Photographing Cakes

One of the things I notice repeatedly lets small cake businesses down is the way they take photos of cakes. It's no good making the most amazing looking cake and then ruining it by taking a photo of it in the dark or with loads of mess behind it.

In some ways, the taking of the photo is just as important as the cake itself. So, here are my top tips for taking photos of cakes.

First, make sure you take a photo of your cakes on a plain surface or back drop. DON'T take a photo of your cakes with all your dirty baking equipment in the background, it's not attractive and detracts from the cakes. All you want the customer to see is your beautiful creation. So often I see photos of cakes on the kitchen work top with stuff in the background. It's so simple to just clear a space and put a white sheet or piece of pretty wrapping paper/wall paper in the background.

Number 2: Wherever possible, take photos in natural light and when it is bright as possible. Make sure there are no shadows (see below) or streams of light affecting the photo. The best time to take th photo is when the sun is shining. If you take a photo in the evening when the sun has gone in, get a bright light - I have a light box which works really well as it imitates natural light (not only is it great for photos but it's great for winter days when I'm feeling a bit sluggish and have long hours to work.)

My next tip is something that I don't always do, so use your best judgement. Try to take photos of the cakes when they're not in the box. When you've got 24 cupcakes in a box it's just easier to take a photo of them all in the box, but try picking out some of the main designs and take a photo of them on their own. But when it comes to celebration cakes, DO NOT take a photo of them in the cake box. It looks messy and you can't see the whole cake. Even if you're short of time, you can still take 2 minutes to take it out of the box and take a photo. 

If you do take a photo of your cupcakes in a box (as above), be sure to crop out as much of the box as you can and focus on the cupcakes themselves.

Using the above tips you will be able to take great photos of your cakes and really make the most of your creations. 

                                      
   



Happy caking and photo taking!


Lucy

Vote for Heaven is a Cupcake!

I am very proud to announce that for the 4th year running, Heaven is a Cupcake, has been nominated for a St Albans Food and Drink Award in the 'Local Gem' category. But not only that, HIAC has also been nominated for Best Local Producer. I'm thrilled to be part of these local awards again and always have a great time participating in the Festival. Stay tuned for special deals and events during the Festival, but until then, please vote for Heaven is a Cupcake!



Have a great Bank Holiday weekend!



Lucy

Heaven is a Cupcake, St Albans

Help the Hospices Cupcake

In August 2013, good friends of Heaven is a Cupcake's are cycling 100 miles around London for the Prudential Ride London and are raising money for the amazing cause, Help the Hospices. Help the Hospices support hospices all around the country who provide end of life and palliative care to those in need. Not only do they provide support for the patients themselves but they are a life line to the families affected by terminal illnesses.

With this in mind, Heaven is a Cupcake is proud to introduce the Help the Hospices High Tea Cupcake; a vanilla sponge with a Tiptree Champagne and Strawberry Jam filling and a decadent champagne buttercream. Cupcakes are £2.00 each and £1.50 per cupcake will be going to Help the Hospices. You can buy the cupcakes at all of our events or you can order a box online by emailing us on mail@heavenisacupcake.net .



If you would like to find out more about the cause or donate please visit: http://www.justgiving.com/joeeley

New York, New York: Part One - Carlo's Bakery

In September I took a trip to New York to try out some of the cupcake bakeries and source new ideas/flavours. Here's a quick round up of where I went and what I tasted!

 The first place we visited was Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey which is about a 20 minute bus journey from Times Square, NYC. As a big fan of Cake Boss, Carlo's Bakery was first on my list and we were very lucky as we only had to wait 45 minutes. This may seem a long time but I had read horror stories of people having to queue for 3hrs before they even got in to the bakery! We went on a rainy Friday morning at about 11am (by the time we arrived) so got straight into the bakery with no long queues outside.        

    

 The counters were full of delicious, brightly coloured cakes and cookies, from cupcakes to biscotti and layer cakes with fresh fruit on them. As much as I wanted to buy something of everything, I thought I had better restrain myself so just went with the classics - a Red Velvet Cupcake, some amaretti biscuits, a cannoli and lobster tail.


 

The cupcake was moist and had a yummy cream cheese frosting. The lobster tail was delicious but the cannoli was a bit rich for me and wasn't keen on the deep fried shell! I did find, whilst across the pond, that the cupcakes in America (as I found whilst in Florida) are much heavier than mine and the cake is a denser consistency which kind of stick when you tear them apart unlike mine which are light and a bit crumblier. I'm not sure if it's to do with the flour or just the different recipes. They are definitely sweeter! And of course, we had to take a photo outside the front with our purchases!

   

 Next post : Magnolia Bakery and Crumbs Bake Shop!

Local Gem!

