Some Stuff About Us!
Just in case you were feeling curious about Chris and Natalie Porter…
Who are you?
I’m Natalie Porter, owner and creator in chief at Immaculate Confections. I live in Roydon, in South-East England, with my husband Chris and our two three fat kitties.
Over the years I have made hundreds of cakes, written two books and a lot of tutorials for magazines, won awards for my cake designs, developed products, and taught thousands of wonderful students both in-person and online. It’s been a busy few years…
Who's the chap in the hat?
That’s Christopher – my long suffering, but very much beloved husband. You’ll find him with me at shows or sometimes hollering out from the background of videos… none of this would be possible without him and his never ending support and patience.
The first cake you made was your wedding cake?
I have always been very arty and creative, and figured cake couldn’t be that different, right?!
They all said I was bonkers, but nonetheless I decided to take on the challenge myself… and well… here we are!
Your wedding cake was Minas Tirith? You must really like Lord of the Rings!
How long have you been making cakes?
As I write this, coming up for about fifteen years since I started my self-taught journey into cakes and sugarcraft. The business was officially launched back in 2012. Time really does fly when you’re having fun!
You used to be an accountant?
Yes I did – I was studying and working as an accountant when we got married and was bitten by the cake bug. I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed it much… so I was quite happy to quit finance to take up cake. All the number stuff has helped a lot over the years in running the business – funny how things work out!
We heard you like cats?
We sure do! We have three little feline friends – Bo, Luchadora and Poppy! You might have spotted Bo in the first book, but not the others – Lucha is too terrified of everything, and Poppy is… a bit mental. If I had my way we would have dozens of kitties!
What do you do for fun?
You mentioned awards and magazines?
What advice would you give to cakers just starting out?
I could talk about this forever! Over the years we’ve made plenty of mistakes, had low points, high points, and everything in-between. I’ve whittled it down to three things:
• Embrace the three P’s : Practice, Patience and Persistence. Learning any new skill or craft takes all three… patience with yourself whilst you learn, lots of practice to get better at it and the persistence to do it again and again ’til you master it.
• Know your numbers! It’d be a bit of a stretch to suggest that anyone enjoys the bookkeeping and accounting, but it is SO important. If you are running a business, no matter how big or small, you must know your numbers to keep track of those all important expenses, sales and profit.
• Be kind to yourself. Cakes are hard, business is hard… sometimes life is hard! Remember to celebrate the things you can do, and not beat yourself up for what you can’t do… or rather what you can’t do yet. It’s a process. It takes time. Enjoy it.
