Your West Midlands Wedding- June/July 2020 (Issue 68)

84 CAROLINE BAILEY AT HUNKINGTON HOUSE KITCHEN Where did your journey in to baking begin? Like many people my age, I spent a great deal of time baking with my mum and nan, so I have them to thank for my love of home-baked cakes. In 2013 my husband bought me a KitchenAid for Christmas and that really kick-started my daily baking. I then plucked up the courage to enter the Great Shropshire Bake Off organised by Marcus Bean and after coming third and winning lots of amazing baking prizes I just kept baking and experimenting. In 2016 I was lucky enough to get through to the final 70 applicants for the Great British Bake Off and even though I didn’t get selected for the show it gave me the confidence and drive to pursue my dream career in baking. What do you love most about your job? For me it’s getting to know my couples and listening to what cake and flavours would make their day extra special; each and every one has their own memorable day to create so having the privilege to be chosen as their wedding cake designer is utterly amazing. So, my favourite part is the planning and then it’s the set up at their wedding, seeing the cake surrounded by everything else they have chosen is truly heart-warming. Favourite cake design: My favourite cake design so far is a cake that I showcased at a recent styled shoot at The Atrium in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. I talked to the wedding dress designer about the ‘feel’ for the shoot and she kindly sent me a sample of the wedding dress material she was using along with a picture of what she was creating. My cake design was four tiers, all ivory and adorned with individual sugar paste dots, all to complement part of the wedding dress design with different sizes for each tier. One tier included a twisted sugar paste design, a challenge to ensure I got the swirl right without it breaking. It was so exciting to be given a free reign and I just hope the design inspires people to see anything is possible with their cake. HAYLEY CAUSIER AT THE BAKE POD Where did your journey in to baking begin? I launched The Bake Pod in 2016 after a successful career in the banking industry. Myself and my partner were travelling lots at that time with our jobs and I wanted something that allowed me to be more flexible with my son who was five at the time. I’ve always been creative and so it seemed like the perfect match. What do you love most about your job? Definitely meeting and chatting to my couples and receiving photographs back of their special day. I’ve always said that it’s a privilege to be involved in someone’s wedding day and I never take it for granted. Top tip: I have two tips. Firstly, book your favourite wedding suppliers as early as possible to avoid disappointment. Good suppliers get booked up months and sometimes years in advance and so check in early with them. You don’t have to know the details at that point but at least they’re secured for your wedding. My second tip would be to avoid perfection. I know it sounds silly saying that when thinking about planning your wedding but life isn’t perfect so just enjoy the planning process and of course the day itself and things will be a lot less stressful! Top tip: Even though we are finding ourselves in strange times, next year is going to be immensely busy for so many wedding professional so I would look at what exciting things there is still to plan for your wedding and get in touch with the people who interest you. I know from my own side of work that wedding cakes take days to create and to do it right there’s only so many bookings I can take so don’t leave it too late to look for the people who will truly make your day that extra bit special. Go-to comfort-eating dessert? It’s got to be white chocolate and fresh raspberry cheesecake. I was actually asked to make this as the wedding cake for a couple last July, the bride didn’t like cake and this dessert reminded them of their amazing time at The Cheesecake Factory in San Francisco. I’m lucky enough to grow raspberries in my garden and with finding excuses to keep practising the recipe I can honestly say I fell in love. If you have not tried it, you have to! Contact Caroline: hunkingtonhousekitchen@gmail.com | www.hunkingtonhousekitchen.co.uk Favourite cake design: I honestly can’t pick one cake as there have been so many beautiful designs and they all mean something different to me. However, my style is modern, contemporary and elegant. As Coco Chanel said ‘simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication’ and I couldn’t agree more. Go-to comfort-eating dessert? My favourite cake flavour is the ginger and rhubarb from my menu but my ultimate dessert would have to be homemade rice pudding. I love the skin on top! Contact Hayley: hello@thebakepod.co.uk | www.thebakepod.co.uk www.stott weddings.com https://beth anystanley.com