15 Things We Learned in 2015

For the past few years we've spent the last month or so in quiet reflection (ha, there's nothing quiet about our life) of the year we've had as a bakery.  We're a big fan of organized, meaningful lists, so we've come up with this as a way to laugh at ourselves, smile at the year we've had, and get ready for the new calendars we're preparing to hang.

We don't know about you, but from a bakery point-of-view we killed it in 2015!  Take a look at the list below to see all we've accomplished in the past 12 months!

15 Things We Learned in 2015

1. Setting a goal and achieving it is the best feeling in the world!

Last year we decided that for 2015 we wanted to book one wedding cake.  Just one.  We wanted to improve our skills enough that one sweet (maybe crazy) couple would say, yeah, you know what, let's do this, let's roll the dice and make this happen!

We didn't really have a game plan other than a simple, "Put yourself out there more!"  But it worked, somehow, because by December of this year we had made a wedding cake for 3 different weddings this year.  Three!  

It's so awesome to look back a year ago and see what a huge year it's been for us in the wedding world.  To others, 3 weddings may sound like nothing, but to us, it's hopefully the start of something great!

2. Wedding cakes are fantastic.  And stressful.  And fantastic.  And stressful.

As much as we've loved dipping a toe into the wedding world, we can't say it's been a smooth transition.  Something always seems to go wrong when the stakes are higher.  You know?

It certainly helps when you know what you're doing.  Or at least can fake it long enough to figure it out.  But our first few wedding cakes were not without their issues.  One of the cakes melted after we finished it, causing us to have a panic attack 45 minutes before we had to drop it off.  Another cake almost didn't survive the car ride to the reception hall.  

But at the end of the day, all 3 of these cakes represent 3 different couples who got married this year in Pittsburgh.  Each cake represents their own personalities: traditional, bold, romantic, quirky, unique, elegant, they're each one of a kind and pretty amazing.  And it's even more amazing to stand back and think, "Yeah, we did this!  We made these cakes!"

3. It's never too early to start planning out supply shopping trips

Our order volume has definitely increased this year, and it's something we've had to account for.  We can no longer just run to the store willy-nilly whenever we run out of milk.  Nope, like seasoned veterans we now understand that time management is crucial to a good baker. 

4. There's a thing to be said for stacking coupons at the store

Like our better time management skills, 2015 was also the year of the coupons!  With the price of eggs sky-high, it's important for us to remain competitively priced without losing money on the products we offer.  One way we've done this is through couponing.  Yeah, we've turned into one of "those" people at the registers.  But hey, it works, and in the long run it should make you happy too!  We didn't need to raise the prices on anything we offered this year, a savings we passed onto you!

5. Large cakes let our creativity shine

When we first started baking things for Pittsburgh, we still didn't have the training we needed to really conquer big cakes.  Sometimes it's still a learning process for us, if we're honest.  One of the downsides of being self-taught, the learning curve is much bigger.

But now that we've had the chance to make some awesome themed cakes this year, we must admit, it's a wonderful creative outlet for us!  There's nothing better than imagining a cake in your head and then watching it come to life before your very eyes!

If we had to pick a favorite cake we've designed in the past year, this would be top 3 easily.  Not because we're big boat enthusiasts, but because it was such an ambitious project for us to take on.  When we were approached to make this cake for a 60th birthday party, immediately this image popped into our head.  Let's make a boat shaped cake, stick it on some water, and serve it up.  But could we make this idea a reality?  

It took a lot of time, and careful detail work, but when this cake was done we were so proud of the results.  It was exactly how we imagined it, and the customer loved it too.  That's a win win!

6. Cheesecakes aren't as scary as everyone thinks (no really)

Another area we've really expanded in our bakery this year is our cheesecake creations.  Cheesecakes were always those big scary baked goods that no one ever seemed to want to touch.  They were too difficult, too fragile, too expensive, and just not worth the time.

