Good To Know Archives - Quality Cake Company

How to design your perfect celebration cake

3rd September 2019/in Good To Know, How To's /by Lisa Malin

We love working with our customers to create their perfect celebration or birthday cake.

Sometimes picking a design is easy, however, sometimes choosing the perfect design can be a little overwhelming, as your recipient likes so many things. How do you choose?

Narrowing down the options

We understand why people want everything, it is a milestone birthday and they want to celebrate that person’s life achievements.

Also, we understand that most people don’t buy a handmade cake every year – they are for big milestones and special occasions – and everyone wants their money’s worth!

However, you’re not ordering a photo album, a mood board or setting up an online dating profile, we’re making you a cake. We have limited space to play with and we want it to be a beautiful showpiece to wow your guests and the birthday boy/girl.

Try and think about what their one main passion is so we can create a theme around that.

Less is more

In our experience, cakes with lots of different mismatching things look odd. We cannot create a beautiful cake when we need to put a donkey, next to a fishing rod beside a pasty. They don’t go together in real life, and they look peculiar next to each other on a cake. It ends up looking plonked and can look like not much thought has gone into the cake.

Take a look through our galleries and you will notice that the most spectacular cakes champion one theme.

Celebrate his love of football or her love of good chardonnay. Honour her dog or his love of music and let us design a single themed cake with a real wow factor…. and remember less is more!

Single idea cakes to keep things simple and add the wow-factor

Ask the designers

You can contact us and our cake designers to discuss your cake and we can help you decide on the best route to take. We’re here to help you create that photo-worthy cake and lasting memories of that special occasion.

Photo by Suganth on Unsplash

Contact us to discuss your cake design

Balloons bought online vs. Quality Cake Company Balloons

24th June 2019/in Good To Know /by Lisa Malin

Here at Quality Cake Company, we stock a huge range of balloons from trusted suppliers including Oaktree, Unique, Qualatex and Anagram. We sell and use these brands as they provide us with not only great modern designs but high-quality balloons.

We always aim to provide the highest standards and go above and beyond for our customers. In this blog, we wanted to highlight the difference between balloons bought from our shop and balloons customers have bought online.

As part of our service offering, we occasionally inflate balloons customers have bought elsewhere*. But, we have to warn customers that these balloons may not be as high a quality as the ones we supply. So, when we inflate them, we cannot refund them if they are faulty or pop (which does happen on occasion).

Branded Latex balloons vs Own label Latex balloons

The most common request we get is for bunches of latex balloons to be inflated…below is an example of a like-for-like comparison of a bunch of 3 latex balloons for a table centrepiece.

On the left is a beautiful spray of 3 Qualatex pearl 11” latex balloons.
> Total price = £7 including, strings weight, ribbon and helium.

On the right is a spray of 3 that a customer bought in from online.
> Total price = £3.90 (excluding the cost of the balloons, as we don’t know how much the customer paid)

You can see that the ones on the right are a lot smaller (about 7”-9”). This means that a) you don’t get as much impact from your display and b) they might not last long (float time is reduced).

We estimate approx 8-10 hours from our Qualatex latex balloons (but we have known them to last longer than that!).

Quality Balloons

You may think that you are saving money by buying un-inflated ‘cheap’ balloons on the internet. But, by the time you’ve driven somewhere to get them inflated, paid for ribbons, weights and helium (which is increasing daily in price because of short supplies). It’s easier to pop into our shop and use our tried and tested products. You know what they say….buy cheap buy twice 🙂

Our balloon prices include helium, strings (lots of them) and a plastic weight. Our large number foil balloons include a fancy weight too!

We pride ourselves on providing great quality products with friendly, helpful service.

You can find out more about Balloons in our helpful FAQ guide.

If you have any questions about our products, please contact us.

*subject to availability and at store manager’s discretion.

Choosing the right cake board and cake box

25th May 2018/in Good To Know /by Lisa Malin

We have a huge range of professional quality cake boards and cake boxes that are the added finishing touch to your cake. They also help ensure that cakes don’t get damaged during storage/transportation.

It is important to use the right size cake board and boxes. We have the largest range of cake boards and boxes in Tamworth – in sizes from 3 to 20 inches We have coloured boards in both square and round – but what board do you need for your type of cake?

