At a Sweet Indulgence cupcake decorating workshop, practice sheets are filled with buttercream petals as cupcake artist and teacher Britney Stone guides participants through floral designs.
“They work on a practice sheet first,” she said. “They do the design there, then apply it to the cupcake … I walk around the table and see who needs help.”
She assists them with piping techniques and angles and also gives positive feedback.
“When they do it right, I’m like, ‘That’s a great job,’ or, ‘That was a great idea,’ and seeing their face light up because it looks good,” she said.
Workshop participants range from hobby bakers to people looking for a fun activity, including an aunt visiting from out of state who signed up with her niece.
She held her first workshop in March at Wrigley Coffee in Long Beach and in August began offering monthly classes at Padekwa Cafe in Lakewood.
Britney works with everyone from 8-year-olds at birthday parties to teenagers and adults in workshops, plus one-on-one in-home sessions.
She offers both beginner and advanced workshops, with children starting on simple swirls and basic rosettes and adults moving into more detailed floral designs.
“I want them to leave knowing what consistency the frosting needs to be, how to hold the piping bag and control how much comes out,” she said.
Britney still fulfills limited cupcake orders, working out of Feel Good Kitchen, a shared commercial kitchen in Long Beach.
Before florals became her specialty, her business looked different. Around 2019, she dipped strawberries and decorated Rice Krispies treats, Oreos and cake pops as a way to do something special for her six children.
“I had a neighbor, my friend, that was like, ‘You make amazing treats. Why don’t you start selling them?’” she said. “Hers was actually my first order.”
A few years later, she saw photos of cupcakes with realistic buttercream blooms on Facebook, particularly the work of a baker named Jane Taylor. Intrigued, Britney set out to teach herself.
“I learned how to do it off of online videos, YouTube and Google,” she said.
By 2023, those practice runs turned into real orders, and now she is focusing on hosting workshops and sharing her knowledge with others.
“I want them to feel accomplished,” she said. “When they go home, I want them to be able to apply what they learned and feel like the class was worth it.”
For information on upcoming workshops, including seasonal themes for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas cupcakes, visit sweetindulgence-llc.square.site or find Britney on Instagram at @sweetindulgencelb.
“When they go home, I want them to be able to apply what they learned and feel like the class was worth it.”