How a Baker Who Makes Wedding Cakes at 6 a.m. Sleeps
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your account’s‘Saved for Later’section.
Comment
Around two years ago,Lilli Maren Beardquit her corporate career in management consulting to pursue her dream of baking professionally. After a yearlong stint as a pastry cook, she now works as a freelance baker, collaborating with clients to create bespoke desserts for their special events. “Every cake I make is different,” she says, “and it’s always unique to the client or to the setting.” She also writes a newsletter about British baking,The Buttery, which involves a lot of recipe testing and historic research.
Beard’s variety of projects means no two days are the same, and her schedule is highly inconsistent; she will often wake up before the sun rises and sometimes doesn’t make it to bed until midnight or 1 a.m. Here’s how she makes it work.
On her erratic work (and sleep) schedule
There’s no such thing as a typical workday for me. I’ve been baking professionally for two years now. Prior to that, I worked in management consulting, but I always wanted to bake full time. I worked as a pastry cook atJupiterfor a while, and then about a year ago, I started my own freelance cake business.
The work I get to do is always creative, always something different. But it does require a lot of early mornings and late nights — often on the same day. Typically, I wake up around 5:30 or 6 a.m.
If it’s one of those crazy stretches where I don’t sleep much, I’ll take a little bit more time in the morning to read the news, maybe have some cream in my coffee or a little treat to make the morning gentler and more pleasant. Coffee is the zing I need to start my human brain. It’s not even the caffeine as much as the bitterness of coffee. It’s a little shock to the system. I am a brute and always just get the bulk supermarket coffee beans. But I’ve hadthis Krups coffee grinderfor decades that makes such a difference, and it’s never failed me.
No matter how early I have to wake up or start working, I’ll usually squeeze in 10 or 15 minutes of puzzle time. I loveKenKenfrom the BostonGlobe. That’s my favorite one. I’ll also do the sudoku. I love puzzles. It’s a nice low-key way to get your brain working a little bit.
New! You can now save this product for later.
New! You can now save this product for later.
Then, if I have a big production day, I get straight into making cakes. I’m making all the building blocks of a cake: sponges, buttercreams, custards, jams. That will probably go until noon. After that, I’ll spend time chatting to clients. A lot of the client work is coming up with cake designs and ideas, drawing sketches, building mood boards. In the afternoon, I’m often going out and doing deliveries, dropping things off or helping set up a dessert table.
Typically, my workday ends at 6:30 or 7 p.m. On a perfect day, I’ll go to bed around 9:15 p.m. But if it’s a really big day or there’s an event that goes really late, it could be midnight or even 1 a.m. That’ll happen probably once a week. The amount of sleep I get varies, but seven hours is my average.
Sunday and Monday usually end up being my weekend. Most parties are happening on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so by Sunday lunchtime, I’ve generally cleared all my projects for the week. Then I take a rest Sunday afternoon, and usually, I’m able to have a much slower Monday. The longer I’ve been doing this work, the more I realize how important taking a break is for creativity and physical health.
On hitting the right bedtime “signals” to turn off her workday brain
If I’m going to bed before midnight, I try to have a 30-to-45-minute block that is distinct from my workday and oriented around cozy, comfy things. If I’m stretching into the wee hours of the morning, I’m so physically exhausted that my body takes over and I don’t need it as much. But I’m often jazzed from the workday and the adrenaline of doing a physical job. Switching gears so much — from baking to designing and sketching to running around the city and handling deliveries — can make it hard to relax.
I always have a really nice hot shower because I am covered in flour and butter, so that hot shower is the mark of changing to my wind-down time. Usually, a shower and a cup ofSleepytime teahelps me calm all the way down. The tea is like my bedtime cocktail. I’m not sure if it’s the chamomile or just the picture of the bear that does the trick.
New! You can now save this product for later.
I also like magnesium supplements.Magnesium threonateis the one that works really well for me. I usually take it if I’m feeling especially anxious and my mind is racing, going over all the things I need to do the next day. It’s not so much that it helps me fall asleep, but it helps avoid the rumination that comes in the middle of the night.
New! You can now save this product for later.
The thing that always makes me feel the most ready for bed is a clean, crisp pair of pajamas. I dress better for bed than I do for the daytime. I really lovecotton J.Crew pajamas. Those are my favorite; they’re stylish and affordable. I also lovethe ones from Sleepy Jones. I get a new pair of pajamas every year — they’re a Christmas treat to myself. I just want to look like a grandpa.
New! You can now save this product for later.
New! You can now save this product for later.
I pretty much always have one earbud in when I go to sleep because I love falling asleep listening to podcasts.The Explorers Podcastis a favorite. It’s adventurous and soothing — a rare combo. I could listen tothe series about Ernest Shackletonevery night for the rest of my life. I also listen to loads of other history podcasts. But I always have one earbud so I can put it in on the side that I’m not resting on. I’ve probably gone through, in a year, seven pairs of earbuds. I always getthe same ones from Amazon. They’re robust and waterproof, so they’re also good for baking.
New! You can now save this product for later.
On her ideal bed — and how it helps her and her husband navigate their different sleep schedules
Starchy cotton always makes me feel fresh and clean and nice. Oursheets are from Parachute, the percale-cotton, standard white sheets. They’re sensational, almost like phyllo pastry, really light and crisp. Then I have a down pillow. I prefer a softer, flatter pillow. I like down because it’s generally more compact than foam. It doesn’t bounce back too much. I really hate the feeling of having your head pushed up by the pillow if it’s too high or too firm, so I would take two flatter pillows over one big puffy one. I’m also a big duvet person. My mom’s side of the family is Danish, and duvet culture is really big in Denmark. We have seasonal duvets: alighter summer duvetand athicker and warmer winter duvet. My husband and I each have our own single duvet — this is my best piece ofsleepandrelationship advice!
I do prefer a hard mattress, which I find is much better for my back. At the moment, we have amemory-foam mattress. We’ve tried so manybed frames, but my favorite is just to have my mattress on the floor because I love the feeling of having to start the day by getting up from the floor standing up. I find it really cozy. I feel like I’m not going to roll off. I realize that makes me sound like a 20-year-old boy, but I really like the simplicity. Also then I can spread out all my books and magazines and water glasses andteacupsand everything that I ever might want all over the floor next to me. I’m almost always reading about food or food history. I’m currently lovingFood in England,by Dorothy Hartley.Nigel Slater’sThe Kitchen Diariesis great for short bedtime snippets that put you right into a cozy cottage mood.
Mylampis from Hay. It’s just really beautiful to look at, and it gives a really warm light. I love how diffuse it is. It always makes me feel calmer and happier to see beautiful things around me.
I like having some white noise in the background. We have anair purifierin our bedroom. My husband likes it for its real purpose, the filtration, but for me, I just love the white noise it gives off. My husband usually goes to bed with me, but he gets up later than I do, around 8 or 8:30 a.m. I’m a deeper and easier sleeper than he is, so he’s the one who uses theeye maskandearplugs— he likesthe wax kind. He uses more tools to stay asleep because he knows I’m going to be up early, clattering away in the kitchen.
More From The Strategist
- The Back-to-School Hall of Fame
- The Best Things Strategist Editors Have Bought This Year (So Far)
- Everything You Need to Outfit Your College Dorm
- The Strategist Summer 100
The Strategistis designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read abouthere. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
