Baker - Cake Specialist | Cake Decorator

Role overview

This position focuses on preparing, assembling, filling, decorating, and completing a broad variety of cakes and bakery products to a consistently high standard. The right person will bring solid bakery experience, refined technical ability, and a sharp eye for detail to deliver attractive, dependable cakes for retail, restaurant, catering, and custom-order needs.

The work spans both production and decoration, with an emphasis on large-format cakes, birthday cakes, celebration cakes, special occasion pieces, individual portions, layered cakes, tray bakes, and other decorated bakery items.

Core production duties

• Mix, bake, and prepare cakes, sponges, bases, fillings, creams, frostings, buttercreams, ganache, glazes, icings, and related cake components.
• Create large cakes, birthday cakes, celebration cakes, special event cakes, individual cakes, cupcakes, loaf cakes, tray cakes, entremets, and similar bakery products as needed.
• Work strictly from approved recipes, production methods, baking schedules, portion standards, and presentation guidelines.
• Ensure finished cakes have the correct texture, flavour, moisture, height, colour, and overall consistency.
• Prepare a variety of fillings, including fruit compotes, creams, mousses, ganache, custards, buttercream, caramel, chocolate-based fillings, and other required components.

Assembly and decoration

• Level, stack, fill, coat, ice, glaze, pipe, decorate, and complete cakes to a professional finish.
• Use buttercream, whipped cream, fondant, ganache, chocolate, fresh fruit, edible flowers, sprinkles, piping, lettering, and similar decorative elements.
• Produce cakes for birthdays, celebrations, events, retail showcases, seasonal campaigns, and customer-specific requests.
• Apply simple custom details such as names, messages, colours, themes, and decoration styles where required.
• Keep all decorated items neat, well-balanced, visually appealing, and in line with brand expectations.

Bakery support

• Assist the wider bakery operation when needed, including breads, pastries, muffins, cookies, brownies, tarts, viennoiserie, and other baked goods.
• Help with preparation, baking, finishing, packing, labelling, and storage of bakery items.
• Contribute as part of the bakery team to meet daily output goals and outlet demands.

Quality standards

• Inspect the look, taste, texture, weight, finish, and freshness of all cake products.
• Maintain uniformity across cake sizes, formats, decorations, and finishing styles.
• Spot and escalate quality concerns, ingredient issues, or production mistakes.
• Keep workmanship, cleanliness, and presentation standards consistently high.

Hygiene and food safety

• Observe HACCP, food safety, allergen management, hygiene, and municipality guidelines.
• Keep the workstation clean, orderly, and sanitised.
• Store, label, and rotate cakes, fillings, creams, dairy items, and decorations correctly, including expiry and temperature control.
• Follow safe procedures for allergens, chilled products, and ready-to-eat items.

Stock and wastage control

• Measure ingredients accurately in line with recipes and production needs.
• Reduce waste during baking, trimming, filling, decoration, and portioning.
• Report low inventory, damaged ingredients, or product quality concerns to the supervisor.
• Support proper stock rotation and storage practices.

Special orders and product development

• Assist with bespoke cake orders, celebration pieces, seasonal items, event cakes, and special bakery requests.
• Work with the Head of Bakery on new cake concepts, flavour testing, seasonal offerings, and product development.
• Ensure customer orders are finished accurately, attractively, and within the required timeline.

Experience and qualifications

A minimum of 3–5 years of experience is needed in a similar bakery or pastry role such as baker, cake decorator, pastry commis, demi chef, or chef de partie. Strong hands-on experience in cake baking, filling, icing, decorating, and finishing is essential. A bakery background is required, along with the ability to support broader bakery production when necessary.

Prior exposure to celebration cakes, birthday cakes, individual cakes, cupcakes, tray cakes, and special occasion cakes is expected. Experience in a bakery CPU, hotel bakery, pastry kitchen, premium café, cake shop, or central kitchen is an advantage.

Skills and working style

The role calls for advanced cake baking and decoration ability, along with confident piping, icing, filling, masking, and finishing skills. A strong understanding of buttercream, fondant, ganache, cream-based cakes, layered cakes, and chilled cakes is important.

You should be able to follow recipes and brand standards precisely, manage time well, and remain effective under pressure. The role also requires a tidy, disciplined approach, creativity with colours and finishes, and a collaborative attitude.

Work may include early mornings, weekends, public holidays, and flexible shift patterns as required.

Education and additional notes

Training in culinary arts, bakery, pastry, or cake decoration is preferred. Food safety or HACCP certification is also an advantage. A practical portfolio or photographs of previous cake work would be beneficial.

Performance expectations

Success in this role will be measured by on-time completion of cake orders, high-quality decoration and finishing, consistent product standards, controlled wastage, compliance with hygiene and food safety rules, contribution to wider bakery production, and positive feedback from outlets, customers, and management.