consultant
Consultant
working across design, food & visual storytelling
working across design, food
& visual storytelling
About
I’m a creative consultant whose work combines a strong design aesthetic with culinary creativity, generating ideas that re-imagine what food can be. Balancing imagination with a clear strategic focus.
It was this distinctive approach that made my work stand out and saw me win The Great British Bake Off.
Before food became my primary focus, I trained in Textile Design, specialising in print and illustration and worked across the creative industries in the UK and Canada. Today, I collaborate with brands and organisations including Fortnum & Mason, M&S, Cadbury, Yeo Valley, Sipsmith, Tate, The Design Museum, Sony Music and the BBC. I am also the author of Quinntessential Baking, published by Bloomsbury.
I approach food as a creative medium. One that sparks surprise, inspires fresh thinking and brings products and campaigns to life in unexpected ways.
What I do
My work spans concept, innovation and creative execution.
Concept & Campaign Development: Generating original ideas for product launches, brand storytelling and multi-channel campaigns.
Product & Flavour Innovation: Developing recipes, conducting recipe testing and both creating and refining product concepts aligned with a brand’s identity.
Brand Identity & Illustration: Creating visual identities, bespoke illustrations and design-led concepts that shape how brands are seen, experienced and understood.
Visual Storytelling & Edible Art: Bringing ideas to life through food styling and edible installations for photography, film, campaigns, events and editorial work.
Creative Direction & Collaboration: Working alongside innovation and marketing teams as a creative catalyst to shape distinctive concepts and products from early ideation through to launch.
The format changes from project to project, but the intention remains the same: to create work that sparks joy, emotion and connection.
Approach
My approach is design-led, collaborative and hands-on.
Visual Thinking: I adopt a visual approach, through research, sketching and mood boards – shaping ideas early and helping brands see their products in new ways.
Embedded Collaboration: I can work alongside in-house teams, joining projects at any stage, from early ideation or moments where a fresh perspective is needed.
Creative Execution: I produce work that is considered and distinctive, while also grounded in a clear creative and strategic purpose. Whether contributing behind the scenes or leading the creative direction in house.
Every project begins with curiosity and ends with something people remember.
Clients
Portfolio
Case studies
Cakes
My celebratory floral lemon cake made especially for my mum for Mother’s Day yesterday✨
It was a recreation of the lemon cake I made earlier in the week for @damemaryberry @rutlandnursery which Mum had been there to see. She’s far more of a gardener than a baker, so it felt rather fitting.
We’ve always shared a love of roses as the blanket I was wrapped in as a baby had little rosebuds on it 🥰
It was a three-layer lemon cake with lemon cheesecake filling, raspberry jam and clementine marmalade, covered in vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and finished with my orange blossom marzipan bees, pineapple flowers, roses, freeze dried berries and pistachio slithers.
From one inspiring woman to another, Happy Mother’s Day, Mum 🐝 🍰 🌹
#cakeportfolio
SAFARI PARTY JOY🦒🎈🎂
I realised I never shared this special 1st birthday cake from the end of last year and it felt far too joyful to stay in my camera roll.
Built as a miniature safari party world: featuring a towering giraffe, party-hatted elephants, balloons and disco ball bundles. Plus individually wrapped presents sat amongst an explosion of edible confetti 🎉
For me, cakes like this are somewhere between baking and set design. It’s about height, balance, colour blocking, texture layering and using cake as a playful canvas 🎨
#cakeportfolio
Introducing my Pretzel Hungry Heart Cake 🥨
Cake
150g salted butter, roughly chopped
150g golden caster sugar
150g golden syrup
150g dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
150ml milk
1 tsp coffee
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or extract
3 eggs
3 tbsp cocoa powder
150g self raising flour
CHANTILLY CREAM
300ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
1 tbsp icing sugar
GANACHE
150ml double cream
150g dark chocolate
150g salted caramel
Packet of pretzel hearts @lidlgb to decorate.
DECORATION
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.
Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup into a saucepan.
Set the saucepan over a medium heat and warm, stirring occasionally, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Pour in your milk and coffee and mix together.
