Tag: cakes

Luxury Valentine’s Day Cakes from Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium

February 13, 2019

Valentine’s Day is one of the most celebrated days in the world. Dedicated to love, it is estimated that up to 500 million paper and electronic cards are send on this day, making it one of the most popular card sending day of the year.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realising the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. It was reported that when he was beheaded a blossom tree grew on the spot where he was buried cementing his reputation as the patron saint of lovers.Later on Pope Gelasius I dedicated February 14th to the saint and martyr Valentine, in order to replace pagan festivals prevalent at the time.

This date spread across the world and in the UK, the Victorians really went to town celebrating St Valentine’s Day. At some point there were dedicated factories producing beautiful cards, some of them bespoke; being made from lace and ribbon.

It is estimated that Britons spend over £1.5bn on cards, flowers and other gifts, with over half the population involved in celebrating the day.

The luxury cake sector has not been left out, and at Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, over the years we have designed a number of Valentine Cakes which we are delighted to share with you.

1. Luxury Valentine Wedding Cakes

The first luxury valentine wedding cake we’d like to share is a red cake covered entirely with the most darling red sugar roses. Red is the colour of love and passion and this cake certainly speaks volumes.

The second cake is slightly off the beaten path. Whilst also deep red in colour, this 7 tier asymmetrical frilled beauty has torn up pieces of printed edible wafer paper love notes incorporated into the cake design. It also features handcrafted deep red roses and sugar gold leaves.

2. Heart shaped Cakes

The ultimate declaration of love is a willingness to share cake with a loved one. Heart shaped cakes, cookies, cupcakes and sweets are some of the most popular treats shared on Valentine’s Day and we have made them in colours ranging from white, blush to red.

3. Alternative Valentine Cakes

We have designed a number of alternative cakes with the most memorable being an anatomically inspired heart.

valentines-day-hidden-centre-cake-elizabeths-cake-emporium

4. Hidden centre Valentine’s Cake

We have done a few of these, and the surprise on a loved one’s face is always a delight.

If you loved the cakes in this article, visit www.elizabethscakeemporium.com to see more and you can place your order by emailing info@elizabethscakeemporium.com or calling 07958069116

Top 10 Wedding Cake Trends for 2019 by Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium

February 6, 2019

The evolution of luxury wedding cakes over the years has been astonishing. From majestic sugar flower adorned confections to one tier wonders, the sheer variety of wedding cake choice means that expectations have been raised considerably.

At Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium our reputation for producing some of the best luxury wedding cakes means that we have to keep raising the bar in terms of originality of both cake design and cake flavours.

2019 is set to be the year when the rule book is thrown out of the window. Personalisation of luxury wedding cakes has taken a huge leap forward, as couples are keen to show case their wedding style on social media and create Instagram ‘worthy’ moments.

Flavours are also a lot more adventurous, with inspiration coming from childhood memories, favourite flavours as well as ethical considerations, such as desiring a plant based cake.

We have a look at some of the top ten wedding cake trends set to delight in 2019

Statement Wedding Cakes

The last few years has seen the emergence of statement wedding cakes which are usually tall, grand and impressive in size and scale. These cakes command attention and although usually requested by brides getting married in a palace or grand country house, we have seen brides getting married on beaches make similar requests.

Multiple Wedding Cakes

Why have one wedding cake when 3, 4 or even 5 will do? A step up from the luxury dessert table, cakescapes provide a way of having multiple complimentary wedding cake designs incorporating brides’ favourite design details and cake flavours.

Monogram Magic Wedding Cakes

Monogrammed cakes are the ultimate in personalisation. Although monograms have been used on luxury wedding cakes for a while, it’s repeated use on Princess Eugenie and Jack Broksbank’s wedding cake brought it to the mainstream.

Sophisticated Donut Towers

The humble donut had always felt like a poor relative next to it’s more sophisticated and chic sister, the macaron. However, as we hark back to our favourite childhood flavours, there is a wish to incorporate them into our celebrations. The donut has now been transformed from an ugly duckling into an elegant swan, with an increasing number of brides requesting them.

Bold and Colourful Wedding Cakes

At Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, we are known for making bright and colourful wedding cakes for couples who are looking for something off the beaten track. Colour is a fabulous way to add character to your wedding cake. The colour of your wedding cake is also influenced by your reception theme and venue and the time of year you are getting married. As the rule book has been torn up in 2019, a rich cake colour is also a way to push boundaries and add an element of non conformity.

Living Coral Wedding Cakes

Pantone recently declared Living Coral as the colour of the year 2019. With its hues of deep peach and pink, we will see this colour used in product development, in the fashion industry, home furnishings, graphic design and we daresay, in the wedding industry too. Once again, we seem to be ahead of the curve and featured this colour in our book OPULENCIA – Artisan Baking and Sugarcraft.

Floral Fantasy Wedding Cakes

It was lovely to see the art of sugar flowers being revived in luxury wedding cakes and a great example was Princess Eugenie’s autumnal floral fantasy. Sugar flowers have always been a firm favourite with us, and while the most popular sugar flowers we use on wedding cakes include the rose, peony, dahlia and the hydrangea, we also create more exotic ones such as parrot tulips, ranunculi and Chinese lanterns.

Wondrous White Textured Wedding Cakes

Traditionally, luxury wedding cakes as popularised by Queen Victoria had always been white as it denoted purity and was also a status symbol as only wealthy families could afford pure white sugar. While still a popular cake colour, it can look rather flat in photographs. In 2019, brides love the fact that adding texture in various forms can elevate a cake and add dimension. Textures can be in the form of sugar ruffles, frills, geodes, torn edible wafer, pearls, or even edible sequins.

