Tag: luxury cakes

15 Must Know Baking Tips For Luxury Cakes

July 1, 2019

Making luxury wedding cakes is both a science and an art form and at Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, it always starts with a great bake.

The foundation for any cake design is a tried and tested cake recipe, paired with delicious fillings that not only taste amazing, but also hold up to the rigours of decoration and stacking. Having experienced many a baking disaster in my time, through trial and error, I discovered some of the secrets to good, consistent bakes.

These 15 baking tips culled from my best selling artisan baking and decorating book OPULENCIA will help ensure that you get closer to baking perfect cakes every time.

BAKING TIPS

The Right Equipment

Start with the right equipment. Ensure you have a properly calibrated oven that you are familiar with, in particular, its quirks. It is also important to use the right type and size of baking tin for each recipe.

The Right Temperature is Key!

Preheat your oven until it reaches the desired temperature at least half an hour before baking. For some ovens a light will go out, some will bleep. To be certain your oven is at the right temperature though, check with an oven thermometer.

Mise en Place

Practice the method professional chefs call ‘Mise en place’. This is where you assemble all your ingredients and equipment, ticking them off your list before you start baking.

Accuracy – Weigh and Measure Everything

Be accurate with the weighing and measuring of ingredients to achieve consistent results.

Achieving Moist Bakes

Place a shallow pan of water at the bottom of the oven especially when baking fruit cakes, or if the cake is quite large and requires a longer baking time.

Bring Ingredients to Room Temperature

Butter, eggs and milk should be brought to room temperature before baking to prevent any curdling later on.

The Creaming Process

Cream the butter and sugar together at a very high speed until the colour pales to nearly white and the mixture is light and fluffy. Do not set a time limit for this step. I often advise that you walk away from the mixer during the creaming process, only interrupting to scrape the bowl down once or twice.

Sift the Flour

When sifting your flour, lift the sieve high as this allows more air to be incorporated.

Types of Cocoa Powder

There are generally three types of cocoa powder, natural (more bitter and acidic), Dutch processed (less bitter and alkaline) and black (deep chocolatey flavour and least bitter). If the chocolate cake recipe contains baking powder, use the Dutch processed or the black cocoa powder. If the recipe contains baking soda, use natural cocoa powder.

Best Kept Secret for Sponge Cakes

You may add 1 or 2 tablespoons of meringue powder to your batter to help your sponge cake rise.

Use Sponge Flour

For Luxury Wedding Cakes, use sponge flour or cake flour where you can. The lower protein, finer granules and extra sifting of the flour makes for a light and airy cake.

Follow the Recipe to the Letter

Follow the recipe as accurately as possible, but keep in mind that the outcome will depend on a number of variables such as your oven stability, quality of ingredients, the process and equipment used.

Always Line Your Baking Tin

I always line my baking tins before adding cake batter. This ensures the cake is released easily from your baking tin every time without fail. I use greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Cake release sprays also work, but I prefer to line my tins for that added assurance.

Trouble Shooting

If a cake is too crumbly, this may be a consequence of using too much flour, insufficient moisture in the cake mix or under-mixing. On the other hand, over-mixing can result in overdevelopment of the gluten in the flour, giving the cake a coarse grain or large and uneven holes.

Is My Cake Done Yet?

Test whether your cake is baked using your sense of smell, observing the colour (cakes should be a nice golden brown), using your sense of touch (when pressed in the centre, a well-baked cake should spring back immediately) and lastly, a skewer inserted through the centre of the cake should come out clean.

We hope that you find these tips useful.

For more fool proof recipes and tips, head over to Amazon, where you can buy our ebook OPULENCIA.

Introducing Luxury Wedding Planner Lindy Dowling

June 27, 2019

On today’s blog post, I thought I’d switch things up a bit and have a guest blog post. In our 13 years of making cakes we have worked with many amazing wedding planners. Those that stand out to us are those that put their clients at the centre of all they do and treat their suppliers with kindness and dignity.

Lindy Dowling is an awesome luxury event planner we’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of times and every time has always been a delight! She attracts clients from all walks of life, as she is always calm, lovely and unflappable. She tells us a little about herself and her plans for the future.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Lindy, I’ve been planning weddings and events for a very long time now, predominantly covering London, The Home Counties and The Cotswolds. I have experience with all budgets and pretty much every wedding you can imagine over the years and I have loved being a part of each one.

I’m a calm, confident, positive person. I take pride in the experience I have and love nothing more than planning new events, meeting new clients and developing long lasting relationships along the way.

How did you get into wedding planning?

I had my own floristry business for a short while, after taking a break from my City job of 10+ years. Luckily I met a wonderful planner at a wedding fayre, who I then began working alongside. She gave me the motivation to set up my own business. I’ve always been incredibly organized and reliable as well as being very passionate about weddings, so it felt like a natural progression for me to break into the wedding planning industry.

What is a typical day like for you?

First tea! I start my day by checking emails, my to-do lists for the weddings I’m currently working on, followed by calls or meetings with my lovely clients and suppliers alike. You won’t find me on social media much. I’m quite old school in that respect and humble with my work. Predominantly my day is spent liaising with suppliers and working on my client’s schedules and budget sheets – very glamorous!

