Signs you are addicted to Cake Decorating

You like making cakes right? You love it. But you’re not sure whether or not it’s become an obsession. Well, here are some tell-tale signs that you have crossed over to the cake dark side.

Photo by Renee Bell

So the first sign is really, that you are here.. you’re on a cake website, reading a cake blog post, about this issue. I think that’s the only sign you need really.. But just in case, here’s some more ~

You have used up storage space in your house, not just the kitchen, for cake supplies. Okay, so my linen is in a chest in our bedroom, because our linen closet is floor and ceiling cake tools. And pans, and boards, and just lots of important stuff. The bottom of my bookcases are also full of cake stuff. At one point, we even had it, where you could see the cake pans on display, on our bookcase in the lounge room. And I don’t mean, just a couple. That entire bookcase was cake pans and cake boards. People would come over, and they didn’t even care. Chances are, if they’re in our house, they are a caker, or understand my obsession. So I just left them there.

You buy candles that smell like cake, and sweets. So that if by some strange chance, you aren’t baking that day, that’s right, your house can still smell like cake. Or Cinnamon rolls, or toffee apples, or some other kind of sweet, sweet food.

You follow cakes on YouTube. You’re subscribed, to say, yep, every time this cake decorator has an idea, or a cake thought in their head, I want to know about it. Just in case it’s a good one. It doesn’t even have to be a cake you like, or will ever make, you just want to watch someone making a cake. Goes something like this, you’re at work. You think “oh, I can’t make a cake right now. I think I’ll  watch somebody else a cake right now”. I do it, heck, I’m subscribed to so many channels, I’m actually starting to wonder, does YouTube put a limit on how many things one person can follow, because if they do, I’m going run into some trouble one day soon. And I’m just going to say, it’s not going to be pretty.

When something that’s not a cake, shows up in your Pinterest feed, you’re like hang on! How did that get on there? I must’ve clicked some wrong board along the way! I gotta get that out of here! Like it’s going to ruin your cake mood. So you find the board that you must have accidently followed, and then, you refresh the entire feed, so you can scroll down, and not have your cake montage ruined.

Your screen wallpaper for your phone, iPad, computer, are all cakes. Every single one of them. Now, you don’t see knitters, lining every single surface they look at with jumpers, or doilies, or cross-stitchers having photos of looms everywhere. But you my friend, have got cakes plastered on everything you touch.

You know the difference between white cake, pound cake, sponge cake, yellow cake and angel cake. Do you know what most people call them all? Just plain old cake. Did you even know that? Do you even remember when cake was just cake? No, of course you don’t! You can probably tell what cake is being baked, by just walking in the front door of someone’s house. Oh, you making a sponge cake sweetie? Smells good.

You know the acronyms WASC, SMBC, IMBC, NFSC, RTR, RI. Tell me you didn’t know at least three of those? Go on! Oh, that’s right, you can’t! The fact is, knowing a secret language related to your hobby, puts you in exactly the same boat as a Trekkie. Now I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. But I do think it’s a slippery slope..

You leave the house knowing that you have flour all over your shirt, food colour stains on your hands, and you go out anyway. Oh, in the beginning, you’d change your clothes, scrub your hands, ask anyone else that was home if you have chocolate on your face. But you are past that point, you just own. You’ve become the kooky artsy lady, except you don’t paint. Yes, technically you do make art, but it’s a bit of a stretch to say you can get away with looking like you’ve been cooped up in some remote cabin creating the next museum art piece. However, you seem quite happy to just rock it anyway.

Friday has become the most hated day of the week. Not Monday. You see those Monday memes floating around Facebook and Instagram. You’re not laughing. You love Monday. Monday is like a little piece of heaven. No cakes yet. Kids are at school. You can shop in peace. You can spend the afternoon staring at cake photos on Instagram. You can stalk your favourite caker, as they too, enjoy the magic that is Monday. But Friday? Staying up until 3am working on a cake you probably aren’t even making money on.

Let’s face it. You could get $2 an hour, and you might grumble, complain, winge, but you would make cakes even if it wasn’t your job. You are utterly hooked. Admit it! Go on! It’s liberating. I make cakes because they complete me. You, dear icing, complete me.