Empowering Home Bakers To Succeed.
Recipes and courses to help home bakers make outstanding cakes and build successful businesses.
Discover how good cake can be and give your family, friends and customers a remarkable cake experience!
I started out baking from home as a teenager, and for many years I ran a cake business from a tiny kitchen in my London flat. Whether you are a home baking enthusiast or run a home cake business, you may experience the same problems and challenges I had at various times:
Who do you ask for reliable expert help or if things go wrong?
Where to get recipes that work or learn new techniques?
Where to get guidance on building and growing a home cake business:
Being unsure of what to charge for your work and doubting yourself;
Not knowing how or not spending enough time promoting the business
All of this can be a painful and lonely learning experience. I know what it’s like to feel a bit lost, waste time and money when things go wrong and, if you are running a business, that horrible feeling of realising you have undercharged for the work you have done.
It doesn’t have to be this way. I remember the struggles I had working on my own, so I want to use the knowledge and experience I have gained since to help you avoid these pitfalls.
As well as having run a novelty cake business, my experience over the last 15 years includes:
Professionally trained as a pastry chef at Le Cordon Bleu, London;
Worked as a pastry chef at hotels (including The Savoy, London), restaurants and catering businesses.
Pastry chef consultant to bakery and pâtisserie businesses in the UK;
Head pastry chef and joint founder of Sweet Elements Pâtisserie.
Are You A Home Cake Baker Looking For Help And Support?
Reviews for my cakes and recipes
-
‘The greatest cake I have ever tasted!’
Google Review for Sweet Elements Pâtisserie -
‘Absolutely stunning cakes…They look amazing and taste sensational.’
Google Review for Sweet Elements Pâtisserie -
‘Possibly the most gorgeous, well balanced sweet treat I’ve eaten ever.’
Google Review for Sweet Elements Pâtisserie -
‘It was GLORIOUS!!! The whole family loved it! It was great, super tasty and zest!
Just what I wanted!’
Review from Holly, Recipe for Lemon & Blueberry Cake -
‘The chocolate, hazelnut and orange cake was amazing - the best cake I have ever made…also delighted with the apple galette (cannot believe how well the pastry turned out) and almond blueberry cake…I find your instructions nicely set out and easy to follow. Your recipes have inspired me to have a go - loving it. Having fun!’
Review from Ruth on various recipes -
‘Many thanks for the recipe it’s fantastic.’
Review from Paul, Recipe for Lemon & Blueberry Cake
My Baking Ethos: Quality Over Quantity
-
Quality Ingredients
The quality of the ingredients you use directly affects the quality of the cake you make. For me, good quality means ingredients that deliver on flavour, are natural and have been produced in an environmentally responsible way.
Too many harmful practices have become the accepted normality in so much of modern food production. In my view there is not enough focus on the use of quality ingredients in the cake and dessert world; there is still widespread reliance on artificial colours and flavours as well as ingredients that have been produced using practices that are damaging to the environment and our health.
I want to change how cake is done. I bake from scratch using organic or pesticide free ingredients, flour that has been grown regeneratively, grass fed dairy, organic free range eggs and I avoid any ultra processed foods.
-
Technique
Making cakes is a technical process. The right methods matter. For example, simple tips on whisking or beating speeds and times for batters dramatically affect the outcome of sponges. This is why it so important to keep learning. Even after having baked cakes for more than 20 years, been professionally trained as a pastry chef at one of the world’s best culinary schools and worked in professional kitchens, I still invest in developing my knowledge. Processes evolve and there is always more to learn. Knowing the right methods not only makes you more efficient and your cakes more consistent, but they also make a huge difference to how your cakes look, taste, their texture and shelf life.
-
Flavour! Flavour! Flavour!
Yes it’s great for cakes to look good and I always want to achieve this. But cakes also have to taste good!
Creating a cake with a balance of real flavours that tastes delicious is the most important feature that I want to achieve as a cake maker. Too often cakes are overly sweet or just do not taste of their component ingredients. Too much sugar across the elements, poor quality ingredients and poor technique are the primary culprits. This is why it is so important to use good quality ingredients and the correct techniques. If you apply the right methods to good quality ingredients, flavour will follow.
