I worked at a bakery for 5 months when Jon & I were living in Iowa. Not exactly what I pictured my post-degree professional life to be like, but whatever. It was a job.
I had no experience. They only hired me because I was desperate and because I had a good background in art. It was a gamble on their part.
There were definitely parts of the job I didn't enjoy. Specifically, cakes that required obscene amounts of flowers. I hate flowers in real life (generally) and they're even worse in cake form. I swear over half of our orders were for flower cakes. BORING.
But every once in a while I had a chance to do some really fun cakes. Cakes that let me be creative. It was still fairly limited--never fondant, and never anything besides your basic round or sheet cake. But it was enough to make me go out and buy some (always overpriced) decorating equipment for myself.
I started making cakes for my family and some for close friends. Then word got out and I actually started getting requests. And, you know, getting paid. That was weird.
And stressful. If you're giving someone a free cake, they'd better be happy with what they get. But if they're paying you, you'd have to deliver something good.
I still stress out every time. I have these great ideas, but the final product never quite lines up with the image I had in my head. No one has complained (yet) but I am rarely satisfied. I think that's SOP for most artistic endeavors, though.
I also struggle because the artist in me refuses to copy. Sure, I can browse for ideas/inspiration, but I have never (outside the bakery) copied another cake. Unfortunately, it's a heck of a lot easier to copy someone else's idea than to come up with your own.
But I love it. I love creating something, even if it's going to be eaten. And I love getting the chance to experiment with new things--fondant, royal icing, crooked cakes, etc. Now if I could just get someone to make the cakes/icing/fondant for me and take care of the clean up after. Then it would be the perfect job...
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