This will also help cool down the mixture slightly. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer or separate bowl and leave to cool fully. Break the eggs into a mug or jug, add the vanilla and beat together with a fork. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled, add in the eggs and beat with the whisk attachment or hand held electric whisk to fully combine. Finally, sift the cocoa powder and flour into the mixture, beating until everything is well combined and no flour is visible in the wet, smooth batter. Pour into a greased and lined deep 20cm heart tin or one or two shallow heart moulds or tins, in two batches if necessary. Bake for approx 25-45 mins depending on the depth of your tin and until a knife or skewer pushed into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
While the cakes baking make the ganache by putting the cream and chocolate into a heatproof bowl, bain marie style and melt over a low to medium heat. Ensuring the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Once the chocolate has melted, stir to combine and leave to cool.
Whip the cream, vanilla and sugar together and fill the cooled cakes (cut in half if necessary)with. Cover the top and sides with half of the ganache mixture before beating in the caramel and covering the rest with it. Decorate with the pretzel hearts 😘 #cakeportfolio
I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas 🤍
It’s been really nice taking a bit of time offline. Thank you for the Christmas wishes and the kind messages when I shared a glimpse of me decorating this cake on stories last week. It felt right to share the finished cake here on the grid too.
A Christmas centrepiece, but one that happily slips into the New Year and many a future celebration, especially where bows are concerned 🎀
I used a mix of marzipan and fondant to create the giant ivory bow, playing on the traditional layers found on a fruit cake while introducing a softer colour and a more interesting flavour. Piped royal icing and both pearl and metalic ‘beads and baubles’ @happysprinkles_ brought in more tonal textures and interest. While creating a combination of tradition and modern decorating methods.
The fruit cake itself was made in a slow cooker (thank you to @gracebooth97 @gracksnacks for introducing me to its magic🤗) It’s technically a three-ingredient method… though I couldn’t resist adding extra nuts, spices and citrus zest. I’ll definitely be revisiting the method and the oval shape itself has completely won me over!
Really looking forward to returning with lots more ideas and inspiration in the New Year and sharing much more creativity with you all again ✨
#cakeportfolio
Colour, texture, petals and pearls and a whole lot of joy in one bake 🌈
This cake was created for Gill, a truly special friend of my partners family, who’ve also become like family to me. It needed to make its way down to Herefordshire during Storm Claudia, a technical challenge in itself! But I’m delighted to say it survived the journey and was both a surprise and a delight for Gills birthday celebration🤗
Inside: lemon and vanilla sponge with Chantilly lemon cream, plus layers of raspberry and clementine jam — bright, fresh flavours to match the colours on the outside. An experiment in colour play and composition via cake🎂🍊🌸🍋🌿 #cakeportfolio
PURE DEVOTION meets pure cake creation 💙
I was asked by @dollop_uk to create a special cake for @overmono to celebrate one of their biggest headline gigs to date at Alexandra Palace @yourallypally on Friday. Together with a second cake for one of the groups birthdays. Despite the challenging weather getting it there, I loved bringing Overmono’s visuals into cake form.
Both cakes were chocolate and finished in a buttercream palette colour-matched to the Pure Devotion artwork. I hand-cut the Overmono logo, along with their signature Doberman silhouette, adding metallic touches and cut out graphic details around the sides to echo the design.
The edible-ink printed biscuit topper was created with the help of @honeywellbakes and finished with blue edible glitter to mirror that in the original artwork.
I love getting to create bespoke bakes for artists where visuals, music and food intersect. It’s exactly the kind of brief that excites me, translating graphic worlds into something edible and immersive ✨
#cakeportfolio
💙🩵🩷 Ohana means family… and family means cake! 🎂
This one was created for my niece Nalini’s 8th birthday, inspired by Stitch and her tropical themed invite 🌺Stitch took centre stage, surrounded by buttercream in shades of blue, turquoise and purple, echoing his colours, with pops of pink for that extra tropical punch.
It was such a joy to make and Nalini loved it, as did all her friends! That’s the best bit about baking cakes for kids (and big kids alike!) seeing their faces light up when they first see it✨
Walking through St Pancras with it in a giant Tupperware was an experience in itself… it’s amazing the reactions a cake can get! 🎂💫
#StitchCake #DisneyCake #Buttercream #CakeDesign #CakesOfInstagram #FrancesQuinn #CreativeBaking #cakeportfolio
Chocolate & Peanut Galaxy Cake 💫
A cake created for my lovely friend @chloeruth85 surprise birthday via a design I’ve had in my head for a little while now, finally brought to life ✨
Chloe loves all things chocolate (especially all things Galaxy 🤎) and peanut butter, so the cake itself was made up by three layers of rich chocolate sponge, sandwiched with a DIY @manilife_ peanut butter fudge ganache and covered in whipped chocolate buttercream.
