THE Yorkshire Cake Fairy is working her magic with some enchanting creations that are proving a recipe for success in the world of cake-making, notably in helping to create fairytale marriages.

For fairy cakes, read wedding cakes! For that’s the major growth area for The Yorkshire Cake Fairy, better known as Sue Tennant, who runs her fast-expanding business from her home in Sutton-in-Craven.

Sue used to deliver babies. Now, she delivers creations in the form of bespoke wedding cakes.

Born and bred in Hartlepool, Sue started her working life as a midwife at Airedale General Hospital in Steeton until 1993, before spending 15 years in medical sales, then becoming a business coach for a national white collar franchise with responsibility for the development of 70 franchisees across the north and the Midlands.

However, she decorated cakes as a hobby for more than 30 years, initially gaining inspiration from her mother Doreen, a baker in Hartlepool, and her photographer father, Cyril, who was very artistic.

Aged 19, she made her first birthday cake for a friend – and has hardly stopped since, being predominantly self-taught, although she did attend two terms of evening classes in basic cake decorating.

Family, friends and work colleagues increasingly asked Sue to make special occasion cakes – she even made her own wedding cake when she married husband Mick in 1980, along with birthday cakes for the couple’s two children Amy and Liam, now grown-up with children of their own.

Cake-making went on the backburner for a time while Sue was bringing up her children and travelling through her work, but she came out of retirement when asked to make a wedding cake for one of her best friend’s sons in 2007.

With her cake-making enthusiasm rekindled, Sue established The Yorkshire Cake Fairy in May, 2011, and while continuing to make all types of celebration cakes, she now specialises in wedding cakes.

In her first year in business, Sue set herself a target of producing 100 cakes – she actually made 150. A year later, the target was 190 – she made over 200 - and last year the target was set at 250. The final number was almost 300 cakes.

Sue has also made her mark in the competitive world of wedding cakes. She entered Cake International, which attracts professional cake decorators and sugarcrafters from across the globe, for the first time in November, 2013, winning a coveted silver medal.

Last year, Sue received a certificate of merit, again for a wedding cake, in the same competition and is currently planning another wedding cake for this year’s Cake International, which takes places in Birmingham in November.

Sue said: “I really do pride myself on a personal, friendly service with attention to detail and great prices.

“All cakes are baked completely from scratch using only the best fresh ingredients, including free-range eggs - and a lot of love! I also offer a range of delicious flavours – some traditional and some less so.”

When not crafting cakes, Sue helps run a local women’s business networking group, Worcnet, which meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month in the Soroptimists’ Rooms in Otley Street, Skipton.

The Cake Fairy can be contacted on 07977 109508, email sue.tennant@bt.internet.com, or visit yorkshirecakefairy.co.uk There is also a Facebook page.