What a beautiful day I had hosting a cake decorating & styling workshop with the lovely Emily Quinton of Makelight. Our attendees were welcomed to Emily’s light-filled and airy home in South East London – the perfect space for creativity and inspiration. We had new and old friends come to join us and we started the day with wonderful conversations.
Each and every attendee received a goodie bag containing delicious Sugar Plum Bakes treats, that also double up as great props for styling, as well as a complimentary palette knife to take home and practice with. I’d been busy baking all week preparing cake sponges so that the workshop could focus fully on cake decorating techniques.
Everyone was taught how to fill and decorate a semi-naked buttercream layer cake. There was a selection of seasonal fresh fruit including juicy blackberries, fresh figs and cranberries to choose from to embellish the cake. Stunning blooms provided by The Fresh Flower Company were the final addition to the cake. There was a choice of striking anemones, frilly chrysanthemums, wax flowers and autumnal eucalyptus. I loved how everyone’s cakes all looked unique to their makers even though they’d all started with the same cake sponges and had access to the same materials. They all looked beautiful!
Following a scrumptious lunch, Emily demonstrated her styling process for photographing a still-life subject. She talked us through the steps she takes for setting up a scene, starting with lighting, colours and the hero of the image. Emily showed us how she would work when creating the scene, where she would position key items and how to tweak elements to get the most out of her images.
This was the lovely autumnal setting that Emily put together. The wreath by Leigh Chappell Flowers and the foliage on the cake complemented each other so beautifully. And the fairy lights along with the late afternoon light combined to give a gentle glow. And that dresser! Exquisite! Anything would look dreamy styled on that! Simply by changing the backdrop, Emily was able to show us the mood and feel of the scene could be altered in just an instant.
Emily’s garden, with the avenue of russet-coloured birch trees, made the perfect backdrop for a staged table scene. It was set up with soft linen and deliciously scented candles for everyone to take turns in photographing their own creations. The images I’ve seen being shared from this workshop are just absolutely gorgeous. It has been so wonderful to see their endeavours.
Thank you so much to Andrea who kindly took this picture of me. This delicious red velvet layer cake was sliced up for everyone to indulge in with one final steaming cuppa before heading off home with their boxed-up cakes.
Emily and I loved running this workshop so much that we’ve already fixed the date for our next one. It’s on March 24th 2018 so if you would like to book your spot, hop on over to the Makelight page for booking details. You’ll also find a lovely video too put together by Emily capturing lots of moments from the day. Xx