The decoration became my way of turning confectionery into jewellery and gems, something I’ve wanted to explore for ages. Squares of @galaxyuk milk chocolate, Minstrels and Counters were set like edible stones, with peanuts acting as more gems and accents. My favourite metallic sprinkles from @happysprinkles_official added the final sparkle, catching the light like little treasures.
I made it while listening to the new @taylorswift album and by the time it was finished, I had a whole playlist of new cake and bake ideas inspired by this method…💡
I’d love to know, which track from ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ you’re loving most and which chocolate or sweet should I transform next?!💎🍬
#ChocolateCake #PeanutButterCake #EdibleArt #CakeDesign #CreativeBaking #CakeInspiration #BakingAndDesign #EdibleJewels #ConfectioneryArt #TheArtOfCake
#BakingPlaylist #taylorswiftbakes
#cakeportfolio
A fresh floral twist on the classic princess cake 🌸
I made this for a summer event with @bloomandco and alongside the main cake, created an assortment of cupcakes. Rather than the traditional marzipan rose, I topped both the Princess cake with a fresh rose and flowers from the wonderful @livscottflowers It felt like such a lovely way to bring something a bit unexpected to a timeless bake.
Since then, it’s sparked a few more ideas for reimagining the princess cake✨ It really does make a beautiful centrepiece for weddings, christenings or birthdays.
Have you ever tried one? Or is it still on your cake wish list?💖
#PrincessCake #BespokeBakes #FloralCupcakes #EnglishGardenBakes #cakeportfolio
Such a joy to create this showstopping cake for @carraracoffeeroasters’ 15th birthday celebrations, raising funds for @macmillancancer 💚
Inspired by their handcrafted Espresso Chocolate bars made by the talented @nenettechocolates 🍫✨the cake brought together layers of chocolate, coffee and caffeine fueled creativity!
I used my chocolate cake recipe to create the sponge layers, using the coffee chocolate bars and espresso shots of the coffee itself. The filling was my sweetened cream and mascarpone mixture and the cakes coating was a chocolate coffee ganache, using the chocolate coffee bars. I whipped some of the ganache to create a two tone effect when piped. Chocolate shards, dusted in edible gold dust added some sparkle to the decoration, which was enhanced by the gold sprinkles.
Huge thanks to everyone who came along to support, here’s to many more years of coffee, cake & kindness at Carrara HQ! 🌟
#CarraraCoffeeRoasters #CoffeeAndCake #cakeportfolio
Earlier this month I had the joy of creating this wedding cake for Matilda & Henry. They wanted something natural and magical and their daughter had one special request…that it be unicorn-themed🦄. Hence the pastel details, buttercream ruffles, and the unicorn perched proudly on top. Enhanced by the most beautiful flowers provided by their florist @garden.stories13 🌺
Inside, three tiers of flavour: lemon sponge with blackcurrant & raspberry filling, rich chocolate and a brown sugar sponge, all wrapped in vanilla buttercream.
It was a hot, hot day in the marquee, but the cake thank fully survived on the cake stand and signature tree trunk! I loved assembling and decorating it while hearing the ceremony take place in the background. Such a special moment for a very special cake and celebration 💖
#WeddingCake #UnicornCake #MagicalWedding #ButtercreamCake #FloralCake #WeddingInspo #CakeInspiration #WeddingDetails #WeddingSeason #WeddingStyle #CakeDesign #WeddingFlorals #CreativeCake #FairytaleWedding #CakesOfInstagram #cakeportfolio #weddingcakeportfolio
To celebrate the launch of ‘How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days’ by the brilliant @sophie.irwin, I created this three-tiered cake inspired entirely by the book’s vibrant cover and regency-meets-romcom spirit. Assembled and decorated at the stunning @brunswick_house it was the dream setting for both bake and book. Despite the sweltering temperatures and logistics of traveling into and across London with a lot of precious cake, it made it on to the cake stand safely 🙏
I piped the book title by tracing it directly from the cover using greaseproof paper and royal icing — once dried, I carefully applied it to the buttercream. Each tier was a rich combination of chocolate orange sponge and ganache an orange drizzle and a mini vanilla sponge filled with and blackberry with plum jam, echoing the deeper purple tones of the artwork.
