Blog
- INSPIRATION
It's a joy to be part of students' journey and witnessing cake skills evolve. Here are 10 amazing cake transformations from our DTC students.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Sarah currently works as a Firefighter and is a hobbyist baker. For as long as she can remember she's baked. It's her creative outlet, allowing her to express herself. Her dad has always baked so her interest in baking stems from there… plus she likes the taste of cake batter!
- TIPS
Working with buttercream has a lot of pros. It's easy to use and delicious. But it has cons as well. Here are 3 major buttercream cons and how to combat them.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Determined to make her own kids’ Birthday cakes, Ebony fell in love with making celebration cakes. After encouragement from those around her, she opened her small baking business in early 2017.
- TIPS
Does colouring your buttercream or cake batter stress you out? Here are a few of my best food colouring tips directly from my colouring box!
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Inès has always had a passion for food. When she started to live on her own, she began cooking and baking and was always complimented on the taste of her food so she continued to experiment with baking at home.
- TIPS
We're made to believe yellow butter is best but when it comes to buttercream to aim for a pure white colour. Why? Let's take a closer look.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
My love for all things sweet continued with my own family. I have made every birthday cake any of my children have ever had and I always ensured that the children's lunch boxes were filled with yummy fresh cakes and biscuits. Baking is just my thing....I love it.
- INSPIRATION
Watch Don't Tell Charles's founder Thao Armstrong in the DENFAIR Melbourne 2022 panel, The Side Hustling Creatives.
- TIPS
No one wants to hear the words "cake disaster". But disasters happen, and we learn from our mistakes. Here are 3 of my worst disaster stories.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Jessica has always enjoyed baking, but for her, finds selling cakes strips the fun and enjoyment she gets from baking. So she sticks to her marketing day job and remains a hobby Baker!
- INSPIRATION
Are you looking for new ways to elevate your modern cake designs? When in doubt add a touch of gold.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Noorhaniya has loved baking for as long as she can remember. She loved the satisfying feeling of seeing how happy desserts make people feel and was obsessed with baking videos on Instagram!
- INSPIRATION
DTC cakes often look to architecture for inspiration. Here are 4 ways to use elements of architecture to inspire your modern cake designs.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Morgan works as a bakery shop assistant where she also helps out the pastry chefs. Participating in a DTC workshop gave me the confidence to take my cakes to the next level with precise skills and knowledge.
- INSPIRATION
Here are 3 new and unique ways to incorporate rock and stone textures into your contemporary buttercream cake designs!
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Justine grew up wanting to be a Home Economist, basically a food stylist, so she went to Cordon Bleu Cookery School. Although she never ended up becoming one and after years working as a chef she went to work for her father who works in Advertising, running a music production company in London.
- TIPS
If you're new to the business of cake making, you're bound to make mistakes. Mistakes are good but time consuming. Here are 5 rookie mistakes to avoid.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Jen currently works as a product marketer for Facebook, so her baking is currently as a hobbyist baker/blogger. She loves to bake cakes that delight her friends and family and engage all five senses.
- TIPS
Delivering cakes is a pretty straightforward process but it can also be one of the most stressful parts of fulfilling orders. Read on for 5 great tips for a smooth cake delivery process.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Cake design has been a side hustle and a happy place for Afra. Having experimented with working full-time and running Oh That Be Good full-time, she's discovered that the sweet spot to help her thrive lies in servicing both of her passions!
- INSPIRATION
Do you want to decorate with isomalt? It’s a lot of fun and not as intimidating as it looks! Read on to discover 5 ways to use isomalt in cake decorating.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
A self-proclaimed "mixed bag," Kat's the one-woman show behind her small cake business! In her day job, she works as a primary school teacher, specialising in physical education and is also a coach at her local Cross Fit gym.
- TIPS
Have you ever gotten questions or comments from customers that just drive you crazy? We all have, right? Here's how to address the most common "uninformed client" pain points.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Thao currently works in Data Enterprise & Analytics with cake design currently being a side hustle in her life. She decided to start making her cakes when she had a baby!
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Alanna has loved to bake since she was in her early twenties, but was more focused on pastries and home-style cakes because she wasn't great at decorating!
- INSPIRATION
Traditional Christmas cakes with stars, snowflakes, and holly are beautiful. But here in Australia, Christmas occurs at the height of summer. Here are 10 Christmas cake design ideas ranging everywhere from traditional to unconventional.
- TIPS
Throughout the years, I've noticed a similar pattern with a lot of my students and many other people who start baking as a hobby. They’d bring their baked goods somewhere, someone would ask if they sold it and off the cusp they'd respond ‘okay, sure’. Or, as a way of showing appreciation for the free baked goods, friends and family would often urge ‘you should start selling these’. This is how the ‘business seed’ gets planted for a lot of hobby bakers.
- INSPIRATION
There is nothing more classic than adding florals to your cake design. Anything from delicate sugar flowers to full, fresh blooms, flowers are one of the most traditional accessories for cakes. Their natural beauty is undeniably eye-catching and almost certain to create a cake that guests will always remember.
- TIPS
Are you a bit of an eye-baller? As in, you kinda guess your way through the whole caking process? You never know how much of things i.e cake batter, buttercream etc. to make, so you just take a stab and hope for the best. If there’s not enough, you’ll make more. If there’s too much, that’s alright, the workmates / husband / neighbours will eat it. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Hi, I’m Vera. I'm the owner and cake designer of Zoete Kruimels, a Bakery & Cake Studio in the East of the Netherlands. I've always wanted to own a storefront and in 2020 that dream became a reality.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Hi, I’m Samantha and I run a part time cake business from my home. Having a cake business allows me the flexibility to fit in around school hours, extracurricular activities and medical appointments for my son.
- STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Hi I’m Jeannine and designing cakes is my creative outlet. Designing cakes helps with my mental wellness as the challenges from my day job can be at times overwhelming. It's allowed me to unleash my inner creative beast that's been locked up for over 20 years (since I completed school).
- TIPS
Over the years, I've tested many tactics and strategies in attempts to tackle this issue and these are what I found to have been helpful. I hope they help you too.
- INSPIRATION, TIPS
I wouldn't describe myself as a rule breaker as such but if you ask my family, that's the first thing they'll tell you about me besides stubbornness.
- INSPIRATION
I started hobby baking from home in 2012 while working in an office as an Owners Corporation Manager. Wow, that was over 9 years ago! After a year of doing that and totally loving it, I took the plunge and opened Don't Tell Charles Coffee & Desserts - a specialty coffee and dessert house. Mind you, when we opened I only knew how to make macarons and cupcakes.