help spearhead you in the direction of your aspirations, in hopes that you get to experience the delight of walking in the future your dreams have written.

#1 Write Down Your Goals

If you’ve already done this, then big pat on the back to you. Marvelous.! But stay with me on this…

Why is this important you ask?

Let me explain…. Having a dream or idea in your head is all well and good, but putting it down on paper (or your laptop or whatever) is the FIRST STEP to actually planning our your dream-chasing course. You need to gather your thoughts and work out IN DETAIL what it is exactly that you want to achieve.

So you want to actually write & list out a 3 year goal, a 2 year goal & finally your 1 year goal (yes, working backwards).

Your 3 year goal should be your “big dream” goals. The big scary stuff you want to work towards but aren’t quite sure how they’re gonna happen.

The 2 year goals are in between milestones that you know you need to achieve in order to reach your 3 years goal.

Your 1 year goal is a list of things you have to complete by the end of the year to set you on the right track towards achieving year 2 & 3 goals. These first year goals should be both realistic, yet ambitious.

The key to all this again is to be SPECIFIC. Don’t just write down “Imma gonna be the best cake decorator EVAAA” or “I’m going to make lots of $$$$$ cha-ching!”

That is not an achievable, realised goal. What you probably want to write down is something like:

“I want to enter 2 cake competitions or collaborations by the end of the year”

“I want to start & grow my Instagram account by at least 5000 this year”

“I want to start booking $1k+ weddings by mid this year”

And so on & so forth…

You want to write & plan out calculable goals that you can actually take steps towards.

Working backwards in Goal planning in this way also helps make your BIG GOAL look more achievable. Why? Cause you’re breaking it down into smaller bite sized pieces that you KNOW will eventually lead you towards your BIG DREAMS.

#2 Invest in study & development

If you’re reading this blog, then well done you! You are INVESTING in your skills & knowledge which makes you not just a “dreamer”, but DOER. High five!

The ones who get ahead in life are really those who never ever stop learning, growing or evolving. The ones who are hungry for knowledge and who actually invest time & money in their education.

The more we apply ourselves to learning, the better cakers & business people we will be. Over the years, I have invested heavily in courses, online tutorials, live classes, books, blogs, articles…and they have been the biggest asset in my caking career. Every investment I’ve made to growing my business knowledge & cake skills have always paid off in spades not just in my confidence, or skill…but especially so in my business profits.

That’s what investing means. To put something of value into a venture in hopes of reaping a greater profit or benefit. Whatever time, effort or finance we invest into our education isn’t a lost… we reap the fruit of in in a different, compounded form over time.

It’s a lot like the act of planting a seed. We need to tend to the soil, water the seed, fertilise the ground and invest time & resources into this seed. But later on, as time goes by, we get to experience the FRUIT of our early labours with a bountiful harvest!

#3 Don’t just dream…DO.

Planning, learning, & investing in our “dreams” alone ain’t enough. We have to actually DO it. Otherwise, our goals & wishes remain just pipe dreams…whimsy’s and fancies that eventually, never go anywhere.

So what does it look like to not just dream, but DO?

Well, it would be to set aside a set amount of hours each week to action out your goals. So for example you could determine to make 1 cake or new edible décor each week. Or perhaps you could set aside 2 hours growing your social media following each week. Or you might want to learn 1 new cake skill every month.

Whatever it is, just DO IT. Set aside time each week (even if it’s as little as 1 hour) dedicated to working towards your 1 year plan.

#4 Create a Habit of Using a Planner or Diary

I would totally recommend using a planner or diary to map out each week so you KNOW you are taking small steps towards your goals. Successful people are very good at maximising their time. Think about it, we all get 24 hours a day. You, me the President of the United States. But how is it that some achieve more than others in their set 24 hours? The difference is in being organised with our daily schedule & responsibilities by planning out our weeks & months with intention.

I used the word HABIT because it is something that has to be cultivated over time. Not everyone is used to living their lives according to a planner, but this is something that should be learnt if you are serious about running a thriving & organised cake business.

You can choose to use a diary that’s inbuilt into your phone, or if you’re like me and love to scribble everything down (to have it visually & physically mapped out) you can use a weekly or daily planner. I love doing this, as it allows me to make sure I’ve got all my weekly tasks mapped out, my day-to-day mommy duties & my work all neatly slotted somewhere into my week. I don’t have to worry about doing this or that, because I’ve got it all out of my brain and onto my diary, which I simply have to follow.

Yes, sometimes things come up and our week doesn’t quite go as planned. Life’s like that. Simply reschedule and move those important things into the next week and go from there.

If you struggle with procrastination, then set yourself little rewards so you’re motivated to finish mundane tasks (like reward yourself with a cookie or something). Another great tactic which I picked up in my teenage years back when I was a junior state athlete (say whaa..?) is to mentally visualise the end goal (e.g I’m going to spend 2 hours practising my piping so I can make those beautiful iced cookies I saw someone make last week). Try it, it works 🙂

In my first Blog post of the year, I talked about Achieving Your Wildest Cake Dreams and so many of you responded that this post resounded deeply with you. One of my personal goals this year is to equip you with keys & tools to actually achieve YOUR wildest cake dreams.

So my sweet friend, don’t just fantasise about your dreams… Do something about it. Don’t live with the regret of “what if” or “if only I had…”.

It’s all possible.

Write your goals, make a plan, invest & learn deeply, map out each week & most of all….

DO.