How I Stay Inspired During The Shift From Wedding Season to Holiday Season

Photos by: Ally Frances Photo.
Cakes and content by: Sweet Heather Anne.

We’re just wrapping up our busiest time of year - wedding season! While I absolutely love making wedding cakes, it’s also easy to get into a bit of a creative rut when you make so many of them. I also find the transition from wedding season to holiday season a bit overwhelming, so I try to be mindful of that when taking on projects this time of year.

So, what’s been keeping me inspired lately?

1. Creative Exploration

I recently took an autumn wreath workshop with Honeybaby Floral and had the best time playing with flowers that were just for me. I think it’s important to take time to explore and grow without the pressure of a client’s approval. It was also a great time to connect with some of the other Moms at my son’s preschool without our busy toddlers stealing our attention.

I also participated in a styled shoot with Ally Frances Photography and took the opportunity to play with adding piped embroidery to a vintage piped heart cake. I think there is more to explore with this concept. I’m obsessed! Here’s a quick photo from the studio.

2. Collaborations with Friends

My friend Diana owns a beautiful boutique called Thistle and Bess and we’ve been working on very special cookies for a party she’s hosting to kick-off her holiday season. Because Diana is a friend, she is giving us full creative freedom to play. I’m taking inspiration from Painted Ladies Pastry to create pieces of Diana’s jewelry in cookie form and I can’t wait to take on the challenge.

Cookies by: Painted Ladies Pastry.

3. Knowing When to Say No

As I mentioned above, the transition from the busy wedding season to the busy holiday season can be very stressful for me. 

Our Cake Studio is a well oiled machine when it comes to making wedding and online shop cakes. Once November rolls around, however, our wedding bookings slow down and we get flooded with requests for projects that seem promising but aren’t really in our wheelhouse. I spent years taking on everything from large on-site cookie decorating workshops to orders for thousands of holiday cookies to be shipped across the country. 

One year, I realized I was dreading December. I found myself saying, it’s really just three weeks of craziness, I can handle that, right? Then I realized, I didn’t want to just get through it. I wanted to enjoy the holiday season, too.

That’s when we shifted towards offering a specific menu of things we wanted to make and supplementing our income with Holiday Cookie Decorating Workshops at times that we wanted to teach them. (We don’t do evening classes and we plan them so that they fit with the general workflow of the week.)

Then we take a break from Christmas Eve until just after New Years. I know there are lots of opportunities to make more money before the January resolutions set in, but I also know that I love being able to spend that time with my family, and I want that for my team, too. 

4. Finding Time for Myself

Taking the time to go for a walk is one of the most powerful things that I can do for myself. It gives me time to think or call a friend or lose myself in an audiobook and I always finish the walk feeling refreshed and centered.

As the days get shorter and the temperatures get colder, finding the time for a good walk gets more and more challenging. I know I need it, though, so I make it happen.

Here are a few of my favorite listens, lately:

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, Hello Beautiful, anything written by Emily Henry or narrated by Julia Whalen

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My Favorite Cake Tools for Everything from Decorating to Delivery!

I’ve been decorating cakes for over 15 years now, running a busy bakery with a talented team by my side.

I’ve learned that having the right tools can make all the difference when it comes to executing a flawless design, meeting deadlines, and ensuring a smooth delivery. While there are no "miracle" tools that will do the job for you, there are tools that simply work better than others— upgrades that make your workflow more efficient and enjoyable.

In this post, I’m sharing some of my absolute favorite tools, ones I’ve come to rely on for everything from building cakes to delivering them. Most of these are tools you might already use, but I’ve found these options are a cut above the rest. Whether you’re a seasoned cake artist or just starting to build your collection, I think you’ll find something here that will make your work a little easier, more precise, and even a bit more fun. Plus, I’ll include links to where you can find each one, in case you’re ready to add a new favorite to your own toolkit. 💛

1. Sprinks Cake Scraper

I’ve tried a lot of different scrapers over the years and this one is my absolute favorite. It’s thin enough to smooth buttercream even after it has become slightly airy but thick enough not to bend easily like some of my other favorite super thin scrapers. It’s seriously a game-changer if you ever struggle to have a perfect smooth coat. It’s available from Blooms by June and honestly, that entire online shop is worth a look. It’s a beautiful curated list of amazing cake tools and products.

2. GG Korean Piping Tips + Y Nail

I’m not sure about you but I used to look at some of the buttercream flowers that other people were making and not understand how they were possible. Then I went to a Buttercream Flower Workshop with Lila Cake Shop and realized that I needed the right tools to achieve some of the looks I was going for. The Korean piping tips have a sharper point at the base that makes it easier to create delicate petals. The Y nail allows you to build a more dimensional flower for a more realistic look. The trick is building your flower on aluminum foil that you dome just above the base of the Y Nail. 

If you want excellent instruction on using these tools, Lila Cake Shop also has an online course, so you can learn from anywhere. Use the code HEATHER10 for 10% both online and in person.

3. Super Smooth Turntable

We’ve had lots of different team members over the years, and teaching new hires to execute a perfect smooth coat is one of the trickiest parts of training. A few years ago, we found these turn tables that spin very smoothly. As soon as we got them, I noticed a huge difference in how everyone was able to execute their smooth coats. I do recommend keeping a different turntable for static decorating tasks, though. This one was born top spin!

4. Large Paint Brush instead of a Pastry Brush

I was never thrilled by any of the pastry brushes we tried. They would either lose their bristles easily or not hold enough liquid. Last year, we made the switch to large paint brushes for applying simple syrup to our cakes and I’ve been so pleased with the results. I’m never buying another expensive pastry brush again!

5. Our Favorite Delivery Cart

If you’ve been following me for a while you know that I love to sing the praises of this cart. It is sturdy enough to transport a large cake smoothly, has multiple shelves for easy storage of kitchen cakes and tools, and folds up small enough to put in the front seat of your vehicle. I even love using the cart as a staging area for tools and flowers while I’m putting the finishing touches on a cake at a venue. At this point, I feel lost on a delivery without this cart.

