Farm-baked couture cakes

Katie’s passion for baking and decorating cakes started at a young age. At school she regularly won competitions for her Christmas cakes, but despite her obvious talents she was put off following it as a career path by her mum, who persuaded her there was little money to be made.

On leaving school she embarked on a BSc honours degree in food and nutrition, before taking up a position as a food technologist with Jordans Cereals, but it wasn’t long before she was drawn back to her first passion.

Although Katie has no formal qualifications, she was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to hone her skills under the watchful eye of one of the best in the business – royal wedding cake-maker Dawn Blunden.

“Dawn’s cakes were very traditional and she was a great teacher, but I wanted to put my own stamp on things,” Katie recalls. “And that’s when it got to the point that I had to make a decision – whether I was going to go for it and launch my own business.

“When I did, everyone turned round and said, ‘I don’t know why you didn’t do this before’, but I’m pleased I did things the way I did, as I’ve learned so much more about the business side of things than I would have done otherwise.”

Couture Cakes is a shining example of what can be achieved with sheer determination, but Katie would urge anyone else considering setting up their own rural food-based business to think long and hard before taking the plunge.

“To make something like this work you need to look inside yourself, at what level of commitment and dedication you have got.

“You have to think it through carefully; when you are running your own business you’ve got to take it to the next level; you cannot switch off at five o’clock – when something needs doing there’s no one else who’s going to do it. I’m very glad I set this up before I had children.

“It really helps that I have such supportive friends and family too, especially my boyfriend Ian, who helps me out with the stressful Saturday cake deliveries. But if you’ve got the enthusiasm and commitment, plus the ability, then you’re really halfway there.”

Despite her success, Katie is the first to admit there are many pros and cons to running such a bespoke business in the countryside.

“People are always surprised to find me here,” she says. “Most companies like us are based in London. In some ways it’s good, as we can offer something different.”

Katie’s main client area extends around Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Norfolk and Suffolk, but she freely admits her rural location does have its limitations as she tends to miss out on celebrity bookings, simply because she is so far away from the capital.

At one point this became such an issue she considered relocating altogether: “It was very much on my mind a year or so ago – I was looking at my priorities as regards to taking the business to the next level but I decided to stay here and have a better balance.

“Even though I work such long hours, moving to London would mean a lot more competition, starting all over again, and I would need to take on more staff, which in itself can pose problems as finding people with the skills that I need is often difficult.

“On the other hand, though, there is a big point of difference. If somebody near me wanted to get a wedding cake from London it would cost around £500 for delivery alone, which is extortionate, while I charge around £200 to take one into London. That is still very expensive and can put a lot of people off.

“On the up side I’ve got a good network and reputation with wedding venues around here and that does help a lot. So to me there’s very little gain in uprooting; I’d probably get a bigger celebrity clientele, but the sacrifice would be huge.”

When it comes to setting up in the countryside, Katie recommends assessing the market to find a niche and point of difference. Imitating what others do, albeit at a lower cost, she says, isn’t a long-term viable business strategy.

She would also urge new businesses to invest in a website. Her location might have lost her some big commissions, but the internet has proved an invaluable asset, allowing her to pick up repeat business from the Continent; in fact, she’s delivered her third cake to Italy this summer, when her dazzling creation took its own seat beside her on the plane.“The web is where so many people see me now – they see me in the magazines and log on to the website before getting in touch – it’s my shop window.

“Another advantage of being in the countryside means costs aren’t so high. I was fortunate that my dad had a vacant old farm office that needed some renovation.

“The cost of premises in town centres or London must be astronomical. With a growing business there are always overheads to maintain, and that’s the beauty of being where I am.”

Influenced by her father’s ideology, Katie is very keen to ensure she uses English and home-grown ingredients wherever possible, so her customers can be guaranteed complete traceability.

The eggs she uses in her baking are all free range, laid by the farm’s hens, while the jams that fill the speciality cakes are made from home-grown fruits, which Katie describes as “the freshest, most vibrant fruit-tasting jam you will ever experience”.

Another key ingredient is the organic stone-ground flour from the farm’s wheat, which is milled just down the road. It is this home-grown ethos, as well as Katie’s attention to detail and high standards, that are luring clients to her cakery.

She recalls: “My dad has always been in favour of us growing and making everything ourselves, even before it was fashionable to do so.

“But I didn’t really appreciate the significance and the benefits of that until I went away and started trying to make cakes without our Aga, and using supermarket flour. The end result just wasn’t the same. There’s naivety if you say an egg is just an egg – it’s not.

“Every one of our cakes is individually baked before being groomed and pampered; we pride ourselves on reflecting the personality of each client in their cake, no matter what style or flavour.”

The price of one of Katie’s creations is around £560 including delivery, although prices can vary a lot according to size and the intricacy of the decoration.

On average, Katie and her small team – she employs one full-timer and several others on a part-time basis throughout the year – produce three cakes a week, with each design taking anywhere from three to five days to complete.

When wedding season is in full flow she often finds herself working into the early hours adding the finishing touches to her beautiful designs, many of which include nods to the rural idyll surrounding her studio.

“The style was very much contemporary when I first started out; now vintage seems to be more in vogue,” Katie says.

“Cake design is rather like interior design and fashion as it goes through phases and trends. Many of our cakes have a heavy rustic influence too, as country weddings are very popular at the moment.

“A lot of young couples who have left the countryside, perhaps to go to university for example, return to their roots to celebrate their big day, and that’s proving to be a big influence on design.

“We’re doing lots of cakes featuring raffia and wheat sheaves, while others incorporate vegetables and tractors; we’ve also done some beautiful animal-themed cup cakes.”

More recently Katie has started to branch out, providing extra services to complement her cake designs, such as buffet catering and setting up sweetie tables – a growing trend where couples use pick ’n’ mix sweeties, photo frames and other items to create a bespoke display around the central cake.

Looking forward, Katie is excited about the future and is urging anyone who’s procrastinating about setting up their own business to take the plunge.

“You do just have to go for it,” she says. “I’m so glad I did – I haven’t looked back.”

Try your hand at this foolproof cake recipe from Couture Cakes baker Katie Watts (pictured), exclusively for Farmers Weekly readers.

Easy Peasy Chocolate Sponge Cake

• 215g butter
  
• 190g caster sugar
  
• 4 eggs
  
• 215g sieved self-raising flour
  
• 55g cocoa
  
• 60g milk

For the icing

• 200g chocolate
  
• 2tsp sunflower oil

The main requirement for this cake is to make sure the eggs and butter have been stored at room temperature overnight, to ensure the butter is of a spreadable consistency so it will incorporate easily with the other ingredients. If you forget to leave it out of the fridge the night before, it can be softened in the microwave on “defrost”.

Once the butter is soft, put all the cake ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat until just combined, taking care not to over-mix.

Pour the mixture into a lined loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180C (or on a shelf in the middle of the baking oven for Aga devotees!) for about 40mins, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Now prepare the icing. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on medium heat in 30-second bursts, stirring in between, and mix in the vegetable oil before pouring over the top of the chocolate cake.

The vegetable oil will ensure the chocolate icing has a slightly soft texture, and will prevent it discoloring as it cools.