But we decided to give it a whirl this year, and we're glad we did!  No, they aren't the easiest thing in the world to make, but it's a good challenging item for us to make, and an even better item to offer to our customers.  In November and December alone we sold 4 cheesecakes for the holidays!  That's some great additional business we might have missed out on in years past.

7. We still make mistakes in the baking world.  Major mistakes.

A week or so ago we were dipping pretzel rods into melted baking candies to make some Star Wars light sabers for a party we were attending.  Seems fairly simple, right?  Melt candies, flavor them, dip pretzels, let dry.

Except, we forgot you can't use an alcohol-based flavor on the candy melts, or it ruins the candies and you can't apply them to the pretzels.  So we ruined a huge batch of candies and had to go to the store for more.  It happens, and we're human.  Oh well.

8. Christmas cookies are great, but they lead to sleep deprivation

As we're writing this list, we are officially done with cookie baking season for the year, and enjoying the normal sleep patterns that January-October afford us.  While we love Christmas cookies as much as the next holiday elf, we don't want to see another cookie sheet for awhile.

9. When you're an adult, no one will yell at you if your dinner is the extra better in the bowl

Sometimes baking = late nights.

When you don't have time to cook yourself something healthy, cake batter it is.  With lots and lots of milk, of course!

10. There will always be someone who doesn't like what you do

Earlier this year we met with a potential client about a wedding she wanted us to bake for.  We brought some samples of our work, and while we talked she sat and ate a few of the things we had made.  After a few bites she very bluntly told us she thought it was awful and didn't want to work with us, abruptly adjoining the meeting.

At first we were a little surprised.  No one had ever ended a consultation like that before (even if they didn't end up booking us, they were still polite enough not to walk out).  Then we were worried something was wrong with our offerings.  Maybe they were horrible and we shouldn't be doing this?

But after some time, we realized what we offered wasn't what this woman was looking for.  And that's ok.  There isn't a one-size-fits-all in any world, especially a baking world.  It didn't work out with this one person, but for the dozens of other people we baked for this year it did.  Sometimes that's ok.

11. You can conquer the baking world with a powerful stand mixer and 5 lbs of sugar

True story.  If you like to bake and haven't invested in a good mixer, get to it!  And before you buy, research research research!

12. Know your limitations and stick to them!

Sometimes when we get calls about new orders it's exciting to us.  We want to say yes to everything, because it's still such a thrill that people actually want to hire us!

But we also need to sleep.  And function.  And shower.  We're a small bakery, one, maybe two people work on your items when you place an order with us.  There's only so much we can take on.  Sometimes growing a business means learning how to say no to orders you can't possibly take on.  That happened quite a few times this year, and we've learned it's ok!

13. Don't be afraid to try something risky.  Even if it doesn't turn out

This year PSR had it's first international order (read all about our adventure HERE) that was a step outside of our comfort zone.  Our customer wanted us to design a dragon out of cake, that required us to use baking skills we had never tried before.

At first we weren't sure if the cake would turn out the way we wanted it to.  And looking back, if we were to do this cake again we'd probably change a few minor things.  But even though the risk was high, the reward was even higher when we managed to pull it off and impress our customer.  And isn't that what it's all about??

14. Do something nice once in awhile, just because you can

Our little brother (not so little as he towers over us in height) has had a fun year helping out our bakery.  He's taste-tested more odd flavor combinations than any one person should have to.  He's stepped in to bake in a pinch when we're low on time and have 750 cupcakes to get out by the end of the day.  He's driven us (verrrrrrrry slowly) to wedding venues and helped us set up wedding cakes, navigating traffic, grumpy pedestrians, and tricky staircases.

We wanted to repay him for his birthday this year, because he's been helpful even when he didn't have to be.  Our brother is an avid comic book and Disney fan, so this year's Big Hero 6 was a film that was practically made just for him.  We knew right away that we wanted to turn it into a cake for him.

It was a labor of love, and one that we offered up for free.  But the end result was pretty great.  The San Francisco Bridge wrapping around the cake, some awesome figurines that he could keep and enjoy, it is another Top 3 cake of the year.  And one we truly fell in love with!