Painted Wedding Cakes

Hand painted cakes are such a delight to behold. From watercolour washes, painted flowers, scripted prints and contemporary graphics painted cakes are literarily edible works of art that delight and astonish and they will continue to grow in popularity in 2019.

Unconventional Shaped Wedding Cakes

Wedding cake shapes can range from round, oblongs, heart and petal shaped to the more geometric square, hexagons and octagons. Round is the much preferred shape by many brides as it the shape of a wedding ring and it denotes a continuous circle of unbroken love. However, some brides are brave enough to opt for unique, unconventional cake shapes as they break away from the norm.

So there you have it!

We have shared our thoughts on what we see as the wedding cake trends for 2019 and hope this provides some inspiration for you.

If you are getting married in the nearest future, do not hesitate to contact us for a consultation at info@elizabethscakeemporium.com or by speaking with us at 07958069116

THE A TO Z OF CHOOSING YOUR LUXURY WEDDING CAKE

February 1, 2019

Wedding cakes have come a long way since the Roman Times when they were round plain wheaten cakes broken over the heads of brides as a symbol of fertility and goodness. Nowadays, ‘the cake’ often takes centre stage at any reception, being the only guest with its own table! There is so much choice out there available to a modern bride, as luxury wedding cakes have taken on a life of their own.

I first wrote this article nearly 10 years ago but so much has changed in the cake world in terms of style and taste and there have been huge advances in technology and cake decorating techniques.

Cake designs can vary in style from contemporary cakes with clean lines and very little adornment to the most complex and intricate multi tiered concoctions adorned with thousands of sugar flowers.

In addition to the emergence of luxury dessert tables; alternatives to cake such as macaron towers, donut towers, éclair towers and even Oreo cookie towers with or without a cutting cake are also popular, especially at relatively informal weddings.

The recent royal wedding cakes have focused attention on the spectrum of luxury wedding cakes available with one royal bride opting for a buttercream deconstructed cake and the other a monogrammed hand-painted affair with sugar flowers.

To help you explore further, Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium is delighted to provide the definitive A to Z guide on how to choose your luxury wedding cake.

A for Advice

Seek advice from a variety of sources such online such as wedding blogs, pinterest, wedding fairs, recent brides, venues, wedding planners, other wedding vendors and leading wedding publications and directories. Ultimately, one to one meetings are still the best way of finding a talented cake artist to help translate your ideas into reality.

B for Baker and Budget

Get the names of a number of recommended luxury wedding cake designers, visit their website and social media pages to get a feel for their ‘style’ and ring them up to have an informal chat. Next arrange an appointment to pay them a visit if you think you have the budget that matches their offering. At Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, we are happy to have an informal and relaxed consultation with you tailored to your needs. We strongly advise that you write down any questions you might have and feel free to ask away. Remember to take your other half along once you’ve narrowed your choice down, especially for the consultation and tasting, for which you might be charged a nominal fee.

At this meeting, one of the first topics you should discuss is your inclusive budget so the cake designer is aware of it and respectful of it.

C for Chemistry

Just like any other relationship, no matter how talented a cake designer is, there should be positive chemistry between both of you. He or she should be finely attuned to your requirements and should be able to guide and steer you in the right direction, making helpful suggestions on possible design options, flavours and fillings and how you would like the cake presented.

D for Design, Decorations and Dietary Requirements

Even of you don’t have a particular cake in mind, or even a photograph, make a collage of all the things that inspire your wedding style and take it along to your cake maker. It is important for you to have an idea of your wedding colours, the reception venue and flowers and the ambience you wish to create for your guests before planning the cake.
In terms of the cake design, a talented cake designer may be able to match the details on your stationery for instance, particular textures you love, your initials/monogram and wedding colours. They should also be able to offer other practical advice you may not have considered.

If you are vegan, vegetarian or have certain allergies/ special dietary requirements, please let the cake maker know, so this can be taken into consideration. It is also important to ask your guests too so provision can be made. It is possible to have great tasting and looking cakes that suits every dietary requirement.

E for Etiquette

Read up on wedding etiquette, so you know who has responsibility for what. In some cultures, it is the norm to also have a groom’s cake at the wedding, or even special sweets and treats, which may affect cake flavours and portions. Timing of the cutting and serving of the cake is also critical. Get your cake maker, wedding planner or coordinator to liaise with the venue’s kitchen and caterers ahead of the big day.

F for Flavours and Fillings

Gone are the days when wedding cakes were heavy, stodgy fruit cakes. You now have a choice of a variety of luxurious and delicious flavours. At Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium our cakes are made from the finest ingredients and we offer at least 50 different flavours. These range from triple chocolate delight, old fashioned caramel, tangy lemon to the more unusual white chocolate, toffee nut latte, green tea, and wasabi and white chocolate. Fillings can range from luxury chocolate ganache, to buttercreams and mousses. For a bit of variety, you can have each tier a different flavour to cater for all tastes.

G for Ground work

You have to do a lot of ground work to uncover the right cake designer but it is worth it for the peace of mind and confidence it will give you in the long run.

H for Hire costs

Just like it is essential to choose the right accessories for your wedding dress, the right accessories and how a cake is displayed can make all the difference. However, the right accessories tend to come at an extra cost, so make sure you bear this is mind when discussing your requirements.

I for Icing

The icing and coverings on luxury wedding cakes can include one of the following: royal icing, sugarpaste, ganache, chocolate wraps and butter cream. All these can be used to achieve a flawless, textured or rustic look. Sometimes cakes may even have a mixture of coverings. If you have a particular preference in terms of look or taste, do let your cake designer know. It is worth noting that the style of your wedding, the time of year and where the cake may be displayed and design considerations may affect the covering medium.