6. Acrylic Rounds

We build all of our cakes on cardboard rounds and then tape those rounds to acrylic rounds for smoothing and transporting the cakes before stacking. Since we switched to using acrylic rounds, we’ve found that it’s easier to get a nice smooth coat and we see less cracking while transporting tiers. There are many companies that sell acrylic rounds specifically for cakes but we’ve found the prices at TAP Plastics to be much more affordable.

Photos by: Cat Carty Buswell, Emmy and Ollie Photography, and Ally Frances Photo.
Cakes and content by: Sweet Heather Anne.

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Fall In Love With Cake Design Again 💛

Use the code SUMMERSALE60 to save 60% on our entire
Online Course Library!

Sweet Heather Anne has always been a passion project.

In the beginning, I felt honored to take on every order that came my way and work as much as I had to to make it happen. I had an amazing team of volunteers turned friends and together we could troubleshoot through anything.

After the excitement of starting the business wore off, however, the long work hours started to take a toll on our morale. Outwardly, it looked like we were doing amazing. We had recently been named one of the top wedding bakeries in the country by Brides and we were busier than we had ever been.

Inwardly, however, we were struggling. We rarely left the bakery before midnight on Fridays and at times, we weren’t even breaking even. I began to wonder if the business I had set out to create was even capable of making a profit. 

The turning point for us came from prioritizing the work that we wanted to make and charging appropriately for that work. When I set out to create online tutorials, I wanted to give others the tools to make this shift for themselves. 

If you’re feeling burnt out on character cakes and overdone Pinterest designs, you’re not alone. I’d love for you to connect with one of these courses and fall in love with cake design again. 

Use the code SUMMERSALE60 to save 60% on our entire
Online Course Library! 

Everything below and more is included in this sale (this week only!).

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Want to raise your prices?
I know it’s daunting, but this course can help!

Pricing and Selling Intricate Work

• The pricing structure we used to more than double our average wedding cake sale from $600 to $1400.

• Our wedding cake inquiry process from start to finish.

• Our system for converting over 85% of our tastings into wedding clients who trust our design perspective and understand the value of our work.

“I can easily double what I was asking for cakes before I took Pricing and Selling Intricate Work.”

- Catrina Staats, Homestead Kitchen

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Interested in perfecting your smooth coat? We’ve got you!

Cake Building Fundamentals

• Building and stacking cakes that are both flawless and structurally sound.

• Getting the perfect smooth coat.

• Simple buttercream finishes for professional looking cakes.

• Transporting cakes (and our favorite delivery cart!).

• Our To-Go-Kit Packing Guide for stress-free deliveries.

• Our Cake Serving Guide to help you size your cakes with ease.

“Everything she teaches in this class was something I wish I had access to when I first started out so I could save some time from the trial and errors.”

- Winifred Lua, Winifred Kriste Cake

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Want to learn how we design and execute our show stoppers? 

Edible Sequin Cake Design

• The design process we use to create original designs that consistently exceed our clients' expectations.

• The sketching process that we use to sketch and propose cakes right in the tasting.

• Art Deco Sequin Scallops

• Piped Embroidery with Edible Sequins (pictured)

• Our trusted Royal Icing and Gelatin Sequin recipes.

“I would recommend this course to pretty much everybody.”

- Michelle Henry, Iris Street Bakery

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Interested in learning my absolute favorite technique? It’s so easy and enjoyable!

Painting With Buttercream

• Dying Buttercream and Creating a Color Scheme

• Editing Cakes for Sharp Edges

• Abstract Painted Buttercream

• Buttercream Oil Painting (pictured)

• Our trusted Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe

• A guide to the gel colors we use to dye any color

“Heather was able to take something that looks so complex and break it down step by step. The next thing you know, you have a masterpiece on your hands!”

- Madelyne, Maddog Sweets

Don't forget to use the code SUMMERSALE60 at check-out to receive 60% off any of the courses in our store.

Sale ends Tuesday, July 30 at midnight.

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Our Delicious Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe

Our 2024 wedding season has been all about buttercream. Between lambeth piped cakes and playful buttercream designs, we’ve been experimenting with every piping tip imaginable and loving every minute of it. Here are a few photos from a recent shoot where we let our creativity run wild.

Photos by Alicia Frances Photography

The buttercream that we use for our cakes is an adapted version of Swiss Meringue Buttercream that is slightly less sweet with a more nuanced flavor. It holds up well for large stacked cakes and is a dream base for our buttercream fillings.

Sweet Heather Anne Buttercream

Yields about 6½ cups of buttercream, a little more than you’ll need to cover a 10 inch cake.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup egg whites, at room temperature

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 cup white sugar

• ¾ cup brown sugar

• 2 pounds unsalted butter at room temperature (never cold butter!)

• 1 TBL Nielsen-Massey vanilla paste (I prefer the flavor of paste to extract)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large mixing bowl over a double boiler, whisk together the egg whites and sugar. Stirring occasionally, warm until the mixture is very hot to the touch. (145 degrees F)  Remove from the double boiler.

2. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer. With the whisk attachment, beat on high until the meringue is cool and forms very stiff peaks. You will know it is ready when the meringue starts making little strings on the side of your bowl.

3. Slowly add the soft butter, about 1⁄4 cup at a time while beating at medium speed. When all of the butter is added, it should be thick, creamy and shiny.

4. Add vanilla and blend well. Taste and adjust recipe if needed.

5. If at any time your buttercream appears to be curdling, don’t worry. The butter may have been too cold, but this is easily fixed. Return the buttercream to the double boiler or add heat to the bowl with a torch and then mix on medium until the buttercream is smooth and creamy.

We use this as a base for all of our buttercream flavors. You can be creative when adding flavors, but be careful not to add too much liquid to the buttercream.