15. Dishes still suck

Maybe 2016 will be better?  We're not betting on it, though.

See you next year, fools!! :)  We can't wait to see what 2016 brings our way!

Pittsburgh Wedding: Ashley + Eddie

Sometimes serendipitous things happen in your life that you can't explain.  Things you can't explain but that are awesome and fun and make your days brighter.  Baking for Ashley and Eddie's Pittsburgh wedding last month was one of those moments.

For those of you who are unaware, Ashley is a Pittsburgh-area crafter behind the Papyrusaurus site on Etsy (and Facebook).  We've been fans of her stuff for awhile, and always creep when we stumble across her booth at craft fairs.

A few months ago she contacted us to see if we'd make her a unique cake for her wedding day.  Um, of course we would!  Can you fan girl a crafter??  Not sure, but we were definitely excited to work with her.

What we love about weddings is it gives some people the opportunities to let their personalities really show.  We wrote a post earlier this year about why we think you should try the fondant-free wedding cake option, and Ashley and Eddie decided to go with that!  Yay!

They wanted a colorful tiered cake with lots of blues and greens in it, and we loved the idea of a non-white wedding cake.  Plus the wedding cake toppers they made for the big day were adorable too.

Oh yeah, and did we mention they have a love for maple bacon cupcakes too?  Because they do.  And it's a perfect addition to any wedding reception in our opinion! 

Congrats on your big day Ashley and Eddie!  So glad we could be a part of the celebration!

An Order to End All Orders

Ahhhh, fall!  Our favorite time of the year.  Crunchy leaves, bonfires, football, and pumpkin-flavored everything!  If winter didn't immediately follow it, it would be our favorite time of year!

We've had a busy month here at PSR (story of our lives), and we're still trying to get caught up with all of our blogging.  It always seems to come in spurts, but we're working on getting all up to date, promise!

A few weeks ago we had the honor of baking for Grove City College's homecoming weekend.    We didn't attend GCC, but a friend of a friend does and needed some cupcakes.

No, scratch that.  They needed a lot of cupcakes.  750 cupcakes, to be exact.

We wish we could show you how many cupcakes we had (well, we had 750 cupcakes, but we wish we could show you what it looked like!), but our phone went ka-put between the order and the blog post and we lost any good photos we may have had.  The only one still in existence is this very poor shot we took very late at night when we were too tired to care about silly things like lighting.

What made this order crazier is that we also booked a wedding for the same day.  So on top of all of this we had to make a wedding cake and 60 MORE cupcakes in addition to these.  But that's another story for another blog post.

What we loved about this order is it really challenged us to be creative -- we had to time manage like we've never done before, because most of our orders are relatively small and easy to knock out in a few hours.  It was an order that required us hiring additional help, making larger-than-normal size batches of batter, and staying up late making sure everything was iced and boxed and ready to go for an early morning delivery.  But when it was all said and done, it was a great opportunity to bake for the college.

And hey, for the first time in our lives a college owed us money instead of the other way around!!

Coming up this week we have a fun order for Geek Girl Brunch Pittsburgh, and if we're lucky we'll catch you up on the wedding we recently did too!  Fall orders are kicking in too, including our pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes.  Trust us, all you need is that and some apple cider and you're ready for the gorgeous weather!

We'll be blogging soon, we promise!!

The Case for Fondant-Free Weddings

Happy 4th everyone!  We'd like to point out this holiday is a bit pointless, as we technically signed the Declaration of Independence on July 2 (they didn't have twitter back then, so communication was a bit delayed), but we'll go along with the masses and celebrate our freedom from England on this day with the rest of yinz.  After all, fireworks are the best!

Before we eat ourselves into a hot dog coma later today, we figured we'd continue with another "The Case for" post.  If you've missed any of our previous ones, they'll be listed at the end of this entry.

Today, we're tackling the non-traditional idea of going fondant-free for your wedding cake.  For many of you, the idea may seem sacrilegious.  No fondant on a wedding cake??  Who would dream of such a thing?

