Back to Basics-Working in Germany as a Cupcake Konditorin
So although I have been keeping you all abreast of the things I have been participating in, there have not been many ‘Ah ha!’ developments, until today of course!
So yes, I have been blogging but I haven’t told you the big news! I have secured a kitchen share! It’s totally awesome and great and I share with a lovely Konditor, Herr Kay who has been in the biz of cakes and breads as the business has been passed down the generations since the 1800’s. He kindly has invited me to his Backstübe (kitchen) so that I can bake my cupcakes and share them with you all as a cupcake Konditorin in Frankfurt.
Today, I made a triple batch of buttercream. And well it looked like it always does. More yellow than white, due to the brand of butter and the brown vanilla paste that goes in. It’s also full of air bubbles which I have trouble to knock out since I only use a hand-mixer for a triple batch, but hey what the heck. So my mission today was to learn how to make a cake. It is my first cake. Just for fun and to try out some new skills.
After watching countless youtube videos, I decided I needed some serious tools for cake making. I bought a leveler which has those little bubbles to tell you if your angle is perfectly horizontal, a right angle measuring tool, a huge spatula, a little spatula, a turntable, a mat to go under the turntable and a bench scraper. So after all that I felt pretty secure that I would make an awesome cake. You would too, right?
Shortly after, Herr Kay comes over to look at the leftover buttercream that is to go around and all over the cake after the central layers have set up in the fridge for a bit. He looks at it and says, your buttercream is not finished.And I say: “Sure it is. It always looks like that.”
He repeats: “It’s not ready.”


Congratulations! and what a wonderful opportunity to learn from someone like Herr Kay.
Congrats on the kitchen share!! Wow!! The story about the buttercream was fun to read. Looks and sounds like an amazing first attempt at a cake! 🙂
You have a great teacher, and that’s probably why your first cake looks so great. Keep it up!
Did you make the fondant yourself? Or is there a place in Germany where one could buy ready-made one? Thanks!
Hello Maddy,
You can get fondant from here: http://www.cake-company.de
Unfortunately the website is all in German but I am sure that when you click through the tabs you will find it.
Oh my gosh!! Your cake looks absolutely delicious. Baking isn’t my strong point, and when I see food like this, I’m completely amazed. Beautiful job…ESPECIALLY since it’s your first attempt!
Finally got time to try the heat gun method. Never felt the need for it with American buttercream, but I ran into the same problems as you with the smbc. The heat gun worked a treat!!!
Completely insightful advice in this blog post! Many
thanks very much for sharing!