You can download a printer-friendly version OF THis recipe for your kitchen HERE:

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Looking For More Buttercream Tips?

Check out our Go-to Tools for Perfectly Smooth Buttercream Cakes, Our Secret for Perfectly Smooth Buttercream in Small Batches and our Cake Building Fundamentals tutorial.

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Mastering Last-Minute Cake Orders: Our Guide to Successful Semi-Custom Cakes

Last year, I wrote How to Accommodate Small, Last-Minute Cake Orders - And Preserve Your Sanity. This year, I'm revisiting that topic and sharing what I’ve learned from a full year of offering semi-custom options in our online cake shop.

Boosting Online Sales with Semi-Custom Cake Options

Our online shop has been part of our business for years, but it didn’t really take off until Covid hit. During the pandemic, customers got used to the convenience of ordering online, and sales soared for tiny cakes and pandemic-friendly cookie kits. After adding semi-custom options and expanding our offerings to include more two-tier and higher price point cakes last year, we saw a staggering 94% increase in revenue from our online shop.

The Joy of Last-Minute Orders

Surprisingly, I’ve grown to LOVE the last-minute orders that come through our online shop. Although we specialize in custom cakes, it’s refreshing to work on designs that we can execute efficiently. This not only speeds up production but also simplifies the training process for new team members.

The key to this success is filling the shop with designs that you want to make. If you've been in the cake designing business for a while, you'll know there are certain requests that can be draining. For me, it’s character cakes and small cakes that require extensive prep time. Our online shop addresses these challenges by offering a wide variety of designs that are exciting and straightforward to make. Customers can customize the color scheme, but the designs are predefined, which eliminates the need for lengthy back-and-forth communications or hours spent researching obscure cartoon characters. For character cakes, we suggest that clients personalize one of our pre-designed options with their own toppers.

Bridging the Gap Between Custom and Pre-Designed Cakes

This year, we've been focused on narrowing the gap between what’s available in our online shop and our bespoke creations that require a $1000 minimum. Noticing a trend toward smaller cakes, we added more two-tier options and sheet cakes. We also introduced larger single-tier cakes and our take on the popular Lambeth heart cake, which have been met with great enthusiasm from our clients.

Tips for Creating an Online Cake Shop That You LOVE

The cake order system described below works wonderfully for our team of five, but it’s important to find a system that works for you, ensuring the schedule fits your needs and you're selling cakes that you enjoy making.

1. Play to your strengths

Capitalize on designs you're known for! Simplify these designs to integrate them into your regular workflow and allow for creative customization with colors and add-ons.

2. Look for opportunities in popular designs

Add cakes to your shop that address frequently requested styles or fill gaps in your current offerings. If specific style of cake doesn’t meet your minimum or lead time for an order, can you add something similar to your shop?

3. Implement boundaries for logistical ease

Limit online shop orders to pick-up only. This way, you have time to execute your deliveries for larger events. For us, that means only offering 1 and 2-tier cakes in the shop so we can ensure safe transport by our clients.

Limit your pick-up dates and times to something that works for your current production schedule. We only offer Fridays and Saturdays and some of the more detailed designs are limited to Friday afternoon and Saturday pick-up. 

Limit your flavor options so that you have more repeat flavors and building goes faster.

Set order deadlines that work for your baking schedule. We have different order deadlines based on how easy it is for us to execute the cake/keep cakes in stock to execute the order.

4. Optimize Your Schedule

Set pick-up hours that work for your schedule. If you’re a one person show that may look different than a bakery with employees that can be on site while others are delivering.

Block off dates when you hit capacity. Because of the way that our website is set up, we can be specific about this, like blocking off Friday orders for the more elaborate designs and leaving the cakes we are able to execute more quickly.

Bonus tip for cake studio owners and managers

Work with a virtual assistant who specializes in web design if the idea of creating the shop itself seems overwhelming. We use Squarespace for our site but we’ve heard great things about Shopify, too.

Inspiration from Fellow Cake Designers

In addition to our semi-custom cake shop, here are some examples of how other talented cake designers have structured their pre-designed offerings:

• Sweet Lionheart

• Butter &

• Botanical Bakeshop

• Venla’s Detroit

• Bakes by Her

Feeling overwhelmed about where to start? Email me at info@sweetheatheranne.com to set up a consultation session about starting or improving your online cake shop.

Turn Passion into Profit

Interested in learning more about how we make a profit selling the work that inspires us? Check out our Pricing and Selling Intricate Work online course!

Photos by Cat Carty Buswell and Taylor Higgins.

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We’d love to hear from you!

Share your experiences with last-minute or online cake orders in the comments below, or tag us in your cake photos on social media. Your feedback not only inspires us but also helps us refine our offerings to better serve you.

Tips for Thriving During the Engagement Gap

Is your wedding season looking a little slower than last year? For us, it’s mostly hitting in the Spring and early Summer, but either way, we’re finding ourselves with a little extra space in our schedule after two very steady years of being fully booked for the wedding season.

Some people are calling this lull in weddings the engagement gap. Since less people started dating during the height of the pandemic, less couples are getting married this year.

Here are our tips for not only surviving but thriving during this short dip in wedding bookings:

1. Teach Workshops

2. Diversify your offerings (on your terms)

3. Make a budget and set goals for the year

Teach workshops

No matter where you are in your cake journey, you have skills that others would be interested in learning. I actually started teaching workshops as soon as I rented my first kitchen in 2010.

It takes a little bit of investment to get set-up with all the tools you need to host a workshop but you can start small and build up as you go. I still remember when we placed the order for enough turntables for a 12 person workshop. It felt like a lot at the time but since then, the turntables have been more than paid off. If you don’t have a ton to invest now, you can always borrow some of the tools you need from other cake friends. 💛

Diversify your offerings on your terms

At Sweet Heather Anne, we have three main revenue sources: 

• 70% wedding/custom cakes with a minimum order based on the season 

• 20% semi-custom and pre-designed cakes from our Online Shop

• 10% classes: both online and in person

This year, we are leaning harder into both our online shop offerings and classes to make up for an anticipated dip in wedding revenue.