A lot of people, actually.  It's becoming quite a popular anti-trend, and you'll see them pop up with a little more frequency if you're in the midst of wedding season too.  A lot of couples are starting to think outside the creative box for their weddings, and their end result is a non-traditional cake.

So why should you consider whether going fondant-free is the right choice for you??  Here are 3 reasons why it might be a better decision for your wedding than you ever dreamed it could be:

1. Fondant-free cakes give you more aesthetic texturing options.

If you're one of those people who likes to live their life in a textured world, fondant-free cakes give you a range of options that traditional wedding cakes cannot.  Fondant covers up the cake, smoothing out and hiding any wrinkles or imperfections that might exist.  For some, this is exactly what they want.  But if you like to see texture, and design that is different, and unique (and maybe, in some aspects, not cookie-cutter perfect), giving up fondant is a way to achieve this look.  Look at the cakes below, none of which have fondant covering them:

All three are designs that are unique in their ability to capture more than just color and beauty: they capture texture too.

2. People hate fondant

Poll 100 people about their love for fondant, and 75% of them will tell you they hate the taste.  Hate it.  Why would you have a cake for others to view/and eat covered with fondant if it's something people routinely hate?  Granted, many reception halls will give you the option to remove the fondant from the cake before they serve it, but it's another step between cutting the cake and guests eating the cake that must be completed.  We don't know about you, but once the cake is cut, we want some!  No, really, waiting is the worst!

3. You can be creative with your design

Some couples like a simple cut-and-dry approach to their wedding.  They want everything to be simple, and planned and taken care of for them, especially little details they're not interested in, like the cake, or the flowers.  We get that, and there's nothing wrong if you realize you're that kind of person.  But on the other hand, some like to have fun with those little wedding details, make them unique and personalized.  And if that's more how you see your wedding unfolding, then a fondant-free wedding cake may give you a bigger range of creativity options with your design.

Don't get us wrong: if you want your wedding cake to be an exact scale model of the Death Star (please invite us to your wedding if this is the case!), fondant will give you the creative look and professional finish you're looking for.  Themed cakes like that almost require you to use fondant.  But this cake below, from this wedding blog, shows how two book worms can use their love of reading in their cake for a one-of-a-kind look that doesn't require fondant:

How beautiful is that?  Who wouldn't want to eat a cake covered in their favorite poem, or chapter from their favorite book??  It's a beautiful cake, and something as simple and as elegant as this can be achieved without fondant!  Crazy!

The bottom line, as always, is we encourage you to really think about what you want from your cake before you commit to what you think your wedding cake has to look like.  There are no rules when it comes to cake.  Except that you must eat it.  For some of you, fondant may not be the direction you want to go in, and that's perfectly ok.  Explore your options.  Don't be afraid to bake outside the box.  Take a small step towards crazy once in awhile and the results may be magnificent.

Oh, and if you've missed any of our other The Case For posts, catch up on some reading now before the fireworks!

The Case for Fake Cake Tiers
The Case for Gluten-Free
The Case for Buttermilk

Enjoy the beautiful weekend, everyone!!

The Case for Fake Cake Tiers

In our ongoing (though often neglected) "The Case For" series, we examine some unconventional baking ideas, habits, or recipes that might not be what you'd see in your typical bakery.  Click here for The Case For Gluten Free and here for The Case for Buttermilk.

Wedding cakes!  We'll admit, we have them on the brain recently!  We have a wedding coming up in less than a month's time, so we've been slowly prepping everything for the big day.  (also, the wedding happens to be the day before PSR shuts down for a well-deserved week of sun and sand and vacation, so getting to that wedding is our only goal right now).

There are so many people who will tell you so many things about choosing the right wedding cake.  You've probably heard all of these and more before:

"Choose a baker who will offer you a discount."

"Avoid fondant at all costs."

"Skip the big cake, go with a small one to cut and sheet cake for the masses."

"Skip the cake all together, go with cupcakes or pies or something memorable."

"Never over-order cake, not everyone eats it."