Your most favourite wedding to date?

I come away from every wedding thinking it’s my new favourite. I’ve been incredibly lucky to plan many glitzy, glamorous and high profile weddings over the years. However, some of my most memorable weddings have been those with a simple ceremony at a London Town Hall, followed by a classy, elegant reception. I love having the ceremony in a separate location away from the reception – it allows for the wow factor when guests arrive full of anticipation (and a glass of bubbly) at the reception.

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Five tips for couples looking to get married;

1. Set a budget and aim to stick to this throughout the planning process. If you don’t have a clear budget set, it’s too easy to be dazzled and before you know it your costs are spiralling out of control.

2. Be realistic about guest numbers and invite those family and friends who are important to you – not just because you feel under pressure to have them there. It’s your day after all.

3. It’s never too early to start work on your table plan. Most of my clients find this the most stressful part, but it doesn’t need to be if you begin this way ahead of time.

4. Book your Photographer asap! The best photographers get booked up super fast, so it’s always key to book at the very beginning of your wedding planning journey. I always say ‘After the big day has been and gone, you’re left with wonderful memories, a wedding ring and your photos’. Don’t scrimp on the photographer as it’ll end up being so much more important as years go by. I still look at my Grandparent’s wedding album now – it’s something I’ll treasure forever now they’re gone.

5. Take time out to enjoy the planning process. Book a weekend away before your big day – just the two of you and relax, leave the plans at home and enjoy each other’s company.

What lessons have you learned along the way?

Gosh, I could write a book on my experiences and the lessons I have learnt throughout my time as a wedding planner! That’s why I value my experience so highly. I get countless emails each day from people wishing they were a wedding planner, regarding the profession as being uber glamorous with days spent sampling cakes and wine. In reality it is extremely hard work and much more labour intensive on the day than you would imagine. Most wedding planners will tell you the day after a successful wedding you feel like you’ve been hit by a bus – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Name your top 5 venues and what venue would be your dream venue to work with?

The Wallace Collection, The Savile Club, Claridge’s, Aynhoe Park and Petersham Nurseries. I don’t really have a dream venue in mind which I’d like to work with, as for me it’s more about finding my dream client. I’ve been extremely lucky over the years to have worked for so many lovely clients, whom have become friends.

What has been the biggest wedding catastrophe you successfully averted?

One of my clients bridesmaids left her dress in a taxi on the morning of the wedding. After numerous calls, I was able to track down the driver whom I arranged to meet to collect the dress. Luckily the bride was none the wiser! I also remember fixing a damaged wedding cake alongside a wonderful florist many years back now. Again, my clients had no idea and the cake looked great!

What are we to expect from you in the future?

I don’t have any grand plans to expand or evolve. My future plans are to continue to create wonderful, memorable, timeless events for my clients. After all – it’s always about them for me.

For incredible wedding inspiration and to contact Lindy, visit her website at https://www.lindydowling.co.uk/

The United Colours Of Massa Ticino

June 25, 2019

Our love for creating beautiful luxury bespoke couture cakes knows no bounds and we always ensure we use the best ingredients possible. This ranges from the ingredients used in our bakes to the best the sugar paste and fondant we use in enrobing all our cakes.

For the past 10 years, we have exclusively used Massa Ticino, arguably the best sugar paste in the world. We share a little insight as to why it will always be our go to sugarpaste/fondant below.

The origins of Massa Ticino sugarpaste

Made in Switzerland by chocolate manufacturer Carma, Massa Ticino sugarpaste was invented in the beautiful canton of Ticino, the Italian speaking part of the country by two brothers.

Carma’s founding father Carl Maentler was so taken by the invention that he decided to industrialise the product in 1963 and it quickly earned a reputation for being the world’s best sugar paste.

How I got to know about this fabulous product

Many moons ago, I decided to take a class with the awesome Colette Peters, the originator of contemporary wedding cake techniques that are widely used today. During the course of the class, she used this amazing sugarpaste, Massa Ticino Tropic, which was very elastic, with great workability. It did not rip, tear or crack! It seemed almost like a miracle, especially for such an inexperienced newbie like myself. She even poked a hole in the sugarpaste with a knife and we watched in awe as she smoothed over the hole in no time.

When I came back to the UK, I started a quest to find a stockist for Massa Ticino and with great difficulty, I tracked the only stockist down. Years later, with the advent of social media, I was able to make direct contact with a Carma representative and introduce them to a number of online cake product retailers. This coincided with the launch of their colour range and the rest as they say is history. I am now very proud to be the UK’s ambassador for this incredible sugarpaste, a role I have had for 5 years.

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The colourful world of Massa Ticino

Carma invested a lot of time and energy to develop and produce their distinct colours of sugarpaste that has the same consistency and workability of Massa Ticino tropic. They include three primary colours, Lovely Red, Mellow Yellow and Sailing Blue and also Grass Green, Perfect Purple, Chocolate Brown (which has real chocolate in it!), Pitch Black, Pretty Pink and Vintage Ivory. The colours were achieved using all natural ingredients and they are free of E numbers or Azo dyes. They are also gluten and dairy free and suitable for vegans.