One of the best parts about classes is that you’re in charge of when they are scheduled. You can look at your bookings and see where they are light and add classes at those times. July is looking particularly slow for us this year so we’re bringing on some new class offerings to fill in that gap. 

Our online shop is beautiful because it allows us to take smaller, last minute orders on our own terms. We get to choose the designs that we want to create and customers can purchase those designs without all the back and forth of a custom cake.

This year, we’re adding lots of new designs including sheet cakes that clients can add on for extra servings. We hope this will help us reach clientele looking for wedding cakes at a more approachable budget than our custom work.

Check out, How to Accommodate Small, Last-Minute Cake Orders - And Preserve Your Sanity! to see how we set-up our online shop offerings to fit seamlessly into our custom cake production schedule.

Make a budget and set goals for the year

This is a big one! It’s hard to know how the dip in weddings is affecting you unless you understand the big picture of your business. Each year, we look at last year’s numbers and make projections for the current year. We make sure to include rent increases, salary increases, and any other expenses that we think will be higher or lower throughout the year. 

The next step is setting monthly and annual goals. If we are behind on a monthly goal, we know we need to take action to make it up later in the year. For us, that often looks like scheduling more classes, promoting something in our online shop, or doing cross promotion with another business.

If creating a budget from scratch sounds overwhelming, reach out to your local SBDC for help. The branch in our area shared their budgeting spreadsheet and taught us how to use it, all for free!

If you want to dive in a little deeper, I’d highly recommend Be Sage Consulting. Michelle has provided countless valuable resources for us throughout our time in business.

The Good News

These changes will not only help you get past the engagement gap but also strengthen your business for the future. With more revenue streams to lean on and a better way to understand your cash flow, you’ll be ready to handle anything that comes your way!

Ready for more?

Interested in learning more about our business strategies, check out our Pricing and Selling Intricate Work course! For more tips like this delivered to your inbox, subscribe to The Cake Break, our once-per-month newsletter for cake decorators and artists.

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My Top Cake Trends for 2024

There have been some pretty big shifts in cake design in the last few years and I have to say that I’m here for it! These are my predictions for what you’ll be seeing more of in 2024:

1. Large, Flat, Delicious Looking Cakes

2. Wild Floral

3. Bows

4. Vintage Piping

5. Mixed Media Floral

Large, Flat, Delicious Looking Cakes

Last summer, we got a very interesting request from Caro Diario in Paris. They were working on a wedding in Michigan and wanted to make an entire semi-circle table, covered in cake. Needless to say I was in! The cake has since been featured in Vogue Weddings and the New York Times as a nod to, dare I say, a sheet cake revival?

Photo by Maddie Rotman

While a huge table of cake isn’t something that we’d be able to bust out every weekend, I do think that long flat cakes have their place in today’s weddings. There is something convivial about a long table of cake, and the bakers below sure know how to make them look delicious.

Top left: Cake by From Lucie
Top right: Cake by Salted Rye
Bottom left: Cake by Gallz Provisions
Bottom right: Cake by Flouring LA

We’re even toying with the idea of making playfully designed sheet cakes available in our online shop. I never thought I would say that!

Wild Floral

The sheet cake trend can also take a little credit for bringing wild floral back into cake design. Bakers like From Lucie and Bayou Saint Cake have been taking floral in a playful direction and their influence is finding its way to wedding cakes. Whether the flowers are sugar or fresh, I’m loving the whimsical floral designs I’ve been seeing. 

Top: Cake by Sweet Heather Anne, Photo by Sarah Falugo
Middle: Cake by Flourish Cake Design
Bottom: Cake by Sweet Heather Anne, Photo by Nicole Haley

Bows

I know this one could be polarizing, but I’m nowhere near done with bows yet and I don’t think wedding couples are either. My favorite way that I’ve seen them worked into cake designs is tiny silk bows added to piped buttercream cakes. I love one big dramatic fabric bow on a tiered cake, too. One thing I don’t want to see return, however, is fondant bows. I’m hoping that I made my last one of those years ago!

Top: Cake by Bakes by Her
Middle: Cake by Sweet Heather Anne, photo by Nicole Ivanov Photo
Bottom: Cake by Salted Rye

Vintage Piping

I think this trend is just getting started. It fits with the retro flash photography styles I’ve been seeing lately and honestly it’s a lot of fun to play with piping tips and see what you can create! My current fave is the Ateco 050 that creates ruffles without even moving your wrist! It feels like magic!

Top: Cake by Sweet Heather Anne, Photo by Kathy Davies Photography
Middle: Cake by Bakey Bakes
Bottom: Cake by Sweet Heather Anne, Photo by Marina Claire

Mixed Media Floral

It may be wishful thinking to say that this will be a 2024 trend, but I have been LOVING playing with mixed media floral lately. Between buttercream flowers, buttercream painting, piped embroidery, applique, fresh flowers, and sugar flowers, the possibilities are endless. You can bet you’ll be seeing more of this from us if not from others. 💛

Top: Cake by Lila Cake Shop
Middle: Cake and Photo by Sweet Heather Anne
Bottom: Cake by Sweet Heather Anne, Photo by Rachelle-Welling-Photography

As a whole, I’m seeing a shift towards imperfect and delicious, and after many years of meticulously placing sequins one by one I can definitely get behind some beautiful imperfection. These simple designs feel more inspired than the naked cakes of previous years and I love that they seem to be born from bakers and cake designers trying to have a little fun with seasonal ingredients. 

Of course, there are lots of other styles that are here to stay, too. White on white piping, painted buttercream, and textile inspired designs remain staples here at Sweet Heather Anne. We love any chance to connect with a couple and use their wedding style as inspiration to get creative.