J for Judgement

Trust your instincts and the evidence when choosing a cake designer. It is better to go for a less elaborate cake that will be delivered on time, to cost and to standard than to go for a badly executed elaborate cake.

K for Kids

If you will be inviting a lot of children to your wedding consider having a separate table for them with their own mini wedding cake. It is gestures like this that help to make weddings memorable.

L for Leftovers

In the old days, it was customary for brides to save the top tier of their wedding cake for their first wedding anniversary or the birth of their first child. You can of course do this, and at Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, we offer you advice on the best way to preserve your top tier should you wish to do so.
Some brides choose to give individually packaged cupcakes to family and friends as an edible momento of such a special day. We have also worked with some altruistic and ethically conscious brides who donate leftovers to organisations such as homeless shelters (however you have to make sure that this is acceptable for health and safety reasons).

M for Marzipan

Commonly used by cake decorators to cover fruit cakes, it is made from almonds and has a sweet, distinctive taste. However, be aware that some of your guests might be allergic to nuts in any shape or form and it is advisable to warn such guests.

N for Notice

It’s best to give your chosen cake maker as much notice as you can, preferably a minimum of three to six months’ notice, especially if the cake design is quite elaborate. This will ensure that there is enough time to discuss and execute every detail of the design and content of your cake and there is also enough time for the designer to incorporate any changes. Having said that, you will find that some bakers can accommodate time constraints if it is not within peak wedding season and if you enquire very nicely.

O for Order

As soon as you can, obtain a written quote/invoice and contract on aspects of the cake design, such as the number of tiers, delivery costs, hire charges and other details. This will give you time to see if every requirement of yours had been noted accurately and to raise other issues that you might have.

P for Price

While it is advisable to shop around for the best price in order to get value for money, you may have to pay a premium for a particular cake designer’s brand, design skills and expertise, experience and reliability.

Q for Quality

You want you cake to accurately reflect your sense of style and elegance. When looking at wedding cakes, pay attention to details such as the finishing touches, how cakes are displayed and the accessories to ensure that they are what you require.

R for Reception

As the cake will take centre stage at the reception, discuss possible display areas and how the table will be dressed with your venue or event planner and cake maker. If for instance the cake will be iced in butter cream for a summer wedding, it is advisable not to display the cake in a hot room or place it near a window.

S for Size or Servings

The size of the cake should be appropriate to the number of guests. So if you are expecting hundreds of guests, you will need several cake tiers. Having said that, in the past we have worked with brides with small guest numbers who however love the impact and effect of a grand wedding cake. There are ways in which this could be achieved and this should be discussed with your cake designer.

T for Tastings

This is a huge topic and we will deal with it in much detail later on in the blog. First of all, it is important that your cake tastes as good as it looks. A good cake maker will offer you a tasting of a variety of flavours of cakes and fillings from which you can make your choice. There may be a charge for this which is usually deducted from the overall cost of the wedding cake should once you book the cake maker.

U for Unusual

If you want something a bit unusual and off the beaten track, some cake makers such as Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, will happily design a one off cake for you. We have a reputation for creating opulent. bespoke, ground breaking cakes using unusual shapes and colours. Some of them include our pillow cakes, Marie Antoinette cakes and painted cakes.

V for Venues and Value Added

Venues can be a great source for finding a luxury wedding cake designer and some may insist that you can only choose one from their preferred suppliers list. Some may even offer a wedding cake as part of their package. As you would be spending quite a considerable sum of money on your wedding cake, choose a cake maker that will contribute something special towards making your wedding great. It could be lending you an unusual cake knife, a great cake stand, a fabulous table cloth or even being a surrogate therapist.

W for Websites

A number of reliable cake designers will post pictures of their creations on their websites and social media pages, enabling you easy access to their portfolios and latest creations at a click of a button. This is a great source of ideas for your wedding cake and you will instantly know if you like or dislike a particular cake designer’s work.

X for Xtras

To quote a strap line from a famous advert, every little helps. With all the added extras such as the delivery and set up costs, the use of a special display table and table cloth, costs do add up and when deciding your budget be clear whether it’s inclusive of extras or not.

Y for You

Yes you! Organising a wedding can be stressful, so don’t sweat the small stuff. Once you’ve chosen a cake designer, relax, being confident that you’ve made the right choice. You are after all paying for the service of a professional who in collaboration with the other wedding vendors wants to make your day special and additionally has a reputation to protect.

Z for zzzzzzzzz

Again, in the run up to the wedding, the importance of getting lots of rest and relaxation cannot be overemphasized. Remember that although as a couple you will be the centre of attention as this is arguably the biggest event you may ever hold. Be careful to care for and nurture your mind, body and spirit. So relax and enjoy your special day.

Copyright Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium 2019

2018 IN REVIEW : A LOOK BACK AT THE CAKES, PEOPLE AND PLACES THAT SHAPED ELIZABETH’S CAKE EMPORIUM

January 1, 2019

Happy New Year everyone! It’s days into 2019 and it’s time to reflect on the incredible year we left behind. We enjoyed some amazing highs and quite a few ‘pinch me’ moments but above all we are very grateful and deeply honoured to serve all our amazing clients who trusted us to create their luxury wedding cakes and celebration cakes.

At Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, we pride ourselves on delivering some of the best wedding and celebration cakes for our most cherished clients to locations across the globe. Below are some of our few snapshot moments and highlights of 2018.