"Go with classic flavors."

"Go with crazy flavors."

"Save money by requesting fake cake tiers."

Some of these we agree with...some of these make us cringe.  Eventually, if we ever have the time, maybe we'll debunk the pros and cons of each of these.  For now, though, we'd like to take a look at the last one: Saving money by requesting fake cake tiers.

It seems like a novel idea: if you want to save money but still have an amazing cake for all to admire, the cheap solution (and the one that doesn't leave you with mountains of uneaten cake), is to go with a fake cake.  Simple, right??

Well, it depends on who bakes your wedding cake.  Bakers greatly differ in opinions on whether they will offer a discount at all.  A very common theme for many bakers reads something like this: We still have to decorate the cake, whether it's real or imaginary, so it's the same price!"

To the baker's credit who make these arguments, fake tiers are not easy to decorate.  They are usually made of Styrofoam, which is not easy to cut or carve.  It is also extremely light-weight, which makes it hard to decorate it as you would a nice, thick, dense cake.  Often times it can slide right off the tray when you go to press icing to it.  

Bakers too, have to purchase the fake tiers, which usually doesn't run super cheap, and keep them well preserved until the big day.  That sentence might make you laugh until you accidently drop a 20lb bag of flour on the tier and the Styrofoam warps, leading you to spend more money to replace it.  Trust me, it's happened to me.

Our argument for a reduced price, though, is very simple: we're willing to discount the cost of fake tiers for the flexibility it provides to our bakery.  In the baking world, that cannot be understated.  Because cake is fresh, and must be served fresh, there is only so little "prep work" a bakery can do to get ready for a wedding.  Yes, we can buy all the supplies early, make sure everything's cleaned and ready to go, sometimes if we have to carve a cake we might even bake and freeze it ahead of time so that we can manipulate it as needed, but when it comes down to it there's very little we can do prior to the 48 hours before an event when it involves real cake.  God forbid an actual emergency pops up in our real lives or something.

Fake tiers give us the flexibility of time, though, which is so cherished.  If we want to start decorating the tiers a few days earlier than usual, it doesn't matter.  No one's going to eat it, so as long as it still looks good, we can afford to start the decorating a little earlier than usual.  This allows us time to make sure every last detail is correct and perfect, and gives us enough time to shower before we actually deliver our cake.  

Laugh all you want, but showing up for a delivery with powdered sugar in your hair is not all the rage we thought it was going to be.

The bottom line, if fake tiers are what you're looking for, you need to shop around for a baker who will discount it for you. Some will and some won't.  We discount fake tiers anywhere from 25-40%, depending on what you order with us.  That discount is for the flexibility we have as bakers when we're tasked with decorating a fake tier.

No matter what, your wedding day is about you.  So make sure you choose a cake that fits your needs.  If you want to save money and still have a beautiful cake, do your homework and find a baker/bakery who can help you with your vision.

And if you want to discuss fake tier pricing with us ever, we'd be glad to sit down with you and go over it all.  It's definitely worth the meeting with us!

Unexpected Surprises

Isn't life funny sometimes?  You think you know where your life is headed, and then you get thrown a curve ball.  We had a pretty steady week planned out for the bakery, one order for this weekend, one consultation, nothing major.  It's January, most people are still trying to work off that holiday weight they packed on.

And then, out of no where, it all was flipped upside down.

On Tuesday we received the most unusual call from a bride-to-be.  She's getting married this weekend and at the 11th hour had lost her baker and her wedding cake.  She needed something, anything, for her reception.

At first, we said we couldn't help.  We're leaving for an out-of-town visit this weekend, and the last thing we needed to add to our schedule was a wedding cake.  But then we thought about it...she was frantic, and we could probably throw something together by Friday.  Honestly, we could rearrange a few things, right?

So we made a simple cake for her to cut this weekend on her wedding day.  We cut out lots of rose petals (see above), and shaped them for the cake topper (this is such a labor-intensive process, you have no idea).  We baked two cakes, covered them in fondant, decorated the heck out of them, and after a few hours of work, we're pretty proud with the end results.