Apologies for the radio silence over the last couple of months. The problem with running your own business is that you don't have a lot of spare time and in my spare time I tend to spend it sleeping or catching up on admin so it doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging. But, I will try to be better!

Great news, I have been nominated for the Local Gem award in the St Albans Food and Drink Awards for the 3rd year and a row! But I need your help to win.

Please take a few minutes to vote for Heaven is a Cupcake for Local Gem. And if you're not sure why, then just check out my Facebook page to see some of my latest creations!

Valentine's Cupcakes

Well, it's not long been Christmas and already, it's time to think about Valentine's Day...

We have added our new Valentines Day cupcake designs which are available to order now. There will also be a range of Valentines Day cupcakes and gifts at our market in St Albans Town Hall on 11th February 2012 - our first market of the year! If you're looking for something a bit different from the cupcakes below then just drop me an email to discuss and I'll be happy to create something unique for you.

Love is....

Classic: £2.75 each, Divine: £3.00 each (minimum 6 per flavour)

Classic Gift Box of 4: £14.00, Divine Gift Box of 4: £15.00

Red Hot!

Classic: £2.25 each, Divine: £2.50 each

Classic Gift Box of 4: £12.00, Divine Gift Box of 4: £14.00

Love Hearts

 

Classic: £2.10 each, Divine: £2.30 each

Classic Gift Box of 4: £11.50, Divine Gift Box of 4: £12.50

Cupcake Bouquets

Cupcake bouquets start from £25.00

There are also a wide range of other products available to order for Valentines Day - cakes, cake pops, push cups, iced biscuits and giant cupcakes.

Christmas Blog No.1

I love Christmas! I think when you're a baker, you can't not love Christmas. It gives you so many opportunities to make delicious treats as well as amazing designs and is one of the most inspiring holidays you can get. Whether you celebrate or not; you can't deny that Christmas is good for the baking soul!

So with Christmas just around the corner I thought it would be a good idea to post some of my latest cupcake and cake creations. I'm sure more will follow!

Novelty Christmas Cupcakes

Winter Wonderland Cupcakes

Red Velvet Christmas Cupcakes

12 Days of Cupcake Christmas - at the St Albans Arts & Crafts Market

Me with All my lovely Christmas treats!

Happy Christmas Cupcaking!

Top Tips: Cupcake Innovation

With more and more cupcake & cake companies emerging every day it is important to make sure you keep innovating and don't find yourself seeking more than inspiration from other cakers. One of the things I pride myself in, and which I hope comes across from not just my blogging but my social networking and products themselves, is my cupcake innovation. By this, I mean that I am always seeking to put out products and flavours that are unique and have my own 'Heaven is a Cupcake' stamp on them. There is nothing wrong with seeking inspiration from others and in fact I encourage other bakers to network and chat with eachother - I have met many great cakers through my blog, twitter and facebook but it is important not to copy them exactly as this can harm your business and well, nobody wants to be the same as everyone else!

For example, my 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' cupcakes have quickly become my signature cupcake and are very popular amongst by facebook followers & customers. I am, of course, not the only person to do rainbow cake but I've not seen many cake companies themselves doing the same kind of cupcakes and the rainbow icing.

It's good to do the 'classic' flavours, as I call them, such as Vanilla, Chocolate, Lemon etc. but it's also good to develop your own recipes and flavours. My Apple Strudel cupcake was inspired my Oma who hailed from a tiny village in Southern Austria where home baking was an important part of everyday life. She passed away in March but I am pleased that her heritage and memory lives on through me and that she was able to taste (and put her stamp of approval!) on my apple strudel cupcakes.

Another of my original recipes which I developed through my love of milkshakes are the Cupshake range - so far banana, strawberry and chocolate milkshake flavours. My strawberry cupshake recently won the 'Strawberry Tea Recipe Competition' on http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/

As well as keep my recipes original, I like to make sure that I am always producing new designs and bespoke cupcakes - unique and delicious, that's my motto! A year a go I started making floral cupcakes and had seen some beautiful cupcake bouquets in pots but I wanted to do something a bit different, so took my inspiration from flower bouquets themselves. This led to my popular cupcake bouquet baskets...                 

 

I have since seen other companies doing these so it must mean that they are good ;) But I am pleased to say that I hadn't seen anyone doing them before hand.

New products

As well as continually produce unique flavours and designs for my cupcake, I am constantly expanding and improving my product range. You can NEVER stop improving and learning  new techniques, anyone that says otherwise is either very naive or lying!

Another of my products influenced by my Austrian heritage are these mini Gugelhupfs...

And I have LOTS of other ideas so stay tuned and finally, don't be one of those cupcake companies who is the same as everyone else - keep innovating and keep being you.