Layer Cakes The Essential Collection Ebook Cove Cake Design

Layer Cakes Ebook Launch

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Ebook cover

My First Ebook!

I am so excited to announce the launch of my first ebook, Layer Cakes – The Essential Collection on Wednesday 18th November 2020. My business very much started from a love of baking delicious layer cakes and importantly, experimenting with flavour combinations. My flavour profiles have been what has regularly drawn clients to choose my cakes for their weddings and celebrations. I am often asked about my flavour inspiration and the recipes I use, demonstrating a demand for ideas and quality recipes in the cake making community. Having shared recipes over the years on my blog, I always wanted to do something a little bit more, to arm people with the skills and inspiration to create cakes of taste. I wanted to write a book.

Why an Ebook?

Cake ingredients

My ultimate dream was to write a hardback book that would grace the shelves of bookshops the world over. I started to research this avenue only to discover many disheartening tales of rejection, loss of creative direction, and ultimately low returns for the years spent working on a book. I wanted to get my recipes to my followers and have control over what I produced. With the digital age an ebook was an obvious and simple choice as a starting point on my book writing journey.

What is Layer Cakes – The Essential Collection about?

Champagne elderflower rhubarb cake

I wanted to start my collection at the beginning. Layer Cakes – The Essential Collection is a collection of key recipes, tips and techniques that aims to enlighten and inspire amateur and professional cake makers alike to make layer cakes of flavour. I took the most common cake flavours, such as Vanilla, Chocolate, Lemon, Coconut, Coffee etc, and and provided ‘base’ cake recipes for each. These recipes are all suitable for layered cakes that are used in wedding and celebration cakes. A chapter on fillings such as jams, curds, caramels and icings/frostings allows readers to create fillings and icings from scratch. The book then provides a variety of flavour combinations using these cake and filling recipes, each with a twist on classics. Flavour pairings such as Vanilla Pear Macadamia, Chocolate Blackberry Bay and Coconut Black Sesame Passionfruit, are sure to spark interest. My ultimate hope is that readers will be inspired to create their own combinations too. I can’t wait to see what you make!

What If I Am A Baking Novice?

Eggs for baking

This book is for you too! I wanted my recipes to be attainable and relatively straightforward for all levels of baker. I have started the book with baking tips, techniques and essential equipment. In many instances I have provided alternatives for those who don’t want to invest in unusual or expensive tools or ingredients. I have given ideas on how to decorate with items such as flowers and other edibles. I have also included a step-by-step photographic guide for filling and icing a cake with buttercream icing.

What Recipes are Included in the Ebook?

Almond Matcha Raspberry Cake

This is the exciting bit! I worked hard on creating the recipes in the book to give achievable yet interesting cake flavours. There are a few classics such as Lemon Blackberry Lavender or Chocolate Pear Salted Caramel, but my favourites are Almond Matcha Raspberry, or the cover cake, Coconut Black Sesame Passionfruit. All cake flavours can be simplified if preferred, for example Lemon and Blackberry alone makes a wonderful combination. Or indeed I hope the base cake flavours and filling recipes allow readers to create their own flavour combinations.

Who Helped You With The Book?

Wedding cake

I am so grateful to a wonderful team of creatives who helped me pull this together. Firstly I took a course at Food Photography School earlier this year which gave me further skills and confidence to take my own photos for the book which I am so proud of. A few key photos in the book were also taken by the talented Claire Brown Photography who did my original branding work for me. I am so grateful to my sister, Emma Brady, a professional copyeditor, who worked so hard on editing my text. I was thrilled to work again with my wonderfully talented graphic designer, Natalie, from Keady Row, who ultimately brought the book to life. Natalie succeeded in creating an ebook that has the look of a glossy lifestyle magazine, and importantly has a style that is right on brand with Cove Cake Design. Finally I must thank my web developer Mick from Smudge Design who was on hand as always to assist in the website side of getting things done.

So How Do I Buy the Book?

Chocolate Blackberry Bay Cake

It’s easy! The book will be launched on Wednesday 18th November 2020 and will be for sale through my online shop. It is downloadable in pdf or epub format for reading on your preferred device. As a further incentive when you buy the ebook you will be entitled to exclusive access to my new private members Facebook group, Cove Cake Design Baking Club, where we can share our experiences with the recipes, give further tips, and ask and answer questions. Sign up to my mailing list at the top of the page to be notified of the launch to make sure you don’t miss out (and shh…to receive an exclusive mailing list member discount!).

Thank you so much for your interest in my cake recipes and support of my little business. I hope when you buy the book and try the recipes you will enjoy the process and results. Don’t forget to tag me on social media, @covecakedesign #ccdlayercakes so I can see and share your wonderful bakes!

Suzanne x

Suzanne Brday

Let’s Talk Waste

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Much attention has been focused of late on the scourge of plastics in our oceans and environment, with dire consequences for future generations unless we take action. Living beside the sea, we see at first hand the waste that is routinely washed up on our little stretch of coast. Since last year my family has worked to take one small step at a time to reduce plastic use, and waste in general, in our home, each thing we eliminate is one less piece of plastic or waste in our environment.

It was inspiring to learn of the recent launch of a Green initiative in my local villages of Glasthule and Sandycove (the latter after which my own business is named!) aimed at tackling waste.  ‘Glasthule Sandycove Going Green’ sees businesses aiming to reduce waste, focusing on plastics first. Businesses signed up to the initiative are pledging to replace at least three of their single use plastic items with biodegradable alternatives in 2018. To coincide with this I have taken a look at my own business to see if I can further reduce waste.

Cove Cake Design is a small home based business who supplies clients directly. The direct delivery of the majority of my products, wedding cakes, to a venue means there is thankfully little to no packaging involved in these orders…I take back my transport box to use again. Cakes that are collected are packaged in cardboard boxes which can be recycled. In terms of my supplies, I try to shop for ingredients locally and seasonally (and in small quantities to avoid potential food waste), choosing products not in plastic where possible. Any food waste is composted (and I keep this to a minimum, carefully quantifying recipes so that there isn’t an excess) and anything that can be recycled is.

There is always room for improvement though and I have been taking further steps to reduce waste (even though some only small I think even saving one item from waste is an achievement!)

  • I am in the process of sourcing biodegradable cellophane for my cake samples in my sample boxes. This is one area of my business where I do us packaging and I hence need to minimise waste from this.
  • I have started using a washing up liquid that comes in a container which is made from 100% recycled plastic and can be recycled again itself.
  • I switched from antibacterial soap in a plastic pump bottle in my kitchen to an antibacterial soap bar that comes packaged in a box.
  • I have switched from purchasing plastic milk containers to tetra pak cartons which have a better water and carbon footprint than plastic.
  • I have discovered a farmer in my local market who takes my old egg box cartons to re-use to sell his eggs…even though I always recycled them before to have them re-used is a much better circular system!
  • I have reduced the amount of paperwork that I print, backing up certain files electronically that I used to print a hard copy of too.
  • I am determined to work with suppliers and make complaints where excess packaging is used in my orders, shopping elsewhere if necessary! (Anyone who follows me on Instagram knows how much this upsets me!)

I have been inspired by others and I hope this little post can inspire too. I also want my clients to have confidence in knowing that when they buy a cake from Cove Cake Design I am conscious of doing my best to minimise any waste produced in the process!

Suzanne x