THE STAND OUT CAKES

Karen Tran Gala Dinner at The Lanesborough with Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium

The year got off to an incredible start when we were asked by world renowned celebrity florist Karen Tran to help plan her London masterclass and royal gala dinner for early Spring. The only venue we thought had the right grandeur and ambience for the event was The Lanesborough in Hyde Park. We also asked one of our favourite wedding planners, multi award winning Jane Riddell of Planned for Perfection to work with us and with WildAbout, one of the most celebrated florists in the UK, we put on what was arguably the industry’s event of the year. The event received incredible press and we are very grateful to all our partners who worked so hard and brought their A game to the culminating gala dinner.

Opulencia on the Beach

The next stop in our luxury wedding cake adventure was a private beach in Ibiza, The Amante Beach Club. The bride absolutely loves opulence and wanted a really huge cake for her wedding on the beach. We got to work with the utterly amazing and very helpful Paula Rooney Flowers which is always a bonus. Although we were warned that the venue was up a cliff, the sight of the cake being carried up such a steep face is one I will never forget!

Chanel Inspiration at The Lanesborough

In between the record number of luxury wedding cakes we made this summer, we made some rather awesome luxury celebration cakes too. We were lucky to make this Chanel themed luxury dessert table for the most beautiful 16 year old who wanted an intimate sophisticated lunch with her friends. For this lush cakescape we created a number of cakes including two macaron towers, black and white cakes with the Chanel logo, cupcakes, cookies, cakesicles and the cutest chocolate perfume bottles. We got to work with our dear friends from WildAbout and Plume Design UK to create a beautiful setting in the wood panelled room St George’s room at The Lanesborough.

Jewelencia at The Lanesborough

We were back again at The Lanesborough Hyde Park for the most special of events. Event Imagineer, Tony Marklew, designed the most impressive floral wonderland we have ever seen and at Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium and we have certainly seen quite a few floral designs in our time! The cake was designed to reflect our client’s love for the colour green, gold and everything regal. This 7 tiered green marble cake had sugar jewels including a hummingbird and sugar flowers, and a monogram of her initial. She was absolutely delighted with her cake and could not get over how incredible it looked and tasted.

bold-and-beautiful

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS AND JUDGING DUTIES

GT Bank Food and Drink

It was an absolute honour to be the first luxury wedding cake maker to be invited to demonstrate at the largest food fair in Africa alongside food gurus such Lorraine Pascale and Ed Kimber. The hospitality was incredible and the thirst for knowledge inspiring. The bank’s holistic approach to empowering local communities is one to emulate.

Bridelux Symposium

The first ever Bridelux symposium was held in London and was a resounding success for the founder James Lord and his team. It was an honour to be part of a line up that included Johhny Roxburgh, Colin Cowie, Ceci Johnson, Banana Split and many others. Our panel included celebrity florist Rob Van Helden who did the most divine flowers autumnal flowers for Princess Eugenie’s royal wedding.

Expert spot on The BBC’s Best Christmas Food Ever

A pinch me moment was filming my segment for the first season of the BBC’s Best Christmas Food Ever presented by Paul Ainsworth and Catherine Fulvio. I was asked to create the best luxury Christmas cake table I could think of in classic Christmas colours. It was lots of fun and the crew were absolutely amazing. If anyone is interested, the programme is available on BBC iplayer and You Tube. Search for Season 1 Episode 4 and somewhere in the middle of the programme is my segment.

Italian Wedding Awards

We were again invited back as a judge at the annual Italian Wedding Awards. Anyone who knows us knows of our love for Italy and this time, the awards were held in Venice! Although we had seen photos and paintings of the canals of Venice but didn’t realise that water is literarily everywhere and we mean everywhere. Taking our first ever water taxi from the airport was indescribable. After a while, we all got used to traveling within the city that way.

We stayed at the Hotel Danieli, the first ever luxury hotel in the city and we can confirm that it really does have the best roof top views and food. Huge congratulations to the organisers and award winners. We look forward to seeing you all again later this year.

COLLABORATIONS AND PRESS

Styled shoots

2018 was an incredible year for collaborations at Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium. We absolutely love a great styled shoot. Give us an idea or a concept and watch us run with it. The year before we stopped giving our ideas away. Last year we really stepped up and explored some very cool concepts. This resulted in a number of shoots and one that went completely viral.

Bruce Oldfield Promotional Shoot

We were absolutely over the moon when we were asked to style a promotional shoot for world renowned Bruce Oldfield by The Lanesborough to celebrate their joint new bridal offering. The very talented WildAbout provided the amazing florals and San of Sanshine Photography worked her magic behind the lens.

Frida Kahlo Shoot

Billed as the best set of images on Instagram, this shoot was based on Frida Kahlo’s most famous painting, Las Dos Fridas – The Two Fridas. The shoot was about celebrating the duality of a feminine feminist icon and it coincided with the first showing of her personal effects outside of Mexico at the Victoria and Albert museum.

The incredible dresses which provided the inspiration for the shoot were designed by the very talented Joanne Fleming who is one of the most talented individuals I know. Leanne of WildAbout and her team designed the most beautiful floral canopy which left everyone in awe. Special thanks goes to the wonderful Roberta Facchini Photography who captured all the beauty. It was a joy to direct this shoot and work with a great team of immensely talented suppliers.

The shoot was featured in so many blogs and magazines including Vogue, Rock My Wedding, Strictly Weddings and 100 Layer Cake and also in the annual 2019 International Trend Report. We are so glad that we held on to the vision, concept and story line, overcoming many obstacles to make sure we executed it to perfection.

