Buns is 10 Today
Buns of Fun Bakery is 10 Today!! No Oscar/BAFTA speeches here but thanks to my mum and dad for caring for my boys on delivery days and my husband for bringing wine on late, late night in the studio (shh, it’s my business and I can while I’m finishing up).
SO, 10 years – It’s funny how you look back and see how styles have changed in a decade. I started back in the day with no business but making cakes for beach picnics with the new mums that I met when we moved to Norfolk from Bucks. ‘You should sell these’ they’d say.. ‘phht *snigger*’, I’d say.
One night the girls were round for a roaring Burns Night and I’d make some Fimo figures of their babies for place settings and thought out the evening there was much discussion that I should put these on cakes and sell them. I got rather excited by this prospect as my background was Art & Design in Amersham in the 90s and I was enjoying the baking too. Within weeks I have done my first food hygiene course, bought a proper mixer (!), got insurance and some boxes and was off to Farmers Markets. I concentrated on ‘Pete & The Pirates’ cupcakes, ‘Crab’ cakes, made themed kids cakes, funny bakes, party cakes and attended countless farmers’ markets and food shows.
About 3 or 4 years in I found it draining endlessly packing and unpacking the car, guessing what to bake and how much, it wasn’t Fun anymore. The wedding cakes I was asked to make were more interesting and it mattered more about the people I was meeting and having a connection to those I was baking for. I was more inspired to make the change from the Markets to Weddings after going to a wedding show and realising I could do this.
The ‘regular’ wedding cake look wasn’t something that appealed and it took a while for my style to organically adapt. When making specific cakes for folks it really helps to meet them. I have to wave my hands about a bit to demonstrate when I’m talking, *duck* as my previous clients will attest. There’s nothing like meeting couples who are switched on to the types of cakes and my methods, then being able to create something bespoke on The Day. I have a few ‘off the peg’ designs which can be adapted with colour, texture, isomalt shapes or chocolate waves then further personalising.
The Art & Design aspect has played a huge part in my career in cakes. I have found my medium in buttercream, for sure. I love painting or colour-popping with buttercream, creating free edges to lift a gold lustre crust, crafting blanket style ‘hugs’ (my own creation) round the cake plus texture techniques and use of colour, gold leaf and natures edible beauties. The art side emerges even further with hand-drawn canvases on mini easels for each wedding cake I make. It advertises what’s in each fabulous tier, plus its a pretty cute keepsake when all you have is crumbs leftover!
I’ve been really, really lucky to have met some exceptional wedding suppliers along the way and received so much unasked for coverage in magazines and worldwide blogs, there’s been ‘that’ of television too. I’m still being asked in consultations -‘so what’s Kirstie like in real life?’…
Looking forward to the next 10 years I have so many more designs in my head that aren’t for right now. Some are a bit too crazy daisy to be let out just now.. I am excited about the planning of a name change to the business, a rebrand and refresh as I think the business is in a different place to when I originally started out.
Our beaut chocolate birthday cake is vegan chocolate cake, freeze-dried raspberry dairy-free buttercream, with Hotel Chocolat‘s new range of 45% nut milk chocolate, topper by For Keeps by Amie and greens from our garden.
Happy 10th Birthday Buns!
