Know Your Client

 

There are good bakes, great bakes, and really great bakes.

Sometimes what seems like a super simple cake gets the most amazing feedback. Why? Is it the K.I.S.S principle? Keep It Simple Stupid! Or is it what I was told years ago about design, ‘sophistication is in simplicity’?

When talking through the design process for any baked good, be it decorated cookies, cupcakes or cakes, I am surprised to find, over and over again, that it is not about my skill set. Sure people want to know that you can pull off a design with a level of neatness and visual appeal. However, what I have always found to bring out that gleeful surprise, is something very simple. Listen to the person receiving the treat.

As a baker, creative and self-proclaimed artist (I consider my doodlings in long winded meetings art), I tend to want to put out the idea that has been playing in my head, or try to achieve what I saw online. But, I have to remind myself that it is not about me. It is about the person I am baking for. I may want them to try a flavour I am excited about finally having worked the kinks out of, or a design incorporating some new technique I have just discovered. And I may even convince them of it. Yet what always, always wins the day is getting those details that make it personal for them.

 

Ask the right questions

So how do you get to know what’s going to tick the right boxes? Ask! Even if the conversation is about baking that you are not getting paid for, ask.

I have found that many people have a flavour, budget and size in mind. A few want you to replicate a specific design, or have some design element they want incorporated. Sounds like the right questions, right? Well, not really.

The taste of it

They may come to you with a flavour in mind, because maybe that is what they have tried elsewhere, or that feels like the safe bet. Ask what the recipient usually likes. And not just when it comes to baked goods. For instance, someone who doesn’t usually like spicy food is unlikely to get excited about a spicy ginger or fruit cake. On the flip side, someone who says they ‘just looove chocolate’, is more open to some of your more rich flavours. You can introduce them to some chocolate pairings that they have not explored before. The trick is to start with their comfort zone, then slowly nudge them to explore safe bets on what will delight them.

The Goldilocks effect

Often, people will say they want a certain size cake, or quantity of cupcakes or cookies. Sometimes it is even a picture they share. But when I ask how many people are expected to be present for the celebration, in many instances, they have over shot the quantities. Someone may ask for a two tier cake, when it’s just an intimate gathering of about 6 people.

Suggest sizes and quantities that fit the occasion. You want them to say, it was just right! I love hearing, ‘we finished it all!’ rather than ‘it’s been in the fridge a couple of days or weeks.’ Yes, it may call for smaller orders than you would like. Remember the goal is to make those you bake for happy. That happiness also comes in the form of things not being too big nor too small for them.

Make it personal

This is where you want the longer conversation. Find out what would delight them. Are they serious straight laced people? Are they playful? What colours do they like? What’s special about the occasion to them that is beyond the obvious?

It’s the personal details that make people feel seen and appreciated. If they like a specific shade of pink, add that. If they are more structured, make it super neat or incorporate some geometric shapes. Add something from their favourite things. It could be something from a movie they love, a phrase they like, a pet, something that stirs a memory of the person sending them the baked good….

The ideas are endless. Yet you will only catch them if you ask, and listen.