Cake International

We were asked by renowned chocolate and cake guru Daniel Dieguz to collaborate with him on an epic installation at the Cake International show in Birmingham. We created a fantasy head and bust cake, Madmoiselle Opulencia, the mistress of all things patisserie. It was quite a challenging piece and a bit of a departure from our usual luxury wedding cakes but we did make sure she was all pastries and glamour.

In all, our cakes received and enjoyed an unprecedented level of press madmoiselle-opulencia being published and shared by international and national print and online press including Vogue Japan (twice) Wedluxe, Strictly Weddings, Rock My Wedding, Love My Dress, Condenast Brides, You and Your Wedding, Wedding Ideas, Karas Party Ideas, 100 Layer Cake etc

AWARDS

For those in the know, Cake Masters awards are the Oscars of the cake industry and very highly coveted. 2018 saw around 200,000 nominations! For the first time in the UK, Cake Masters recognised the top ten cake designers in the UK and we made the list. Now considering that there are literarily thousands of very talented cake makers out there, to be acknowledged means a great deal. Thank you Cake Masters!

TRAVEL

Our adventures took us to a number of continents, countries and over 30 cities including Paris, Bahamas, Ibiza, Venice, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, Amsterdam, Africa and the Middle East.

We don’t know what 2019 holds but early indications suggest another exciting, prosperous and wonderful year ahead in our world of luxury wedding and celebration cakes. Best of blessings to all and watch this space!

ELIZABETH’S CAKE EMPORIUM : 2017 IN REVIEW & LOOKING AHEAD

January 29, 2018

It’s that time of the year again where we look back on what has simply been an extraordinary year for us at Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium. We are very, very grateful for the many brides and grooms and clients who chose to work with us this year. It has indeed been a privilege to serve you and create the most opulent celebration and wedding cakes for you.

There were so many top moments and a few that stood out include:

THE STAND OUT CAKES

The Landmark

2017 kicked off for us with a mahoosive bang. We were honoured to make the grandest of wedding cakes for a rather special wedding at the Landmark Hotel in London. Made up of 14 tiers, it featured thousands of hand made sugar flowers, custom made sugar gold baroque swag and drop detailing and other edible gold embellishments. The wedding cake was so tall it touched the chandelier of the rather high ceilings of the ballroom. To understand the scale of the wedding, two of the wedding singers were Mariah Carey and Elton John! The wedding made headlines around the world, with many in the media calling it the wedding of the year. And this was only January!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4124122/Billionaire-Russian-oligarch-spends-3-5MILLION-hiring-Sir-Elton-John-Mariah-Carey-19-year-old-granddaughter-s-wedding-swish-London-hotel.html

Blenheim Palace

Fast forward to a few months later and we got the amazing opportunity to make another beautiful wedding cake for the most lavish and opulent wedding at the historic Blenheim Palace. In fact the press called it the wedding of the century. We are very grateful to the client for having such faith in us to deliver such beautiful edible art. The stunning wedding flowers were by floral genius Jeff Leatham and it was reported that he used over 1million blooms to create the jaw dropping decor.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4595722/Is-lavish-wedding-EVER.html

Castilla Termal Monasterio De Valbuena, Spain

The next stop for Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium in our wedding cake adventure was Spain. The venue was the exclusive and exquisite Castilla Termal one the best preserved Cistercian monasteries of the 12th century in Europe. We had the pleasure of working with an amazing bride and the most incredible event planner and team of suppliers. The wedding came to the notice of one of the biggest TV stars in the UK who pinned and shared the cake on her instagram page for her own upcoming wedding and created a press frenzy. As if that wasn’t enough, one of biggest rap stars in the world, the OG that is Snoop Dogg instagrammed the wedding twice on his page! Sometimes real life can indeed be stranger than fiction.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Atinuda

Over the years in my different careers, I’ve had the opportunity to speak at many events, demonstrations and conferences. It’s a lot harder than it looks and there is a lot of pressure to ensure that the content is engaging, meaningful and relevant to the target audience. I was so honoured to speak alongside world renowned experts like Preston Bailey and Marcy Blum at this year’s Atinuda which was intimidating enough. It was also very humbling to be the only speaker to get a standing ovation from the attendees. I also had a pinch myself moment when the maestro that is Preston kindly gave me the very best advice I’ve had in years. I will indeed be taking his advice and hopefully spreading my wings a little, so watch this space.

COLLABORATIONS AND PRESS

Karen Tran

Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium had the privilege of being approached by Karen Tran to collaborate with her on one of her master classes and create one of our signature luxury wedding cakes. The event was held at the St Regis in Florence. It was fantastic to watch Karen at work (I honestly don’t know where she gets her energy from) as she created another memorable floral spectacle. My team and I created a 9 tier pink shimmer baroque cake which was the focal point of the gala dinner. In fact, once again the image of the cake went viral! A huge thanks to all the masterclass attendees and everyone who supported us including my lovely Raffaele and the staff at the St Regis.

