The Evolution of SugarCraft

It’s been a while since my last blog post, but you know the story, bake, decorate sleep repeat.

So I did it again I managed to get myself back into the final of the Cupcake Championship to be held at the NEC in Birmingham in November with my Mayan Chocolate Cupcake.
The cupcake final will be part of Cake International the Mecca for all things SugarCraft.

Mayan Chocolate and Blackberry Mojito Cupcake

and it got me thinking how far the industry has come.
I’ve been Making cakes as a business for a few years but like most I began as a hobbyist many years ago and dipped in and out of my hobby at a time when Royal icing was all the rage as well as being the cake covering of choice, and garret frills were considered the height of sophistication.

Cake decoration seemed to stick to a set of rules that now have well and truly being broken.
I remember the mere suggestion that you could get a sharp edge on a sugar paste cake was dealt a sugary Mary berry style stare from my tutor with the look of utter stupidity that I could even suggest such a silly idea, it made me not even dare to try,it was unheard of and not at all possible ( well it was according to my tutor at the time).

And here we are in 2014 you can crumb coat your cake upside down to get a sharp edge, even better if you use chocolate ganache there are no more wedding cake pillars, it’s all about stacked and gravity defying cakes.
You can get a cake to be as pretty or macabre as you like Conjurers Kitchenand Miss Cakehead spring to mind) Yes Sugarcraft has come a longggggggg way.

Tutors travel half way around the world to teach, such as Michelle Green from The Business of Baking plus there are numerous online cake classes/Schools such as Paul Bradford SugarCraft Schooland Craftsy, don’t even get me started on you tube, pick a tutorial any tutorial, it’s pretty amazing really.

But along with this evolution comes those that what to run before they can walk, lost count of the the good cakes gone bad that I have seen, cakes not stacked correctly and collapsing at venues, burnt cakes, leaking cakes, the list goes on there’s even a website dedicated to them Cake Wrecks

But the biggest difference in this evolution is social media, facebook, twitter, Pinterest we can share our pictures, ask questions, watch tutorials , join a cake class, market our businesses, communicate directly with the customer and be part of cake forums with the much repeated “how much would you charge for this cake” question,yes Sugarcraft is huge, so it was sad to hear that some big names such as Blue Door Bakery and Carinas Cupcakeshave decided to scale back or hang up there pinnies.
Cake decorating can be so tiring as a business/hobby.

If you think the majority are home businesses it isn’t unheard of for a cake decorator ( myself included) to be going to bed at 1.00am and getting up for the day job/school run to perfect a cake for our customers and if your lucky enough to be busy you can repeat this pattern almost daily so it’s no surprise really that some decide to take a break, and it must be even more challenging if you have a family.

So really this post is dedicated to all the cake decorators, cupcake makers, bakers who have made the industry so exciting right now, I look forward to Cake International 2014 to see what amazing creations that will be on display this year.
So Are you going?
Or are you entering?