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Delicious Royal Icing for Holiday Cookies and Cakes

I’m not sure about you, but I’ve decorated thousands upon thousands of holiday cookies at this point and having a good recipe for royal icing makes it so much more enjoyable. I like this one because it works great and tastes delicious.

The secret ingredient is maple extract. I find the taste of powdered sugar to be cloyingly sweet and maple extract brings a warmth that cuts through the metallic taste of the sugar. Lemon juice helps to cut the sweetness, too.

We use the same icing to pipe on cakes. We just adjust the consistency for our desired effect and omit the extra flavoring. Skip to the end of the recipe for my notes about achieving the desired consistency.

Royal Icing Recipe

Yield: 1 6 quart mixer bowl full (about 8 lbs)

INGREDIENTS

• 1.25 cups meringue powder (we use celebakes)

• 2.5 cups water

• 7 lb powdered sugar

• 1 tsp cream of tartar

• 1 tbsp corn syrup (for a shiner icing)

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp maple extract (we use watkins)

• 1 pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the meringue powder and water and mix together with a whisk until well combined.

2. Strain the meringue mixture directly into the mixing bowl.

3. Add about ⅔ of the powdered sugar and combine with the meringue powder mixture using the whisk attachment. (A note about sifting: We like to use a fresh 7 lb bag to avoid sifting but if you have an open bag/older powdered sugar sifting is a good option to avoid lumps)

4. Add lemon juice, maple extract, salt, corn syrup, and cream of tartar.

5. Switch to the paddle attachment and mix for 5 minutes at medium speed. The icing should appear lighter and shiny when the egg whites have stabilized.

6. Add additional powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. At the bakery, we usually add the whole bag and then adjust the consistency later on a case by case basis.

Tips for Icing Cookies

Flooding Consistency: When the icing is drizzled on a surface it should stay in place and not run. Any peaks should settle to form a smooth surface. You can test this off the cookie by making an outline on parchment paper and then filling it in with icing, just like you would fill a cookie. If using the ribbon test, the ribbon should disappear in 10 seconds. You can adjust the consistency of icing by adding small amounts of water to thin it out or small amounts of powdered sugar to thicken it.

Detail Work Consistency: There is more flexibility with this. The icing should have enough body to execute the details that you are working on. For line work, I like a consistency thicker than flooding but thinner than something I would use to pipe pearls or embroidery. I recommend making your icing and then testing it to make sure you get your desired result before working on your cake or cookies. If you find that your icing is settling too much, add more powdered sugar. If it is too stiff and difficult to pipe, add more water. If you use all 7 lbs of powdered sugar in this recipe, the consistency should be nice for line work.

DOWNLOAD A PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION OF THIS REICPE FOR YOUR KITCHEN HERE:

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Grateful for You: An Autumn Tutorial SALE!

Use the code GRATEFUL to Save 50% on Cake Decorating Tutorials until midnight on November 29th, 2023!!

As our busy season draws to a close, I like to take a breath and reflect on the work we’ve done. It’s been quite a season, and I’m filled with so much gratitude for our team and the clients that trust us to do what we love.

Even after 13 years, I’m continually challenged to push my creative boundaries and grow as a cake designer and business owner. It’s part of what I love about this job.

There was a point a few years into starting Sweet Heather Anne, however, where I almost threw in the towel. We were successfully booking up each week but the work was no longer inspiring and we were struggling to keep up. That’s when we started to shift the business towards making the work that we wanted to make and charging appropriately for that work.

If you’re feeling burnt out on character cakes and overdone Pinterest designs, you’re not alone. I’d love for you to connect with one of these courses and fall in love with cake design again.

Everything below and more is included in the sale!

Pricing and Selling Intricate Work

• The pricing structure we used to more than double our average wedding cake sale from $600 to $1400.

• Our wedding cake inquiry process from start to finish.

• Our system for converting over 85% of our tastings into wedding clients who trust our design perspective and understand the value of our work.

Click here to instantly access this online course.

Cake Building Fundamentals

• Building and stacking cakes that are both flawless and structurally sound.

• Getting the perfect smooth coat.

• Simple buttercream finishes for professional looking cakes.

• Transporting cakes (and our favorite delivery cart!).

• Our To-Go-Kit Packing Guide for stress-free deliveries.

• Our Cake Serving Guide to help you size your cakes with ease.

Click here to instantly access this online course.

Edible Sequin Cake Design

• The design process we use to create original designs that consistently exceed our clients' expectations.

• The sketching process that we use to sketch and propose cakes right in the tasting.

• Art Deco Sequin Scallops.

• Piped Embroidery with Edible Sequins (pictured).

• Our trusted Royal Icing and Gelatin Sequin recipes.

Click here to instantly access this online course.

Painting with Buttercream

• Dying Buttercream and Creating a Color Scheme.

• Editing Cakes for Sharp Edges.

• Abstract Painted Buttercream.

• Buttercream Oil Painting (pictured).

• Our trusted Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe.

• A guide to the gel colors we use to dye any color.

Click here to instantly access this online course.

Use the code GRATEFUL at check-out to receive 50% off any of the courses in our store. Sale ends Wednesday, November 29th at midnight.

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Keeping My Sanity As A Creative Business Owner

Want to know my favorite tip for keeping my sanity as a business owner? Give yourself a consistent weekend!

I know that seems like a simple thing, but hear me out. When I first started out, I felt like I could never get ahead. Every time I wasn’t working I felt guilty, and the work just kept piling up.

Celebrating instead of guilt-tripping

Then, I decided that Sundays and Mondays would be my weekend. Since setting aside a weekend, I’ve worked plenty of Sundays and Mondays. Instead of feeling guilty that I wasn’t getting enough done, I started congratulating myself for getting extra work done on my days off. I’m also more likely to do nice things for myself if I’m working on a weekend. If I have a cake delivery on a Sunday, I’ll often check out a local coffee shop or bring a friend and go out to dinner near the venue.