Styled shoots

Collaborative shoots give us a creative outlet and more importantly it gives us an opportunity to meet with and network with other suppliers in the luxury events industry. I decided to stop giving away my ideas, concepts and story boards and instead take creative control by organising inclusive shoots where everyone shines and get properly credited for their hard work. This resulted in three amazing styled shoots that proved to be unbelievably popular. They include Tulip Fever, Lady of the Lake and Glimmer and Shine – a Unicorn inspired shoot. I am truly grateful to all the suppliers who trusted in the vision and went above and beyond to create magic with me. It was the best learning, has given me a new found confidence, enabled me to hone my skills and discover ones I didn’t know I had. In all our cakes were published and shared by international and national print and online press including Wedluxe, Strictly Weddings, Condenast Brides, You and Your Wedding, Wedding Chicks, Cosmopolitan, and the Daily Mail over 200 times.

http://strictlyweddings.com/blog/2017/10/lavish-wedding-ideas-delft-blue/

http://www.youandyourwedding.co.uk/ideas/mood-boards/wedding-style-modern-pastels/22716.html

http://strictlyweddings.com/blog/2017/09/dreamy-english-countryside-wedding-inspiration/

Brides The Show

Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium had the honour of being approached to exhibit at Brides the Show by Condenast Brides magazine at the Business Design Centre in October. Not only that, we also created a huge range of Marie Antoinette inspired cakes for the charity Make a Wish Foundation. The incredible prizes to be won included a trip to Dubai, stays in 5 Star hotels, a diamond necklace and a designer wedding dress. It was lovely seeing the generosity exhibited by brides to be and the stand was one of the most popular at the show.

We also had the honour of showcasing our cakes at Corrigans, Mayfair and Caroline Charles, Knightsbridge.

AWARDS

When Eat, Love Savor included Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium on their annual list of the Masterful 100 awards, it came as a bit of shock! With brands like Rolls Royce, Krug, Lalique, Cartier, Harry Winston and Meissen on the list, we felt very honoured and grateful to be the only cake maker included. I have no idea how they found us but I am very glad they did!

We also won Cake Designer of the Year at the English Wedding Awards which again was conferred. We would like to thank both teams for the wonderful recognition and we will continue to work very hard to earn and deserve such honour.

https://eatlovesavor.com/masterful-100-top-100-luxury-experts-brands-list/

TRAVEL

Our work took us to 4 continents and over 20 cities including Paris (thrice), Prague, Budapest, Morocco, Italy, France and the Middle East. Some of the projects we worked were quite confidential (all will be revealed in time) and others included teaching and demoing as part of my role as brand ambassador for Massa Ticino, the best sugarpaste in the world! I also attended a conference or two, most notably the Inner Circle Experience which I shall be blogging about later.

JUDGING DUTIES

The year rounded up nicely with a judging role at The Italian Wedding Awards held in Florence. We were given a lovely welcome by The Four Seasons Firenze and the organisers and the cuisine was to die for. All the entrants were of a very high standard and I had the distinct pleasure of sampling all the edible treats as part of my duties! Well someone has to do it and it might as well be me. A huge bravo and complimenti to all the winners and finalists.

https://www.facebook.com/ItalianWeddingAwards/videos/753154644875185/

I think we’ve earned a well deserved break and we will be back to regale you with more tales soon!

THE BIGGEST WEDDING CAKE OF THE YEAR AT THE LANDMARK

January 30, 2017

So our year started off with a bang at Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium HQ.

We were very honoured to be chosen to make the largest and most elegant luxury wedding cake anyone had ever seen for what has been deemed the wedding of the year, even though it’s only January!

As if we were not under enough pressure, when we heard that Elton John and Mariah Carey would be performing at the wedding we knew we simply had to create an impressive and memorable wedding cake.

Our client’s vision was for an elegant and fairly traditional wedding cake with thousands of the most realistic sugar roses and sugar flowers. We took our inspiration from the colour scheme of white and soft pastels of blushes and lilac; and the ultimate luxury metallic – gold.

Standing at 10 feet tall (it would have been even taller but a number of tiers had to be removed as the cake would not have fit perfectly under the ballroom’s chandelier otherwise) and 5 feet in diameter, it was the biggest cake anyone had ever seen and took 4 men to carry the base alone.

The wedding cake was decorated with baroque swags and embellishments painted with sheets of edible 24 carat gold. We used custom made silicone moulds to create the round gold sugar brooches on the cake which matched those on the invitations.

The huge wedding cake also featured 10,000 handmade sugar flowers including sugar roses in shades of white, blush and lilac, sugar blossoms and sugar hydrangeas. The sugar flowers took over 300 hours to make by a team of four.

The cake flavours included vintage Champagne and Strawberries, Peaches and Cream, Sicilian Lemon, Red Velvet and Triple Chocolate Delight and over 1,000 duck eggs went into the making of the cake.

Using the latest projection mapping technology, images of the couple’s monogram, wedding date and other favourite characters such as Tinkerbell were beamed on to the cake during the cake cutting ceremony.

https://vimeo.com/199837386

The result was a stunning and very grand luxury wedding cake fit for the loveliest and most blessed of couples. It is no wonder images of the cake went viral and was reported the press globally after being featured alongside those of Elton John and Mariah Carey who played incredible sets at the wedding.

Image credits Nek Vardikos of NV Photographers and Anthony Craddock Photography. Video credit to Jade of Jade Gooch films.

2016 in Review – Passions, Projects and People

December 30, 2016

No one will forget 2016 in a hurry. From natural to man-made wars and disasters and unprecedented changes in our cultural and political landscapes some events have been shocking and surprising in equal measure. In fact, I almost gave up on 2016 when PRINCE died. His music was literarily the soundtrack of my life.

It is easy in the face of constant bad and unsettling news to lose hope. Being a firm believer of positive thinking and more importantly positive acts and actions, to paraphrase Her Majesty the Queen, we may not have the power to make huge changes to the world, but individually, we can all so small things with great love. For this we need a great deal of passion, projects we believe in and people (good and also bad).

Passions

1. The Launch of my long awaited book OPULENCIA was probably the single most important thing I did this year. I have been lucky to have my cakes published and even make the front cover of magazines for many years but nothing beats seeing your own book in print.