Fruit Cakes & Wedding Cakes

If you’re making a heavy cake, such as fruit cakes, Madeira, Dundee, Wedding & Christening cakes, Christmas and Simnel cakes it is best to use a ‘12mm drum’ board. These boards are thick and give you rigidity for transporting the cake.

Choose a board which  at least two inches bigger than the cake tin it was baked in. This allows for the thickness of marzipan, icing and also for any decoration around the edge of the board. If you are going to put decoration or lettering on the board you might be better with a larger size cake board.

Croquembouche and Profiterole Stacks  

With a large Croquembouche display, a thicker board like a drum would be better, again allow the two inches or so either side for the display and any caramel threading, so something like a 12 inch one upwards depending on the quantity of the choux pastry involved and the height desired.

Sponge Cakes, Battenberg, Carrot Cake, Chocolate Cakes, Upside-Down Cakes and Pound Cake

As these are much lighter, it is best to use a thinner board  such as a “3mm hardboard” which does not overwhelm the cake. Once again choose a board that is at least 2 inches bigger all round than the cake to allow room for icing and decoration.

Cheesecakes, Tarte Tatin, Tiramisu, Gateaux, Ice-Cream Cakes, Cream-Pie Cakes, Banoffee, Genoise and Pavlova 

For desserts that are lighter, or for just a base, our a 3mm hardboard will be the best, again use the two to three inches for presentation and to limit any melt falling off the cake as it is served up.

Shaped Cakes

Heart and rectangle shaped boards are available for special shaped or novelty cakes. We have a small range in stock and we can order these in specially.

Double stacked boards

You could always make a feature of your boards by stacking two contrasting colours, one slightly larger than the other.

They can also be used to create a tier in the cake. Stick them together with double-sided tape and wrap around a matching ribbon and it can become a focus on the cake.

Cake Boxes

For the perfect fit, choose the same size box as the cake board you are using. If the cake is shaped, i.e. heart, then measure the widest part of the board and use this size. Small pieces of polystyrene can be used to prevent the cake from moving within the box on the shorter sides.

Cupcake boxes

We love cupcakes! But if you need to transport them or give them as a gift, you’ll want to make sure they’re secured and protected. We have a range of singles, doubles, 6’s, 16’s and 25’s.

They can also be used as favours for wedding guests, and our range of clear cupcake boxes are perfect for this.

What happens on a Wedding Cake consultation?

29th April 2018/in Good To Know, Weddings /by Lisa Malin

You may have noticed that we host regular wedding cake tastings and consultations. What happens at a consultation? Why do you need one? We try and help answer some of these questions here.

Why do I need a wedding cake consultation?

For most people, the wedding cake is the centrepiece of their wedding reception. Everyone loves the joy of cutting into the cake (it’s extra fun if you have a rainbow cake inside!)

Check out our blog on the tradition of wedding cakes.

It’s important to taste and check that the cake you buy has the flavours and texture that you and your guests will enjoy. Plus, you get the chance to try new flavours that you might not have thought of.

What happens on a cake consultation?

You arrive at our bakery and we will show you to our consultation room where we have some samples of our cakes on display and an inspiration wall.

First, we talk through some basic details to get to understand you and your wedding, including:

The date
The venue
The number of guests
Your theme and colours

We then discuss what you would like your cake or cupcakes to look like. If you have any inspiration from Pinterest or our wedding cake gallery, bring those with you. Remember we don’t like to copy cakes as we give them our own unique touch and character.

We spend some time with you designing the cake including the size, number and shape of the tiers. Plus, the colours and the details of the cake including quilting, flowers, superheroes and more!

The tasting (the best bit!)

Then comes the fun part, we bring you a selection of our favourite and most popular flavours to taste! If there’s a particular flavour you want to try, let us know in advance and we can prepare a sample for you.

There’s no pressure from us to book your cake there and then, but we do have limited availability, so to secure your date, all we ask is for a £100 deposit (or the full amount) and then the balance will be due a month before your wedding.

And that’s it – simple!

If you’re getting married soon and want to book on our latest session, check out our page on Eventbrite for more details.

If you want to book a private consultation, we charge £10, but this is taken off the cost of your cake when you book – contact us today to arrange.

