“Initially, back in 2009, I became interested in baking, so I decided to see if I could make chocolate-chip cookies. It turned out I couldn’t,” he says.

“But I tried again and brought them into work, and people liked them, so I carried on trying out new things.

“It went from cookies to cupcakes, biscuits and cakes to macarons – I just learned as I went along.”

After some years of this, one of Andrew’s appreciative workmates asked if he’d make a cake for his son’s birthday party – which was the following day.

Andrew says the cake was a success though; a two-tier, red velvet cake covered in black fondant and a red skull to represent the video game “Gears of War”.

“It was a hit at the party but yeah, I plan ahead a bit more now,” he says.

By February last year, Andrew says he had a logo and a business name, Sweet to the Bone, and launched his Facebook page and website.

“Until then I hadn’t considered baking as anything more than a hobby, but I started getting lots of orders and I do about a cake a week now,” he says.

“Mostly it’s word of mouth, and it’s always good to hear that my cakes are tasty – I’ve been chosen by a client based on my lemon cake in the past, which is nice to hear.”

Andrew, who works fulltime, attended a recent wedding expo and says it’s possible he may have stood out from the crowd with his red, crushed velvet tablecloth, gothic-style cakes and black, fondant roses.

“I think there’s a certain type of bride that my cakes appeal to,” he says.

“The bride I made the football cake for hired me at the expo, and said to her mum: ‘That man will get it’.”

Andrew says he will try any cake once, and has made them in the shape of a Tardis, Minions, Muppets and the Octonauts, as well as traditional wedding cakes – and some that are a little more quirky, like the football cake.

“That was important to the couple because they had met through the sport,” he says. “It’s kind of cool being involved in people’s weddings and creating something that is unique to them.”

With no formal training, other than a cake-decorating course, Andrew says he’s studied at the university of Google and YouTube.

“I’d love to write a book one day; I’m self-taught and I’d encourage people to have a go, crack a few eggs,” he says.

Andrew says he likes to make fancy cakes, lemon cheesecakes and apple pies for his parents, and has just made his first croquembouche for a friend’s 40th.

“I love being creative, and seeing the look on someone’s face when I give them the cake and they realise it’s theirs – it’s really nice,” he says.

“It sounds corny, but it’s a cool feeling, it makes the hours of work and stressing over it worth it.”

It’s also important to him that the cakes taste amazing, Andrew says, with the idea that they should look too good to eat but taste too good not to.

“I enjoy making and decorating cakes, so I don’t see it as work,” he says. “It’s lots of fun, but it’s hard work, too. There’s also lots of: “Oh my God, how?’

“But I just think, I can do that – and somehow I do.”

To contact Andrew, email sweettothebonecakes@gmail.com or visit sweettothebone.com.au