The decision to self-publish was not an easy one and it took a lot of courage, time, energy and money to bring my vision to pass. It was hard wearing many hats and juggling the roles of writer, copy editor, publisher, designer, stylist etc. However, the level of success of OPULENCIA completely caught me by surprise. It not only reached the Amazon top 20 in the cake decorating and baking books categories, it won awards at the Paris Book Festival, the New England Book Festival and the London Book Festival. We also got really positive reviews, features and mentions in cake magazines, on baking blogs and in the mainstream press.

OPULENCIA was also shortlisted (we made the final four!!) out of 65,000 entries for a prestigious #cakeoscar at the world renowned Cake Masters Awards awards ceremony in Birmingham. Being the only self-published book with no big publishing name behind it and no marketing budget, to be validated and honoured in this way was simply beyond my wildest dreams.

2. Travel – This was the year of travel for me. Now in the past, our cakes have been sent to different parts of the world and I get a little jealous as they receive better treatment than me (private jets, refrigerated trucks, limousines and special packaging). However, 2016 decided it was time for me to spread my wings a little.

It all kicked off in January when we were chosen by Quintessentially to work on an exclusive wedding at The Shangri-La in Paris (road trip!!). Working in a two Michelin star kitchen with some of the best chefs in the world was incredible. The staff were soooo supportive and it remains one of my best culinary experiences so far. Our incredibly huge cake and lush cake table was so well received the General Manager of the Hotel Stefan Bollhalder had this to say “I have to congratulate you on the design and quality of cake you made, just outstanding” Need I say more?

Come February, it was back in France again, this time Marseille, where I was invited as an ambassador of Massa Ticino by Carma (the BEST sugarpaste in the world) to judge the French Cake Championships at Expogato. Organised by the very talented Sarah Gough, it was an honour to not only help choose a winner but I had the opportunity to teach and demo a number of cake decorating techniques.

Other countries I visited in the course of my cake adventures include Singapore (the cleanest, most pristine city ever), Prague (the most beautiful architecture that rivals even Paris), Czech Republic (beautiful food and people), Slovakia (the nicest hotel experience), Switzerland (my most favourite city and hands down purveyors of the best chocolate. I’m coming back for you Confiseri Sprungli and Laderach) and New Orleans (I met my SHERO, the incredibly talented and arguably the best street jazz musician Doreen Ketchens @DoreensJazzNewOrleans).

I feel so honoured to be able to share my work and art with so many people and massive thanks to everyone who showed up and bought a copy of OPULENCIA.

Projects

1. Teaching – For years, I kept getting requests from potential students all over the world to teach. However, I didn’t want to me a ‘me too’ teacher. There are lots of YouTube videos for that. What I wanted to teach was something that I see so may cake businesses struggling with, so I teamed up with Shikhita Singh of Fair Cake and we came up with the course “How to Sell Your Cakes” The class has been a rip-roaring success, attracting students from all over the world. Thank you for all your kind comments and we have more success building content in store for you next year.

2. Collaborations – I’ve been incredibly blessed to collaborate with the best names in the business this year. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love networking and lending a helping hand and collaborations can be a result. They are an opportunity to come up with unique and new ideas and flex a little creative muscle. They can also push new trends, they encourage personalisation, and of course provide the most stunning images for one’s portfolio. This year, a few of the names we collaborated with includes Amie Bone Flowers for their 10th year anniversary bash at The Shard, Suzanne Neville’s ‘The Portrait Collection’ at the Tower of London, Gordon Ramsay Weddings and Zita Elze at Brides the Show.

Some of the collaborations led to features in magazines and blogs including Brides Magazine, Strictly Weddings, The MayFair Times, Rock My Wedding, Perfect Weddings, You and Your Weddings, Grace Ormonde, in a Sony Columbia Film and on Channel4!

A special mention also goes to Kitchen Aid who not only gave me not one, not two but THREE lush Kitchen Aid mixers in our rich OPULENCIA purple to promote my book. I can’t believe a very cool brand like that would not only partner with us but also take part in our giveaway and extend a warm welcome to Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium. Just amazing.

http://www.cakemasters.co.uk/win-one-of-three-kitchen-aid-mixers/

Thank you also to WATERSTONES especially Hyebin Lee who not only hosted my book signing but made the decision for the store to stock OPULENCIA. It was very emotional for me to see my book on the shelves alongside my cake heroes such as Nigella, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.

https://www.list.co.uk/event/621191-opulencia-book-launch/

3. Speaking engagements – for some reason, I am considered to be a coach, mentor and self-help insta guru. Heaven knows I can do with all three myself! I was very honoured to be asked to speak at a number of events including one at JP Morgan where I met the founder of Aduna Andrew (not James) Hunt who is crazy about Baobab (Bao what you might say, please look it up) and wants to change the world. A fabulous example of someone doing seemingly small things with great love and getting big results.

4. Cakes – my true love and reason for Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium. Now I’m not just saying this but we made some really beautiful cakes this year and the proof of this was being nominated and SHORTLISTED out of thousands of entries worldwide, for yet another Cake Masters award for the category of Best Wedding Cake Designer.

To create the incredible cakes take a lot of thought, time and work and of course lovely people who not only choose to work with us but also trust us to create something truly special. This year we created some sky high fairy tale castles, secret garden confections, dramatic edible gold baroques and white ethereal beauties. The diversity of our cake designs and range may be why we keep attracting some of the best clients and venues in the world. For me, to borrow the words of Meghan Trainor, ‘it’s all about the cake, no gimmicks’

People

This bit is going to read like the #cakeoscar speech I didn’t get to make, so please indulge me. 2016 would not have been what it was for me if not for the incredible team around me. Many thanks to Mr Massa himself, Fabian who has been a true believer and supporter. Thanks also to the clients, planners and venues for the wonderful opportunities to create some art and magic.

