The pretty things

When I open Just Darling Cakes I want the room to be fabulous and really showcase the cakes and also the Just Darling Brand. It's really important to me to get all the little details right, so with that in mind I've been having lots of fun sourcing all sorts of pretty things to help create the effect I'm after.

The top picture is just the cutest thing, it's a cupcake door stop from Laura Ashley and it literally jumped into my arms... I just couldn't say no! :-) I've also bought some lovely seat pads for the chairs from there and a gorgeous 3 tier cake stand to display my cupcakes on.

From the Range in Halifax, I found these adorable tea/coffee/sugar canisters... I'd actually given up hope when I found these. They are perfect and a snip at £3.99 each :-)

I've also been sourcing some flat topped cake stands to display the wedding cakes on, especially the new Ruby Bloom Range which will be launched shortly. Jane Campy of Ruby Bloom in Wakefield is designing an exclusive range of wedding cakes for me which will be displayed at both our premises. More news about this soon...

Progress Report

It's been a busy few days in the new home of Just Darling Cakes. Mark and my Dad have been busy stripping wallpaper and applying the new much prettier paper and getting started on the painting. We've only got one day left with my Dad helping so I've been drafted in to help with the painting tomorrow as well.

The top picture shows the gorgeous Laura Ashley wallpaper on the feature wall. I will be displaying my white and ivory wedding cakes against this wall. The next picture is of my hard working Dad who flew in from Hungary last week with a few days notice to kick start the decorating process. Apparently he's painting some bits of wood to edge the wall or something like that... am leaving the technical stuff to him.

The last picture is Mark who is really pleased with his paint spattered trousers... proof he's been hard at it... apparently!

While they've been busy decorating I've been busy spending, but more of that in the next post :-)

'THE STRESS'

It's been a hell of a few weeks and it's not over yet, but thought I'd better get it all off my chest before I explode.... I have found some premises to turn into a cake design studio and showroom... that's the good news... the bad news is the bank still can't make their mind up whether they are giving me a loan or not.... GRRRRR

About three weeks ago when I was working on a wedding cake and chatting to the bride about a few last minute details, she told me she was vacating the room she rents in Huddersfield where she runs her beauticians... and that it might be suitable for me. I had been looking around for some time but the rents are incredible round here. So the next day I checked the venue out... it's fabulous! Location wise I couldn't ask for more, it's central Huddersfield and above a florist and bridal wear shop :-) The rent is doable and the room just needs redecorating and kitting out with work surfaces etc...

I have spent the last few weeks in a whirlwind of sourcing cupboards, plumbers (am currently on number 4... don't ask!), flooring, a baker and goodness knows what else which I've loved and then the bit I'm struggling with which has taken up the most time and given me the most grey hairs... the bank! To be fair the individuals I've dealt with have been fabulous and really helpful, it's just the system I'm up against, I'm not asking for the world but in today's climate they are really making me jump through hoops and tonight at 4.45 I find out I've got to wait until some point on Monday for an answer :-(

I'm sure it will all be worth it though I'm sooooo excited about this and I know it's the right time/venue etc... so I've just got to keep everything crossed that the bank pulls through. I'll keep you posted.... but for now I'll pop some pictures up of the building itself... Just Darling Cakes will be located above the bridal shop and will also have a ground floor window to display cakes.

The Baker

Personalised cakes are great fun to make and so special for the recipient. I was asked to replicate a cake made last year for an Italian great grandma (see above) but this time it was for the 70th birthday of a lady who bakes pies, who often wears a navy blue fleece and always wears rubber gloves when baking!!! Apparently she also ends up covered in a lot of flour (I with her on that one, I always end up wearing twice as much as goes into the cake).

The pies in question were corned beef ones, so I thought a representation of the ingredients along with a finished pie would look good on the table in front of Irene in her baking gear. I had great fun trying to make the bowl for the mashed up corned beef and the pie dish... you have to get pretty inventive. All in all I'm really pleased with how this turned out, it was a welcome distraction from all the mad stresses this week has brought... but more about that in my next blog with hopefully some good news too!

Musical Notes and Plain but not Simple

Again two very different cakes this week. The first a 40th Birthday cake for a music lover who plays the trombone. I have to admit when I took this order I said to the lady ordering it 'musical notes no problem, what instrument does he play?' and then 'ahhh' when she said trombone and I'm thinking how the hell am I going to do that? I'm fairly pleased with the result, I think it passes a resemblance to a trombone if not completely technically correct :-)

The second is the most plain cake I have ever done and is testimony to how much I've learnt in the last year or two. I know plain sounds simple but it's so not, there is literally nowhere to hide. Every millimetre of icing has to be flawless and smooth... no mean feat, you even hear professionals on the tv talking about how they cover small faults with detail. So although it didn't excite my creative process it made me realise how much I've improved :-)

I need to apologise for the quality of the pictures though, they were taken on my mobile... not that my camera is much better!