It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do

I had the pleasure of attending a number of exciting events in the past week. The highlights for me was meeting highly motivated entrepreneurs who were very keen to share their knowledge and experience and listening to passionate speakers educate me about their respective areas of expertise. One thing they all had in common was their belief in their ability to change the world for the better. They have made me think about using Fairtrade products more often and when placing my order for ingredients this week, I found myself asking my various suppliers questions about their supply chain.

For more information on how you can help make a difference, please visit http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/

I also had a generous offer to join a register of TV experts and I will let you know how I get on in due course!

Continuing our series on the A to Z of Wedding cakes:


E for Etiquette

Read up on wedding etiquette, so you know who has the responsibility for doing and paying for what. For instance, in some cultures the father of the bride bears the responsibility for a large part of the wedding costs, but increasingly, couples are now paying for their own wedding. When it comes to the wedding cake, there is now a trend towards not just going for the tradtional three tier cake but alternatively, having a cupcake tower made up of individual cupcakes or fully iced mini cakes. Some couples also request a groom’s cake at the wedding, which could be a novelty cake that reflects the groom's hobbies or passions.

F for Flavours and Fillings

Gone are the days when wedding cakes were heavy, stodgy fruit cakes. Nowadays, you can choose from a variety of flavours, ranging from chocolate, vanilla, carrot and lemon cake to unusual flavours like banana, lime and coconut and coffee and walnut. We've even had requests for Red Velvet cake and Apple Cinnamon cake.
Fillings can range from French vanilla buttercream and white and dark chocolate ganache, to orange buttercream, mocha buttercream, lime cream cheese to Morello cherry. For a bit of variety, you can have different flavoured tiers to cater for different tastes and to offer variety to your guests.

The A to Z of Wedding Cakes

Moving on from the excitement of our collaboration with Wedgwood (yay!) we are continuing our series on the A to Z of Wedding Cakes.

C for Chemistry

Just like any other relationship, no matter how talented a cake designer is, there should be a positive chemistry between both of you. He or she should be finely attuned to your requirements and should be able to guide and steer you in the right direction, making helpful suggestions on possible designs, flavours and fillings.


D for Design, Decorations and Dietary Requirements

If you don’t have a particular cake in mind, or even a photograph, make a collage of all the things that inspire your style and take it along to your cake maker. In terms of the cake decorations, a talented cake designer can match the details on your wedding dress for instance or the exact colour of your bridesmaid dresses if you provide a swatch of the fabric. Let the cake maker know your favourite cake flavour but also be open to trying out as many cake flavours as possible.
If you are vegan, vegetarian, have certain dietary requirements or allergies, please let the cake maker know, so he or she can accommodate this. It is possible in these times to have great tasting and looking cakes that suits every dietary requirement.