I would also like to thank Nek Vardikos for his incredible images, occasional styling and for being an all-around good egg. Thank you also to Kim, Charlie and Catherine for their incredible support and advice. Thanks also to my family for everything. I am also thankful to my heavenly Father who makes all things possible. Thank you, Lord, for a wonderful 2016 and here’s to an incredible 2017!

WE MAKE THE FINALS FOR TWO CAKE MASTERS AWARDS

October 14, 2016

In the cake world, nothing generates more excitement, than the cake awards by Cake Masters Magazine. Affectionately known as the #cakeoscars, it is considered to be the most prestigious cake awards and the only one of its kind. Founded by Rosie Mazumder three years ago, it celebrates the excellent work of cake artists around the world and attracts up to 30,000 nominations globally!

To my utter shock and delight, Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium was nominated in two different categories, namely, Best Wedding Cake Award and our book OPULENCIA in the Best Cake Book Award category.

When I was notified that out of tens of thousands of nominations, we had made it to the final 4 in BOTH categories! I cried non stop as it is such a huge deal to be recognised amongst all the amazing talent out there.

This is the third year of the Cake Masters Magazine Awards event in association with the leading show organisers, Cake International; The Sugarcraft, Cake Decorating & Baking Show. The award ceremony will take place on 5th November 2016 at the Birmingham NEC. The evening traditionally includes a drinks reception, three course dinner, awards ceremony and an after party to dance the night away celebrating with all the 2016 winners.

I was unable to attend last year but I am determined to be there this year. I will be keeping everything crossed and will try very hard not to embarrass myself as I mingle and ‘fangirl’ over my cake heroes.

AWARD-WINNING COLLABORATION WITH ZITA ELZE FLOWERS AT THE BRIDES SHOW

October 4, 2016

One of the things we love at Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium HQ is the fact that every working day is different and sometimes we never know how things will unfold. On what seemed like another ordinary day we were utterly delighted to receive an invitation to collaborate with Zita Elze on her stand at this year’s Brides The Show.

Now Zita Elze has form. Winner of numerous awards, she has a delicate, ethereal other worldly style which we first encountered years ago when she made a very imaginative living floral embroidery dress of epic proportions. She is always ahead of the game and it is no wonder that students come from all over the world to learn her unique floral design secrets.

This year, her concept for Brides The Show was pure white, modern chic with sparkling transparent notes, a 21st century fairytale. Layers of texture, white on white with touches of green and the tiniest dash of red flecked bougainvillea. Finely scripted engraved perspex discs danced in the light, hanging from a tree laden with cherry blossom, hydrangea and ammi announcing the wedding guests’ seating. A full length table runner of cow parsley (fresh and silk), ammi, gladioli, dahlia, stocks, rice flower, astilbe, gypsophila and eustoma graced the top table which was dressed with antique crystal and fine silverware. Pedestal arrangements at either side featured hydrangea, ammi, cow parsley and scabiosa.

To complete this ethereal wedding design Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium designed an elegant and romantic 6 tier petal shaped wedding cake in pure white. The cake petal indentations were decorated with bands of white pearlised sugar pearls and along the borders of each tier were white sugar mouldings. The cake tiers sat in pairs on customised petal shaped cake boards with risers in between the cake pairs.

Zita embroidered the cake with fresh flowers in shades of whites and greens with such delicacy and lightness of touch and the cake was also framed by a cherry blossom tree resulting in a very elegant and dreamy wedding cake.

It was no surprise that yet again, Zita was honoured with the prestigious prize of the Editor’s Gold Design Award, awarded by Jade Beer, Brides magazine’s editor who said:

“You can always rely on Zita to create something imaginative and ahead of the game, but this year at Brides The Show I felt she topped all expectations with an installation that was so full of ideas for brides-to-be who clearly loved what they were seeing.”

Images courtesy of Julian Winslow Photography

MARIE ANTIONETTE WEDDING CAKES MASTERPIECE

September 26, 2016

When beautiful Lebanese bride Lina made contact with us, she had a firm idea of the kind of wedding cake she wanted. Having fallen in love with our purple ombre baroque Marie Antoinette wedding cake, she envisioned the design taking centre stage at her wedding reception at The Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in Knightsbridge but in glorious shades of pink.

From the moment we met Lina and her lovely sister, we were struck by how beautiful she was inside and out! Very unassuming, she had firm ideas about what she wanted her cake to look like – huge but tastefully so. She wanted it to be a focal point of the reception because traditionally, Lebanese weddings tend to feature the biggest and most lavish wedding cakes.

The cake had a 26 inch bottom tier and was made up of 6 tiers in total each 10 inches deep and was topped with a handcrafted sugar pedestal topper. The tiers were decorated with lavish sugar gold coin swags, acanthus leaves, cherubs, cameos and different shades of pink sugar roses, hydrangeas, blossoms, berries, stephanotis and assorted filler flowers. Renowned London award winning florist Amie Bone flowers provided the ring of pink blooms that surrounded the cake. She also designed the beautiful wedding flowers, transforming the ballroom of the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel into a pink floral wonderland.

The chosen cake flavours included our famous Triple Chocolate (her husband’s favourite), Red Velvet, Vanilla, Lemon and a selection of gluten free cupcakes which she thoughtfully ordered for some of her guests.

The cake drew lots of admirers, including the Events Director who confessed that having previously worked in some of the best hotels around the world, she had never seen a cake that detailed!

We wish Lina and her Prince Charming the very best of blessings as they embark on their new journey together.

Passions

Projects

People

Recent Posts