The Sugar Cove: Cake Shoe Diaries Welcomes Lynne Jury

The Sugar Cove is proud to welcome cake designer Lynne Jury from Let Them Eat Cakes in the inaugural blog entry of the Cake Shoe Diaries. So readers, get your cake shoes on and get ready to do some walkin' as Lynne shares with us what ignited her passion for all things sugar and more.

Everything from needlework to architecture and antiques to everything shaped, carved or finely crafted interested me. I have always loved sculpture and handmade things and from a very young age I've been a keen cook and loved to read recipe books and magazines and would invent dishes. Later I did an apprenticeship at a top hotel in the UK and eventually had my own restaurant just outside London, England.

When I married and started a family in France, my culinary skills were used for family meals and entertaining friends. But I never stopped reading, studying and inventing. So much so, that I became known locally as the "English lady who cooked" and was asked by the Prince of Monaco to cook for him.

When I came to Canada it was a huge change in lifestyle, and when friends of mine decided to get married, my husband and I offered to host and cater their wedding reception at our home. I had decided that they should also have a wedding cake and set to try my hand at sugar sculpting, making copies of all the flowers that were blooming in our garden out of gum paste. It was at this time, five years ago, that I became fascinated with sugar. I have read every book that I could get my hands on and been to every store and website that I could find. I've taken course

s, attended workshops and exhibited whenever possible. With this, as with other art forms, you never stop learning and evolving.

I love participating in the memorable occasions in the lives of my clients. People always want cake when they are having a happy occasion, whether it's a wedding, birthday, christening, or graduation and being a part of their celebration makes me happy. However, with this work also comes an incredible amount of pressure. Clients rely on me to exceed their expectations and participate in their dream occasion. I have to be a confident, advisor, designer, artist and mind reader to create the perfect cake for each occasion. So, time and unforeseen circumstances are not permissible excuses for not coming up with the goods.

Whatever the weather, come hell or high water the cake has to be delivered; even

when the happy couple have changed the venue and forgotten to tell me about it, or the bride has changed her colour scheme two days before the wedding because a fortune teller told her that orange was bad luck and her cake should be pink, or when a Christmas bride called me late at night Christmas Eve because she had no one else to talk to and wondered if I'd take away her pre-wedding nerves.

I have also dealt with bridezillas and one couple who began arguing because when I asked "what is the date of your wedding?" the groom said the wrong date! We have had 3ft of snow and a snowstorm that couldn't stop us delivering the cake on time.

My advice to anyone wanting to start their own business?:

Always, always have a back up plan
Have a spare cake or two in the freezer, you will often be expected to perform miracles
Make friends with other bakers--- you never know when you might need them. You will learn much from them, share experiences, learn from their mistakes as they will learn from yours but also be ignited by their enthusiasm
Never leave anything until the last minute
Do not compete, be your own individual
Be organized, do everything in writing
Never, ever stop learning new skills always try to be better tomorrow than you were today.