How to cut your Christmas fruit cake

2nd December 2017/in Good To Know, How To's /by Lisa Malin

So, you’ve picked up your Christmas cake from Quality Cake Company…now you want to cut into it and enjoy it piece by piece.

Well, it’s not as simple as it looks, so we’ve put together some tips for cutting your Christmas fruitcakes.

What you’ll need

a serrated knife
a flat cutting board
a damp cloth

Using a thin bread knife and not a blunt flat edge knife is better for cake cutting. A blunt knife will cause your fruitcake to crumble.

Tips:

Use a sawing action with the serrated blade
Avoid pushing the knife down
Cut all the way to the baseboard
Wipe the knife with a clean, damp cloth in between cuts
Break off any decorations holding the cake to the board
Then, slide the knife under the slice
The slice should now lift away easily

Now sit down with a cuppa tea and Christmas music on and enjoy 🙂

Christmas bauble cake

It’s not too late to order your cake – contact us today, or check out our Christmas cake designs.

Making your own Christmas cake? Pop in store to see our great range of Christmas cake decorations.

History of the wedding cake

30th May 2017/in Good To Know /by Angela Malin

Everyone has a wedding cake right? Go to any wedding fayre and it is venue, flowers, dress and cake.

But why do we have cake? The tradition dates back thousands of years to the age of the Romans when a wheat and barley cake was broken over the brides head as a symbol of good luck. Roman traditions still play a big part in our lives in Britain today, even the word matrimony is derived from the Roman word matrimonium.

Pepper and Nut Roman Cake - Acient World Live

Pepper and Nut Roman Cake – Ancient World Live

The earliest dated “wedding cake” is far removed from what we know today, it consisted of a large elaborately decorated savoury pie containing oysters, sweetbreads, pine kernels, lambs testicles and many spices….mmmm yum? Sugar was not readily available until the 1500’s so savoury food was the only real option and these fillings were considered a delicacy at the time (thank goodness those days have gone?)

This pie continude to be the tradition in northern England until as late as the 19th century although the fillings changed in favour of chicken, minced meats, nuts and spice. It was considered very bad manners to not have a slice of the wedding pie, also a ring was baked inside and the lucky lady who found it was said to be the next bride.

Over time it became more traditional to have sweet cake rather than pie, but even this took time to develop into what we are used to seeing today. Ovens were not common place at home and it was considered unlucky for the bride to bake her own cake, so folk would opt for the more frugal option of sweet pastry made in a skillet on the range, this was then stacked with dried fruits.

Some 400 years ago it became traditional to have two cakes, one for the bride a lighter cake with pale covering and one darker fruit laden one for the groom. The groom’s cake is the one which was cut up and given to the guests in little boxes as a good luck wedding momento. This tradition disappeard for years but Grooms cakes are back in fashion but are usually a novelty cake in the form of cars, dogs or golf clubs.

Alright so when did we get sweet iced wedding cakes? We’re getting there, the next fashionable thing was a traditional cake, but covered in a mixture of sugar and egg white and baked to make this mixture firm. This wonderful meringue type concoction was named ‘bliss’ – which is exactly what I think of when eating a big slice of cake today.

The Royal Wedding Cake

Finally in the 1700s the fashion was a fruit cake covered in almond paste and sugar whipped with egg whites to create icing, the traditional wedding cake as we know it had arrived. The tradition for having a wedding cake in white came about as it showed signs of status and wealth. Refined sugar was available but very expensive so having a towering cake in pure white icing was a grand centerpiece indeed. When Queen Victoria had her grand wedding cake covered in pure white icing the term ‘Royal Icing’ was coined.

Wedding cakes carried on in this manner with the addition of beautiful piping and pillars to create tiers until the later part of the 20th century when the recent discovery of sugar paste or fondant icing became fashionable due to it’s adaptability and ability to colour easily. So now it seems less about how white you can have your cake and more about the overall WOW factor.

It is safe to say that wedding cakes have been a key part of the wedding ceremony for thousands of years, they show signs of fertility and are considered lucky and always make for a grand centerpiece.

Here at Quality cake company we take great pleasure in creating wedding cakes, it is amazing to know we helped create a centerpiece which really does make people go WOW!

How to design your perfect celebration cake

Narrowing down the options