"Charlotte Manns" Founder of Buttercream and Dreams!

Go and put the kettle on and settle down with a nice cup of tea!
Because we have cakes! We have cup cakes, wedding cakes, birthday cakes! All courtesy of Founder of Buttercream and Dreams "Charlotte Manns!"
Charlotte tells us in her own words how it all started.

As a girl I loved nothing more than helping my mother stir the cake mix and waiting eagerly by the Rayburn for that yummy piece of heaven. And so a life long passion for all things cake began.
I have always baked and my afternoon teas have become a firm family favourite.
Although I was great at baking I never really attempted to decorate them other than the odd bit of icing and some hundreds and thousands! About 5 years ago I bought the most wonderful cake decorating book by the fabulous Peggy Porschen and I was hooked. The colours and flowers that she adorned her cakes with were mesmerising and I knew that I wanted to learn how to do sugar craft. I took a course with a wonderful lady called Janet Mellilio and she taught me everything from the basics of levelling and torting a cake through to roses and pretty piping. I enjoyed it so much and soon my cakes became adorned with all manner of prettiness. I found cupcakes a great way to try out new decorations on a small scale and they are still one of the most requested items today. I soon got asked to make a wedding cake and although scary as it was my first one I relished the challenge of creating a 4 tiered sparkle cake with edible diamonds for a Winter Wonderland Wedding.

And so Buttercream and Dreams was born.

Since then I've enjoyed every minute of designing and creating cakes for all manner of occassions. Pretty vintage styling is my personal favourite but I have been known to turn my hand to the odd Minnie Mouse and Hello Kitty Cake now and again! I love watching and learning new techniques and am a member if the Wychavon Sugarcraft Guild.
I have so much fun cake baking and seeing a finished piece gives me so much pleasure.

Whilst cakes were my great passion, I spent 8 years working within the creative industry at one of the worlds largest advertising agencies. I was lucky enough to work on some fantastic brands and projects and I drew so much inspiration and motivation from the creative teams that I was lucky enough to work with. One of my favourite things was organising events and photo shoots where I had the opportunity to work with some fantastic people and have developed a great list of contacts. This proved immensely helpful when planning my own wedding and I have to say it seemed easy in comparison with organising 30 models , photographers, stylists and clients on a foreign photo shoot!

When I set up Buttercream and Dreams I wanted to combine my skills and the things I love, so cakes and weddings were the perfect combination. I love nothing more than helping people come up with ideas and styling and seeing it all come together for that magical day. My favourite so far was a fantastic 50s inspired village fete wedding we organised last year. It was immense amounts of fun and I got so carried away with tombolas, bunting and wildflowers. I even had my husband up late the night before the wedding constructing me a "splat the rat game"! We had a cake baking competition and we were overwhelmed with entries from all the guests which made for a fantastic alternative dessert table.

I have a love of all things vintage and pretty and have an ever growing collection of vintage tea cups and cake stands. I just can't resist them. I take so much inspiration from their delicate patterns and pretty colours and love to use these within my designs. I often find myself creating flowers for cakes based on a pretty cake plate or basing an event on a pretty tea cup. Add to that my collection of pretty table cloths, fabrics and prints and I have a never ending supply of ideas. I just don't have enough time in the day to bake all the cakes I would love to make!

Above all I love helping  transform peoples dreams into a reality. Whether that be a pretty cake or a whole event. I feel so lucky I am doing something that I love.
www.buttercreamanddreams.com

Thanks Charlotte! So inspiring!!
Alyson ~