Wisteria and foliage, seen throughout the book and on the cover, were piped in buttercream in varying purples pinks and greens, while a yellow velvet ribbon nods to the sash on the heroine’s dress. The cake was topped with a deep purple ring box, housing a stunning @biscuiteersltd biscuit of the book itself (instead of a ring… although I’m now quite tempted to create biscuit rings too!).
To finish, I added fresh flowers from a beautiful bouquet chosen by Sophie, reflecting the cover’s colour palette — a mix of deep orange, yellow, purple and turquoise.
It was a joy to bring this to life for such a fun, feel-good, and escapist read published by @harpercollinsuk Available from all good book shops, it’s perfect for your next holiday or summer escape.
Huge thanks to Sophie and the dream team behind the book — it was a total joy to be involved! 💫 Keep an eye out for an illustrated version of the cake coming soon too…✍️
#CakeArt #BookCake #HowToLoseALordInTenDays #SophieIrwin #CakeDesign #BookLaunch #CreativeBaking #PipedFlowers #BiscuitToppers #WisteriaCake #RegencyRomcom #cakeportfolio
Cake Creations
Earlier this month I had the joy of creating this wedding cake for Matilda & Henry. They wanted something natural and magical and their daughter had one special request…that it be unicorn-themed🦄. Hence the pastel details, buttercream ruffles, and the unicorn perched proudly on top. Enhanced by the most beautiful flowers provided by their florist @garden.stories13 🌺
Inside, three tiers of flavour: lemon sponge with blackcurrant & raspberry filling, rich chocolate and a brown sugar sponge, all wrapped in vanilla buttercream.
It was a hot, hot day in the marquee, but the cake thank fully survived on the cake stand and signature tree trunk! I loved assembling and decorating it while hearing the ceremony take place in the background. Such a special moment for a very special cake and celebration 💖
#WeddingCake #UnicornCake #MagicalWedding #ButtercreamCake #FloralCake #WeddingInspo #CakeInspiration #WeddingDetails #WeddingSeason #WeddingStyle #CakeDesign #WeddingFlorals #CreativeCake #FairytaleWedding #CakesOfInstagram #cakeportfolio #weddingcakeportfolio
Happy 1st Wedding Anniversary Tom & Georgie @tompeterodell @meme.devil 🥰
I can’t believe it was a year ago that shortbread piano chords, chocolate biscuit playing card suits and red satin ribbons were being adorned to your red velvet and chocolate cake. Nothing but love to you both
Mr & Mrs Odell ♥️♣️♦️♠️ 🎹 🎂 #weddingcakeportfolio
A wedding tower of bespoke treats✨
Made up of layers of bourbon brick brownies (with added peanuts!) plus miso, honey and sesame flapjack rounds, it was created to celebrate the lovely @megangilbride_ and @jamie_gough wedding.
Although Meg’s & JG got married over two year ago, it was only while recreating the bakes with Meg’s recently that I realized I never actually shared the wedding tour itself. With today’s return of blue skies and sunshine, I felt it was fitting for the tower to grace the grid today. Despite there being a 30 degree difference in temperatures from that magical day!
Thank you Megs & JGs for asking and trusting me to create your ‘wedding not cake’. Although I love making the traditional tiered cake creations, I especially love creating something different and unique to the couple themselves. Which is precisely what this was😊
#weddingcakeportfolio
A wedding tower of welsh cakes, flowers and confetti✨
Obviously cake needed to feature in mine and @tallwelshman wedding. But with marrying a Welsh man in Wales @visit_portmeirion the obvious choice in my head was to include Welsh cakes-and lots of them!
Aside from having a strong affection for them, I loved the idea of piling them up high on cake stands, big and small and surrounding them cupcakes all decorated with the flowers used throughout our wedding.
Have @tanycastellbakery to thank for providing us with boxes of their welsh cakes and the wonderful Erin @mrjones.and.me for providing the flowers. Erin provided so much more than just a stunning palettes of blooms. She got and shared my vision from the very start and was fully on board with incorporating some Lego flowers (Welsh daffodils included!) into the mix. Together with Luis @luiscalowweddings our photographer, they were both integral and lot of fun in bringing everything to life.
