Your Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wedding - June/July 2020 (Issue 83)

CAKES 77 ★ Here’s your chance to meet some amazing local bakers and cake designers  BAKERS BILLIE LYNCH AT BILLIE’S BEAUTIFUL BAKES Where did your journey in to baking begin? I started baking when I was little with my grandad, we used to bake something different every weekend and my love for it stayed. After I had my second child I decide to make my passion and dream to have a cake business a reality. Now five years on I still love baking and can’t wait to see what the future holds. What you love most about your job? I have to say it’s meeting with the bride and groom, going through their designs and making sure it’s everything they want. Then it’s seeing the cake finally come to life on their big day, stepping back and taking that last look before they see it. Favourite cake design: It has to be my three-tier all buttercream Cinderella wedding cake with handmade butterflies. Top tip: Make sure you meet with your cake maker and try the cakes before you decide they are the one for you. Oh and an extra little tip, is to get wedding insurance. I always mention this to my brides and grooms, it’s a little fee to secure you for your amazing day. SARAH AT AVANT GARDE CAKE Where did your journey in to baking begin? I started making cakes for friends during the weekends, just as a way to bring everyone together and share a little bit of happiness. I realised I loved the sharing aspect of cakes, but also the fact that they’re not food for fuel – they are food for love. I started thinking about opening a little cake shop, and stumbled upon an American cake shop on my way to university one day – they had lots of decorated dummy cakes in their window and it was the perfect mix for me – decorating for creativity, and cake for community. What you love most about your job? Putting all the elements together on a cake and seeing it come to life is my favourite part. I work in a very free-flow way – I have an idea in my head of what I want to create but I don’t sketch my cakes beforehand because I feel that cakes made this way lack movement and organicity – so I never really know what it will look like until the very end. It’s very exciting. Favourite cake design: This is like asking if I have a favourite child! I’ll say this was my favourite cake table in general – I’m a huge fan of pink, I love painting cakes, and I love arranging full displays. This cake and dessert table was a real feast and I just love it to bits. Top tip: Apart from staying true to what you love, a very practical tip: order or ask your cake and food suppliers to provide you with boxes for after the wedding. It’s very likely you’ll have leftovers – savoury or sweet – and you don’t want things to go to waste. Go-to comfort-eating dessert? This is a really hard one too! I generally go for half-baked chocolate cakes – they’re a proper thing in France. The gooey-er the better! Contact Sarah: www.avantgardecakestudio.co.uk | sarah@avantgardecakestudio.co.uk STAR www.rocksaltphotography.com Go-to comfort-eating dessert? It has to be cake with hot custard, you can’t beat a classic.  Contact Billie: www.billiesbeautifulbakes.com | billie@beautiful-bakes.co.uk