We never got around to publishing our goals for 2015 (apologies to the 5 people who actually follow this blog), but one of the things we really hoped to accomplish this year was to become more involved in the Pittsburgh wedding scene.  We have two more consultations lined up next week with brides-to-be, and maybe nothing will come of either meetings, but at least we're getting our name out there more.  We don't want our business to stagnate, and sometimes last year it certainly felt like it was.

So 2015 is off to a great start for us!  Here's hoping it continues past January! 

Cupcakes vs. Cakes

As a baker, we have created some pretty amazing treats.  Cookies, pies, cupcakes, cakes, brownies, sugar doves, Swedish rolls, tarts, and a million different types of icings.  Some less successfully than others, we'll admit, but still checking them off our list.  Our favorites, though, usually involve cake, as you faithful readers know.  There's something about a good cake that just make us smile like a Cheshire cat.

Sometimes when customers order with us, they go back and forth between whether they should order a cake or cupcakes for their event/party/wedding/Tuesday night.  We never realized what a serious decision this was until people really struggled to make the ultimate decision.  For some people, this may be the hardest decision they ever have to make.

To help with your ultimate decision, we have compiled the following arguments for choosing both cakes and cupcakes for your special occasion.  Read carefully, and may the best baked goods win!

Choosing Cupcakes

1. Cupcakes are super customizable, which is why we love making them.  For big parties you don't have to stick with one flavor that the entire group has to suffer through.  Heck, half the fun is coming up with the awesome flavor combinations you'll be serving your guests and yourself.  Classic chocolate and vanilla are always winners, but what about pistachio, or peach mango, or even beer cheese and bacon??  Kick your party up a notch with a wonderful dessert flavor adventure for everyone to enjoy.

2. Arranging cupcakes is such an art, and we love the challenge.  At events, it's so much fun to figure out how we're going to arrange the cupcakes for guests to admire, oogle over, and eventually devour.  We've done simple things like tiered platters, and fun designs that involve cake platter, old books, and even cereal bowls.  Staging cupcakes can help tie a theme together, and in larger parties they can be spread to separate locations throughout the party to cut down on lines and potential accidents.  

3. On average, cupcakes will cost you less.  If you have 100 people attending your wedding you order, say, 10 dozen cupcakes for the big day, so you have a few extras on hand.  If the extra 20 cupcakes are there at the end of the night, looks like you have some treats for after the honeymoon, enough to make you happy but not enough to put the bulge on too early into your marriage.  It's a win-win!

With cake, a lot of times you are at the mercy of the "serving size".  The amount of cake you have to buy, and get rid of depends on who is serving it, how much a "serving size" is to them, and how much extra you'll have to buy.  They can't chop half a layer off a cake if you don't need that much--if you buy a 3-tiered cake, you're stuck with all the leftovers, even if you don't want it.  Sure the extra cake is fun to eat for awhile...but eventually, your freezer and your stomach will hate you.

Choosing Cake

1. Cake is the traditional choice.  Sometimes cupcakes just aren't the proper dessert to serve at a function.  Cakes give you that beautiful, elegant drama that cupcakes will never be able to replicate.  If you're going for a bold look, or feel the event won't be as successful with cupcakes, then choosing a cake is definitely the way to go for your event.

2. Cakes tell a story.  While you can place cupcakes in and around a themed setup, it's hard for them to truly portray an emotion other than fun or whimsical.  The size of cupcakes limits the scope of beauty they can present.  Cakes don't have that problem, and can definitely bring the "wow" factor you were missing from a party or event that wasn't there before.

3. Cakes let the creativity flow.  Themed cakes can be as crazy, bright, bold, daring, and elegant as you can imagine.  They can be in any shape imaginable, in any color, in any size, in any flavor.  Cupcakes have some limitations, being trapped in a wrapper.  If you want off-the-wall crazy fun, a cake might be the direction you're looking for.

The verdict is yours to decide.  So what will it be...?  Cakes...or cupcakes...??