The colours of Portmeirion that were reflected in the flowers, were also carried over into the confetti @flutterdarlings and @falconenamel stunning collection of pieces. We even filled their colourful fruit punch bowls full of extra confetti and welsh cakes.
Like with the brownie, biscuit and tiffin towers I’ve created for other people’s wedding and celebrations in the past, I love any opportunity to create something a little bit different. Bespoke to the couple and occasion itself.
Would love to know what you’ve had or will be having, play a central part in your big day 🌈
#weddingcakeportfolio
The Wedding Party Cakes✨
This time a year ago (not strictly date wise, but closest Saturday to) @tallwelshman and I were cutting into biscuit sandcastle cheesecakes and biscuit topped cakes to celebrate the start of our wedding party🍪🧁🪩
As soon as we announced we were getting married, one of the first questions I got asked was ‘who’s making the cake?!’😁I knew I wanted to be part of whatever was created and so what followed was a table of treats, combining what felt like a wedding with a kids party! Biscuits, balloons, bakes and colour collided and tied back in with our table plan from the wedding breakfast earlier in the day (more of that to follow!)
As well as the bakes, we had towers of our much loved welsh cakes, kindly provided by @tanycastellbakery together with buckets and @falconenamel tumblrs full of @joeandseph popcorn. Both their salted caramel and birthday cake flavour. It was two of our little neices/flower girls birthdays either side of our wedding so wanted the celebratory theme to be ever present, hence the birthday candles 🎂
As ever we have our incredible photographer @luiscalowweddings to thank for capturing everything. It was almost as if Instagram knew I was starting to share Luis’s photographs from our wedding. As with the increase to 20 shots per post, I’ve taken full advantage and doubled up on the Calow magic🪄📸 Cake on faces included🙈
#weddingcakeportfolio
A brownie and bake tower for a friends wedding last weekend ♥️
Towers of bourbon biscuit brownies, caramel wafer and caramelized biscuit brownies, made up the main structure. With amaretti, meringue kisses and squares of my cake fudge adding some extra interest and flavours. Fresh strawberries, chocolate copper clusters and a scattering of meringue finished everything off🍓
I used a pillar box red enamel cake stand from @falconenamel to display the central tower of bakes and various sized plates from the venue to present the rest.
It great to create and offer an alternative to the traditional wedding cake and brownie and bake towers such as this are a great way of making an impact with the joy of everything being already cut up and ready to serve. What’s more a box of extras got to be enjoyed by the happy couple on the couch the next day!
What would be your ideal bake for a wedding/celebration?
#weddingcakeportfolio
Good Times, celebrating 5 years since my lovely friends @bonnie_kirkwood @jameshead got married and I created a tiffin tower of colour and joy for them🌈🌺🌼🍫🧁🍒🍪🍋🍿🥭🎈🎉
Inspired by the bride and groom and Bon’s vibrant bouquet it was packed full and piled high with their favourite flavours, treats and sweets to produce a tower over flowing with delight. Rather than ‘cutting’ the ‘cake’ Bonnie & Jim got to burst the mini cherry balloon on top of the cupcake, perched at the top of the tower. Jim had proposed to Bonnie while cherry picking and cherry ripe bars were the wedding favours, as Jim is from Australia. Tim Tam bars also featured in the slabs of tiffin!
I loved creating this wedding creation and the reaction it received on the big day. Everyone got to pick and choose from what they were drawn to and could keep going back for more! Proving weddings don’t have to necessarily mean traditional wedding cake and instead be about whatever you want them to be✨
#weddingcakeportfolio
2 months to the date till this 2 tiered wedding cake was created to celebrate 2 wonderful humans @marvellousmeera @stebooiiiiiii
Happy Anniversary (who says they should just be yearly?!) you gorgeous pair and thank you for asking me to create your special cake. A spiced carrot cake packed full of nuts, more of which were used to decorate the Lambeth style piping.
Big thanks to @the_tamil_prince too for allowing me to assemble it in their kitchen. I’m looking forward to returning to the pub to enjoy the incredible dishes their renowned for. Happy to bring cake, but this time maybe a bit smaller!
#weddingcakeportfolio
Wedding Cakes
Contact
I work with brands, agencies and organisations seeking creative clarity, strategic thinking and design-led food innovation.
Whether you have a single brief or require long-term collaboration I’d love to hear about your project. If you’d like to explore working together, please get in touch.
Email: hello@francesquinn.co.uk