With her very own cake-making kitchen at home, it’s no surprise that Pam Rennie’s sweet-toothed husband is always on the hunt for cake cut offs.
“My husband Brian is always asking if there’s leftover bits of cake, he’s got such a sweet tooth,” laughs Pam.
“Thankfully I’ve got more of a savoury tooth which is just as well.”
Deciding to do something for herself after her daughters Keri and Emma flew the nest, Pam, a dinner lady at Drumoak Primary School, launched her own business Pam Rennie Cake Design.
Specialising in wedding and occasion cakes, the 53-year-old, who lives in Drumoak, has quickly made a name for herself in the highly competitive wedding industry.
She even counts tennis icon Judy Murray as a fan after making strawberry and cream cupcakes for an event she attended at Thainstone House last year.
Here she tells Society the recipe behind her sweet success.
Have you been making cakes since you were a child?
No not really, it started when my daughters were young as I always used to make a fruit cake and decorate it for Christmas.
Then as they got older, about eight or nine years ago, I just decided it was about time I did something for myself and found out about an evening cake decorating class for beginners at North East Scotland College at the Gallowgate in Aberdeen.
The first course I did was 12 weeks and I fell in love with it.
What is it about cake design that you love so much?
I find it relaxing although doing wedding cakes can be quite stressful. I learned how to make sugar flowers which I could honestly sit and make all day – I love them.
I love how you can make something out of sugar and it can look real. I did the big wedding exhibition at the P&J Live recently and one couple couldn’t believe the flowers were made out of sugar.
I just want to make pretty cakes and sugar flowers. I just love it. I should’ve done it a long time ago but I guess things happen for a reason.
What has been the most elaborate cake you’ve made?
There was one that I did at Meldrum House last year which had a lot of sugar flowers and sugar thistles. It’s possibly my favourite but they’re all slightly different. I made another one which had loads of ruffles and edible glitter.
Last year I made a wedding cake with a navy bottom tier and then a tier that was covered in edible tartan to match the groom’s tartan and it had white sugar roses and thistles on it and a stag’s head.
I really liked that cake even though my style is white and classic. I just love anything with lots of sugar flowers and a bit of sparkle.
Is making a wedding cake quite a long process?
It all depends on the design. A couple will come in for a consultation with me about four to six months before their wedding so we sit down and talk about designs.
I then sketch them out, I used to do them by hand but I now use a software programme called Procreate which is amazing. So I send the design across to the couple.
Generally for a Saturday wedding I would bake it on the Tuesday, fill it and ganache coat it on the Wednesday, ice it on the Thursday and decorate it on the Friday.
What about cake flavours?
I have about six or seven different flavours but I can make anything within reason like banoffee, caramel, red velvet, carrot cake and vanilla.
A lot of couples, when they’re having a tiered cake, one will always be vanilla because they know that everyone’s going to like it and then they’ll maybe choose another that they’ll like.
When they come for a consultation with me they’ll get a taster box with six different flavours and they can choose from that.
Do you use a special type of icing?
I use Massa sugar paste especially for wedding cakes as it’s a better quality icing and it doesn’t tear. You get some cheaper versions which tear when you’re putting it on the cake and you can get elephant skin which is where it goes all bumpy.
What feedback do you get from couples?
It’s lovely when they tell me they absolutely love their cake and they rave about it. I’ve had some couples book me after they’ve been to a wedding where they’ve tasted my cake so that’s always really nice.
You must be a calm person to make wedding cakes?
I would say that the nerves of each cake will probably never go away but it does get easier. I transport the cake to the wedding venue so it could be miles away or it may be on a bumpy road.
I do worry but there’s no better feeling than setting the cake up, taking the photos and walking away and going “phew”.
I have heard some horror stories but touch wood nothing has happened.
Do you feel like you’ve found your happy place?
Yes 100%, I think in life that things happen for a reason. My husband Brian is a joiner and had his own business so when our youngest daughter moved out a couple of years ago my sister-in-law suggested that I should turn the spare room into a cake room.
So we did and we managed to get a second hand kitchen off Facebook – I just love it.
What did you do before you set up your cake business?
Before I had my kids I was a legal secretary which feels like a lifetime ago. When the kids were little and we moved from Kingswells to Drumoak, I initially got a job at the local school and I’m still there.
I’m a dinner lady at Drumoak Primary. I’ve been there for 18 years this year. I do love the job and I love the kids.
We hear Judy Murray is a fan?
Yes I was asked to make the cakes for an event organised by the make-up artist Julia Stronach.
That was an honour especially as she took a picture of the strawberry and cream cupcakes I made. That was an amazing experience and it was lovely to be part of.
What’s been your proudest moment so far?
Last year I wrote down that I’d love to be nominated for a Top Tier Wedding Award and I am.
I don’t care if I don’t win, I’m a finalist amongst six other cake businesses, some of whom have been established for a long time and they probably make a lot more cakes than I do.
I’m also nominated for a Scottish Wedding Award so I’m absolutely over-the-moon – it’s the icing on the cake for me.
For more information about Pam Rennie Cake Design check out her Facebook.
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