It’s a simple mindset shift that has allowed me to have better work-life balance and break free of the guilt of my ever-accumulating workload.

REst and renew for a creative boost

Small businesses are constantly evolving and changing, and there is always a laundry list of things to do. Give yourself a break and treat yourself to a weekend. The work will be there when you get back, and you’ll be ready to tackle it with a clear mind and renewed spirit.

Family photos by Cat Carty Buswell, Abby Rose Photo, and Emmy and Ollie Photography.

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Looking for more small business tips?

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Our Secret for Perfectly Smooth Buttercream in Small Batches

Have you ever had trouble smoothing a small amount of buttercream? I know we have. 

For perfectly smooth buttercream, it’s best to mix a completely full bowl of buttercream on low speed until it’s silky smooth and the bubbles are gone. But what about when you just want a small amount to cover a one or two-tier cake in a fun color?

We found the perfect solution in this tiny Kitchenaid mixer!

When I first saw the mixer, I wasn’t sure if it would be worth the cost to have a smaller version of something I already had. We added these colorful Vintage Buttercream Cakes to our online shop last winter, however, and smoothing the small amounts of buttercream needed for each cake was becoming a hassle.

The tiny mixer has been perfect for smoothing any amount of buttercream we need.

We’ve found it even works if the bowl isn’t completely full and smoothing goes much faster than it does in our larger mixer. We recently bought additional bowls and paddles to accommodate weeks where we need to smooth multiple colors.

As an added bonus, the mixer is extremely quiet and takes up less workspace. We love using it to roll out gumpaste with the pasta attachment.

Looking for more tips about smoothing buttercream?

Check out our Go-to Tools for Perfectly Smooth Buttercream Cakes and our Cake Building Fundamentals tutorial.

Photos by Cat Carty Busewell

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My Favorite Cake Recipe: Citrusy Almond Olive Oil Cake

This month, I’m sharing my favorite cake recipe, our Almond Olive Oil Cake. This cake is a citrusy almond cake made with olive oil instead of butter. The texture is light and spongy and the flavor can stand on its own as a coffee cake. Our team especially loves eating the extra cake tops on baking day.

Almond Olive Oil Cake

Adapted from Gina Depalma’s Recipe

This is one of my favorite cakes, and a great recipe you can try at home. It can be served on its own right out of the oven with a simple glaze, or as part of a layered cake. At Sweet Heather Anne, we serve it as a loaf with a browned butter glaze and candied fruit for the holidays and pair it with blood orange curd and citrus praline buttercream for weddings. It’s also divine with our raspberry rose buttercream.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• ½ cup blanched almond flour

• 1 ½ tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 3 large eggs

• ¾ cup granulated sugar

• ½ cup + 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (we prefer Greek)

• ½ tsp Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract

• ¼ tsp pure almond extract

• Grated zest of 1 ½ medium lemons

• ½ cup of orange juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch round cake pan with parchment and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt until thoroughly combined and then set aside. Make sure the mixture is free of clumps.

3. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl and whisk them lightly to break up the yolks. Add the sugar to the bowl and whisk thoroughly until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the olive oil and whisk until the mixture is a bit lighter in color and has thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Whisk in the extracts and zest, followed by the orange juice, and whisk to combine.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and whisk until it’s thoroughly combined and you have a smooth, emulsified batter. Do not overmix once you have added the dry ingredients.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cake for 30 to 45 mins, rotating the cake pan halfway through the cooking time to ensure even browning. The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Photos by Cat Carty Busewell

You can download a printer-friendly version OF THis recipe for your kitchen HERE:

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Stimulate Creative Artistry with Our Summer Tutorial Sale

SUMMERSALE: Save 50% on the Entire Course Library until midnight on August 2nd, 2023!

When I think about what I love most about this work, it’s the chance to learn new things and be creative each week. There was a point a few years into starting Sweet Heather Anne where this wasn’t the case. We were successfully booking up each week but the work was no longer inspiring and we were struggling to keep up. That’s when we started to shift the business towards work we wanted to do and we haven’t looked back since.

When I set out to create online tutorials, I wanted to give others the tools to make this shift for themselves. If you’re feeling burnt out on character cakes and overdone pinterest designs, you’re not alone. I’d love for you to connect with one of these courses and fall in love with cake design again.

Use the code SUMMERSALE to save 50% on our entire Online Course Library! Everything below and more is included in the sale.

Pricing and Selling Intricate Work

• The pricing structure we used to more than double our average wedding cake sale from $600 to $1400.

• Our wedding cake inquiry process from start to finish.

• Our system for converting over 85% of our tastings into wedding clients who trust our design perspective and understand the value of our work.

Click here to instantly access this online course.

Cake Building Fundamentals

• Building and stacking cakes that are both flawless and structurally sound.

• Getting the perfect smooth coat.

• Simple buttercream finishes for professional looking cakes.

• Transporting cakes (and our favorite delivery cart!).

• Our To-Go-Kit Packing Guide for stress-free deliveries.

• Our Cake Serving Guide to help you size your cakes with ease.

Click here to instantly access this online course.

Edible Sequin Cake Design

• The design process we use to create original designs that consistently exceed our clients' expectations.

• The sketching process that we use to sketch and propose cakes right in the tasting.

• Art Deco Sequin Scallops.

• Piped Embroidery with Edible Sequins (pictured).

• Our trusted Royal Icing and Gelatin Sequin recipes.

Click here to instantly access this online course.

Painting with Buttercream

• Dying Buttercream and Creating a Color Scheme.

• Editing Cakes for Sharp Edges.

• Abstract Painted Buttercream.

• Buttercream Oil Painting (pictured).

• Our trusted Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe.

• A guide to the gel colors we use to dye any color.

Click here to instantly access this online course.

Don't forget to use the code SUMMERSALE at check-out to receive 50% off any of the courses in our store. Sale ends Wednesday, August 2nd at midnight.

