A West Lothian baker is celebrating a coveted silver award for her first attempt at the prestigious Cake International Show held recently at the NEC in Birmingham.

Steph McNab (31) owns and runs the Cherry Blossom Designer Cakes shop in George Street, Bathgate, a business she set up in the town less than a year ago with help from Enterprising Bathgate.

Running the business herself, Steph specialises in creating uniquely styled, bespoke wedding and celebration cakes.

She also offers a selection of other delicious delights including cupcakes, macarons, cake pops, cakesicles and cookies.

Each cake is handmade on the premises from high quality ingredients with many of the recipes originated and evolved by Steph herself.

Personal customer service is a top priority, with Steph working closely with clients on a one to one basis to achieve genuinely stunning results.

Speaking of her award, Steph said: Having spent considerable time initially converting the premises then establishing the shop and trying to grow the business, Im delighted with progress to date.

Orders are flowing fast and Im getting a lot of really positive feedback from customers, which inspired me to enter the Wedding Cake of Three or More Tiers category at Cake International.

Obviously I was nervous at the prospect of designing a potentially award winning wedding cake for what is recognized as the worlds largest cake competition attracting competitors from all parts of the globe, but I really enjoyed the experience.

Competition was fierce, but I managed to land a silver award. To be fair, I was absolutely chuffed to win any award at my first attempt, not least at the most prestigious cake show in the world, but to then later find out I was only three points off a gold award has made me even more determined to aim for the top prize next year.

Steph has always been interested in cake design ever since she was a teenager, however the thought of making a career out of her passion was initially just a dream. After leaving school in 2006, Steph attended Edinburghs Napier University where she studied Forensic Biology.

However, Steph eventually realised a career in forensic science wasnt where her future lay, so she left University in 2011 to take up a period of paid employment.

Eventually though, the long established lure of wishing to start her own designer cake business was too strong to resist.

Steph decided to leave her job and in 2015, enrolled in a bakery and cake design course at the City of Glasgow College.

On graduating in 2018, she took the plunge and started her own cake business the same year, initially working from home but as orders started to grow, she soon outgrew her kitchen.

Retail premises were obviously now required but they needed to both accommodate a fully equipped baking area as well as space for showing off Stephs amazing cake creations.

The decision was made to look for a high street location in Bathgate.

The vibrant West Lothian town was chosen largely due to Bathgates excellent location within central Scotland but also, Steph is very familiar and comfortable with the area through her family having a long established connection with the town as she also lives in West Lothian.

After a detailed and lengthy search, a former shoe shop in George Street, Bathgate was chosen and following a total renovation from top to bottom, Cherry Blossom Designer Cakes commenced trading in April 2019 and hasnt looked back since.

Steph says business is flourishing with a flow of commissions coming in from across central Scotland from Peebles to Glasgow. Recent clients wedding venues include Airth Castle and the House for an Art Lover in Glasgow.

Steph would also wish to acknowledge the help received from Enterprising Bathgate in establishing her business in the town, along with fellow Bathgate traders and shop owners who continue to provide either valuable advice or custom, or both.

Visit http://www.cherryblossomdesignercakes.com, telephone 01506 798987 or email info@cherryblossomdesignercakes.com for more information

Enterprising Bathgate is Scotlands first Business Improvement District (BID) and supports local businesses, community groups and environmental projects with the aim of making Bathgate town centre and attractive and safe place to shop, work and play http://www.enterprisingbathgate.com.

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Baker is celebrating sweet smell of success with prestigious award - Daily Record