With Amber Comadira-Smith from Cake With Amber

So you’ve chosen a theme for your next party, now you’re ready to order your cake. Every project, whether it’s for work, or home, needs clarity to ensure positive outcomes and a cake is no different. Amber of Cake With Amber gives us a list of essential questions to ask your cake decorator to help avoid disappointment and ensure your cake design is a success!

Images courtesy of Amber Comadira-Smith

Here are the 8 questions you should ask your cake decorator!

QUESTION: ARE YOU LICENSED?
It is important to ask if your cake decorator is licensed and registered with the local council. What this means is that your cake decorator is then legally allowed to make and sell cakes from their premises as per food safety regulations.

QUESTION: HOW DO YOU PRICE YOUR CAKES?
There are many different variables that come into pricing cakes, but it mainly comes down to two different components. First is the number of guests that will be attending the event, because that determines how many slices you’ll need. Secondly, the complexity of your design and your request. And naturally that comes with a lot of different variables depending what you want. So from there, they’ll be able to determine a price for you.

QUESTION: WHAT SIZE AND SHAPE DO YOU RECOMMEND?
Once the cake decorator determines how many people, what the event is for and the design that you need, they’ll be able to come up with a few different options for you. It’s important to bring up your vision. A cake decorator can offer options based on the shape and the size tiers that you would like for your event. For example, if you want three tiers but don’t have enough guests, a fake display can be used instead of real cake, so you’re not actually left with all the leftovers.

QUESTION: DO YOU SPECIALISE IN A PARTICULAR STYLE OF CAKE?
Decorators can specialise in so many different type of cakes, including buttercream, fondant, wedding or children’s cakes. It’s important to clarify what type of cake your cake decorator specialises in, so that you know if they can create the cake you want. You don’t want to accidentally ask a person who specialises in children’s cakes to create your wedding cake, because the details and the finishes won’t be the same as those for wedding cakes.

QUESTION: WHAT FLAVOURS DO YOU OFFER?
Each decorator should have their own specialised list of cake flavors and fillings However, if you have your heart set on a specific flavor, make it known so you can determine if they’ll be able to do this for you. It’s also really important to note that if your guests have any dietary requirements, like intolerances or allergies, to make note of that with the cake decorator and see if there’s actually something that they can accommodate as well.

QUESTION: WHAT IS YOUR CANCELLATION POLICY?
This is such an important question to ask more than ever, especially with Covid when events can be cancelled unexpectedly at the last minute. You need to know if you still need to fork out the full payment for your cake, or if it can be rescheduled for another time, or if you’ll just lose the deposit. It’s important to get this in writing and maybe even sign a contract as well. That might seem excessive, but it’s better to be covered, just in case.

QUESTION: CAN YOU RECREATE A CAKE I FOUND ONLINE?
People don’t realise this is a loaded question because many cake decorators will not replicate someone else’s cake design. That comes down to two factors. The first is design ownership. It really is frowned upon to steal someone else’s idea. There is some gray area that comes with this, for instance, cake trends. The second issue is copyright. This mainly pertains to children’s cakes where Marvel superheroes or Disney themes are popular. But those are actually copyright and if a decorator is caught using this type of imagery, they can be sued. Either way, don’t fret because your cake decorator will still be able to create an amazing cake for you based on the inspiration and theme of your event.

QUESTION: CAN YOU HELP OFFER ME SOME DESIGN INSPO?
This was my favourite question to get as a decorator because that meant I could put my creative cap on and really work with the client in producing an original design for their event! It was actually an honor to be asked these questions. So, don’t hesitate to say, here’s my budget, please give me some options. Just be prepared to maybe share a Pinterest board and maybe have more of an in-depth chat. ❤