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Nurturing Creative Growth: The Invaluable Lesson of Carving Out Time to Explore and Innovate

Years ago, I was chatting with my friend Susan McLeary, a talented florist and floral educator that constantly inspires me. At the time, we were both becoming veterans in the event industry and feeling out what the next steps would be for our businesses.

She encouraged me to build in time to experiment and try new things that weren’t directly for clients. Taking this creative time for myself and my team would lead to breakthroughs that I could then use for client work.

I took her advice and I realized that it not only helped me to sell more interesting ideas to clients, it also nourishes my creativity and keeps me excited about my work.

It’s so easy to get into a rut of taking more and more orders until you feel creatively drained and uninspired. This is me telling you to take some time for yourself and remember why you became a cake designer in the first place.

Will your ideas fail sometimes? Of course! That’s part of the beauty of taking creative risks on your own terms. You learn from your mistakes and no clients are disappointed in the process.

Making this time can look different for everyone. At Sweet Heather Anne, we have a slow season in the winter where I encourage the entire team to take on projects that are out of their comfort zone. It can also look like volunteering to make a cake for a friend with a surprise design, saying yes to a photo shoot, or simply scheduling a lighter week as a creative break. Whatever it looks like to you, enjoy it, and don’t feel guilty limiting your client work to make time for your own creative growth. It will pay off tenfold in the end.

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READY TO GO FURTHER?

Learn more studio tricks that my team and I use every day in my Online Tutorials. For more tips like this delivered to your inbox, subscribe to The Cake Break, our once-per-month newsletter for cake decorators and artists!

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Our Secret Recipe for Flawless Fondant Cakes with Crisp Edges

Does your fondant get dry and crack before you can get that perfect sharp edge? Our favorite fix for dry, cracking fondant is: adding a little bit of modeling chocolate before rolling it out.

The fondant/modeling chocolate mix stays pliable longer to help achieve an incredibly crisp corner. And you only need about 1 tablespoon of modeling chocolate for every pound of fondant!

Modeling Chocolate Recipe

Adapted from Colette Peters

The workability of modeling chocolate is very similar to clay. Once you knead it for a little while it forms a workable dough that can be used to create anything from figurines to large, sculpted cakes. The advantage of modeling chocolate is the ability to work on your project for long stretches of time without it drying out or forming a seam that you can’t smooth out. You can even leave a project overnight and go back to it the next day.

YIELD: about 5 cups

INGREDIENTS

• 3.125 lb white chocolate

• 0.82 lb light corn syrup

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Melt chocolate in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl. We use the melt function on our microwave which works amazingly to melt it at a steady pace without overheating the chocolate. Stir after one minute and then after every 30 seconds to ensure an even melt. Once you get a sense for how quickly your microwave melts the chocolate you can adjust the timing accordingly. Overheating the chocolate will cause it to seize up so it's better to go slow and steady than to overdo it.

2. Microwave the corn syrup in a microwave safe bowl until it is warm to the touch. Usually about 30 seconds on melt will do the trick. If you touch the chocolate and the corn syrup they should be about the same temperature, which is close to body temperature.

3. Combine the melted chocolate and corn syrup and stir well with a rubber spatula.

4. Turn the mixture out onto plastic wrap and form it into a disk. Wrap the entire disk in plastic wrap.

5. Let rest for an hour.

6. Knead the modeling chocolate mixture until smooth. If it is still a little too warm to fully come together, wrap it for another 30 mins and knead again.

7. You are looking for a smooth consistency that is easy to work with. If your modeling chocolate is lumpy, you may have overheated the chocolate and caused it to separate. Try using your microwave at a lower setting the next time you make it. If your microwave is particularly testy you can also use a double boiler to melt the chocolate.

Magic Fondant Recipe

Fondant/Modeling Chocolate Mix

Does your fondant get dry and crack before you can get that perfect sharp edge? Our favorite fix for dry, cracking, fondant is adding a little bit of modeling chocolate before rolling it out. The fondant/modeling chocolate mix stays pliable longer and helps achieve an incredibly crisp corner.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound fondant (we use Fondx brand)

• 1 tbl modeling chocolate

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Knead your modeling chocolate so warms up into a smooth dough

2. Add the modeling chocolate to the fondant and combine until smooth

3. Roll out your fondant as normal and cover your cake

4. Enjoy a little extra time before your fondant starts to dry out and crack 🙂

   NOTE: The ratio for this is very loose. We usually just cut off small bits of modeling chocolate to add to the fondant as we work.

Want to learn exactly how we cover our cakes? Check out our Covering Cakes with Fondant tutorial!

You can download a printer-friendly-version OF THis recipe for your kitchen HERE:

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6 Kitchen Organization Tips We Love in Our Cake Studio

The treat of an organized kitchen

One of the best parts about building out a new Cake Studio after 12 years in business was the opportunity to organize everything exactly as we wanted it. After about a month of working in the new space, I realized that the organized workspace was having a huge impact on my daily satisfaction at work. It’s honestly a treat to work in this kitchen!

Here’s a list of some of our favorite ways to stay organized:

• Make sure that frequently used items are easily accessible in each station. Instead of having one location for pens, scissors, gloves, etc, store one of each close at hand so you don’t have to disrupt your workflow bringing items back and forth. Utilize hooks and hanging containers to make these items easy to access.

• For other items, think about where in the kitchen you are most likely to use the item when choosing a storage space. For example, all of our ingredients are stored right next to the table that we use for scaling.

• Labeled storage bins are your friends. We store everything from finished sugar flower stems to cookie cutters in inexpensive labeled bins from Ikea. It makes it easy for everyone to find everything and gives the kitchen a sense of order.

• Wall space is great for storage. We have an entire wall of metro shelving right by our work tables. We store a ladder by the shelves for easy access to hard to reach items.

• Set up a spot to display your weekly orders prominently. We use magnetic knife strips from Ikea with strong magnets to hold up the orders. This allows the entire team to visualize the needs of the week.

• Have a white board or something similar to write out the needs of the day. This helps everyone stay on task and be aware of what others are working on. It also feels satisfying to check off your tasks as you go.

Check out this reel to see a virtual tour of our kitchen and our favorite storage solutions in action.

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How to Accommodate Small, Last-Minute Cake Orders - And Preserve Your Sanity!

If you’ve been in this business long, you know that our most common inquiries are small, last minute cakes.

It’s not surprising, as everyone has a birthday every year and annual birthdays are generally not the type of events that people spend months planning.

As cake designers, we often grow to dread these requests. Creating a well thought out custom cake takes time and the back and forth involved in designing and executing a small custom order often outweighs the price that clients are willing to pay.

To help streamline this process, we created an online shop with a variety of designs that we’re excited to make. We just brought on semi-custom options where clients can choose their color scheme, but we do everything on our terms and eliminate that back and forth of creating something entirely custom. We set order cut-offs at a time frame that works for our business and create some design elements in bulk so we’re prepared for orders in advance.

Guidelines we’ve set to ensure success:

• Pick-up dates are limited to Friday and Saturday so that the last minute cakes fit with the workflow of our larger event cakes.

• We limited the flavor options from our full menu so that we have more repeat flavors and building goes faster.

• These cakes are pick-up only so that we have time to execute our deliveries for larger events.

• Our Everyday and Signature designs are the easiest for us to make as there is no customization available. Our order deadline for these designs is Thursday at 9am for Friday or Saturday of the same week.

• The order deadline for 2-tier cakes and cakes with custom colors is Wednesday at 9am for Friday or Saturday of the same week. This allows us a little extra time to prepare for these orders.

• We set pick-up hours that work for our schedule.

• We block off dates when we have hit capacity for the week. Because of the way that our website is set up, we can be specific about this, like blocking off Friday orders for the more elaborate designs and leaving the cakes we are able to execute more quickly.

• For custom cakes, we have a minimum of $600 in our slow season and $1000 in our busy season. This helps to ensure that we are compensated for the amount of time and effort that it takes to create custom orders and we are able to meet our weekly financial goals without overnight cake sessions or sacrificing the quality of our work.

This model works amazing for our team of 5, but there may be a model that suits you better. The important part is making sure that the schedule works for you and you’re selling cakes that you’re happy to make.

Here are some examples of how other cake designers we love have approach their predesigned offerings:

• Sweet Lionheart

• Butter&

• Botanical Bakeshop

• Venla’s Detroit

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Ready to learn more?

For more details about how we make a profit selling the work that inspires us, check out our Pricing and Selling Intricate Work online course!

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Modern Cake Flowers with Passionflower Sue

This month’s tip is simple but it’s one of my favorites. If you have a slower season like we do, take some time to experiment and play. 

I recently had the opportunity to spend a day in the studio with Susan McLeary, a florist known for her innovative wearable pieces. Can you believe how amazing these are? She also did the floral wearables for my wedding (pictured above).

Wearable floral designs by Susan McLeary

We’re collaborating on an online course about cake flowers and we started by taking a day to experiment. I came away thinking about the possibilities of floral design on cake in an entirely new way.

Here’s a sneak peek of some of the designs we worked on. The yellow floral piece is actually a free standing arrangement that can be made ahead and manipulated into countless designs.

Flowered Cakes by Sweet Heather Anne + Passionflower Sue

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2023 Workshops at our Ann Arbor Cake Studio!

I am so excited to welcome you to our Ann Arbor Cake Studio in 2023! There are currently 🎉 THREE WORKSHOPS 🎉 open for reservation:

1. January 25th, 2023: Painting with Buttercream Workshop

2. February 1st, 2023: Painting with Buttercream Workshop

3. March 22nd and 23rd, 2023: Two-Day Sugar Flower Intensive

Limited seats are available for each (reserve yours here!). Small class sizes makes these events wonderful for a variety of skill levels.

This will be a great space to connect with other cake designers in a supportive and creative setting. Even if buttercream painting and sugar flowers are already part of your repertoire, we’d love to help you hone your skills!

Do you have a cake friend that you’ve been dying to spend time with? Save 20% off 2 or more tickets by entering the code CAKEFRIENDS at checkout. The discount works if you’d like to purchase 2 different workshops for yourself, too.

Have questions? We’d love to personally answer - just send us an email at info@sweetheatheranne.com

Painting with Buttercream www.sweetheatheranne.com

Sugar Flowered Cake www.sweetheatheranne.com

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Interested in a customized in-studio experience?

We also have limited availability for 1:1 Private Workshops in 2023. For more tips like this delivered to your inbox, subscribe to The Cake Break, our once-per-month newsletter for cake decorators and artists.

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ADVANCED CAKE DECORATING SKILLS - In person workshops in Ann Arbor, MI.
www.sweetheatheranne.com

Go-To Tools for Perfectly Smooth Buttercream Cakes

This month I’m sharing our go-to tools for perfectly smooth buttercream cakes.

Learning to ice a flawlessly smooth cake is a labor of love, but it helps if you have the right tools to set you up for success. If you’re interested in a video lesson of how we use these tools to create perfectly smooth buttercream cakes with crisp edges, check out our Cake Building Fundamentals course!

First up, scrapers! We like to use a variety of scrapers, depending on the size of the cake. These NY Cake scrapers are great for creating sharp, even, sides and the Dritz EZY-Hem works wonders on pesky air bubbles in the final scrape. We use these scrapers in our cake studio:

• 6" x 4" Scraper

• 8" Scraper

• Dritz EZY-Hem Scraper

• Use the code SWEET15 at checkout to receive 15% off your entire order at NY Cake!

The next invaluable tool for a perfect smooth coat is a turntable that rotates effortlessly. This one is our favorite for achieving a silky smooth finish: 12" Turntable

These essential tools will set you up for silky smooth buttercream cakes! Have questions? Leave them in the comments below!

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