With these colours they also developed a colour mixing guide (CMG) to help create a variety of tones, tints, hues and shades and the guide can be found at www.massaticino.com/cmg. It is in the form of a comprehensive colour wheel and easy to use. All you have to do is click on the colour you wish to create and the sugarpaste colour combinations and proportions will be detailed.

Using pre-made coloured sugarpaste for mixing, instead of gel or paste colours, gives accurate and consistent results that can be replicated over and over again. This method is less messy and darker colours can be produced without adversely affecting the texture, pliability and consistency of the sugarpaste.

Our colourful cakes

At Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, when designing a luxury wedding cake or a bespoke couture celebration cake, colour is one of our first considerations. We have been fortunate to attract clients who want something a little different from the norm, and the diversity of our cakes range from our classic baroque designs to more contemporary cakes.

Using Massa Ticino sugarpaste has enabled us to achieve incredible designs over the years and we look forward to create more in the future.

For more information on how we can create your bespoke luxury cake contact us at

info@elizabethscakeemporium.com or 07958069116

Luxury Cakes at The Lanesborough

June 12, 2019

At Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium we have a reputation for producing some of the world’s best luxury wedding cakes. The Lanesborough is reputedly the most expensive hotel in London and it’s had quite a diverse history and associations with royalty.

As a preferred supplier to The Lanesborough, we have been fortunate to be asked to produce luxury cakes for a number of clients over the years and we share a few of them with you below.

ROYAL WEDDING CAKE

Commissioned for the Karen Tran royal gala dinner, this tall peach and blue beauty was inspired by the ceiling of the Belgravia Room. It featured white and gold baroque mouldings and peach and pink sugar flowers.

Karen Tran Royal Gala Dinner at the Lanesborough in London

WEDGWOOD INSPIRED LUXURY WEDDING CAKES

Made for another event in the Belgravia Room, the cakes matched the Wedgwood blue colour of the room and showcased our use of specially created moulds inspired by the ornate details adorning the room.

BRUCE OLDFIELD SHOWCASE

It was an honour to design this tall beauty for this exclusive event. The pure white cake featured hundreds of handmade sugar flowers and a gold B monogram.

CHANEL INSPIRED LUXURY CAKES

For this special sweet 16 birthday party only the best luxury celebration cakes will do. We designed this dessert table usin a white, black and gold colour scheme and it featured monogrammed tiered cakes, cupcakes, macaron towers, cookies, chocolate perfume bottles and cake pop mini magnums.

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EMERALD JEWELENCIA LUXURY CAKE

This extraordinary 7 tier cake was created for a very special client whose favourite colour is green. Decorated with gold baroque detailing, bright sugar flowers and hand moulded sugar gems in chocolate and isomalt, this show stopper tasted as beautiful as it looked.

We absolutely loved creating all of these cakes and it is always a pleasure to work with The Lanesborough. Here’s to many more years of exciting collaborations!

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Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium’s Luxury Wedding Cakes at The Savoy London

May 13, 2019

As a preferred supplier to The Savoy, UK’s first ever luxury hotel, we at Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium have been fortunate to create many incredible luxury wedding cakes for the hotel over the years.

Our most recent with Karen Tran, being a towering 8 tier ivory and gold show stopper cake with a petal shaped base and rose bas relief detail, decorated with hand made sugar flowers.

We will definitely be delivering more cakes to The Savoy this year and in anticipation, we share with you a few of our beautiful luxury wedding cakes that have been part of Savoy weddings.

Marie Antoinette wedding cake

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This ivory, pink and gold confection is one of our all time favourite luxury wedding cakes. Opulence personified, it features lots of gold baroque detailing and gorgeous pink sugar flowers. It looked beautiful in the wonderful light of the River Rooms.

Baroque luxury dessert table

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This is an incredible dessert table we created for the Lancaster Ballroom, one of the most glamorous hotel ballrooms in London. It was made up of a sugar rose tower croquembouche style cake, an ivory and gold baroque beauty cake and lots of macarons, cupcakes and cookies all in ivory, pink and gold.

Fairy tale castle luxury wedding cake

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This eight foot beauty caused a bit of a stir when we delivered it to The Savoy’s ballroom a few years ago. It featured our signature baroque detailing, turrets, edible lace and lots of sugar flowers. We were told that it was the tallest and most impressive cake to ever grace the ballroom.

4 tier pearl white wedding cake

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Once again, we were back in the incredible Lancaster Ballroom, which had been transformed into a floral wonderland. The luxury wedding cake was a 4 tiered beauty – an all white confection decorated with hundreds of sugar pearls and thousands of sugar blossoms. Our friends at WildAbout made an incredible flower wall that served as a backdrop and provided a beautiful pop pf colour against the white wedding cake.

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If you are getting married at The Savoy, you can trust that we will create for you, an amazing bespoke cake tailored to your perfect day.

Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium’s Enchanted Easter at The Lanesbough

April 26, 2019

Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium was commissioned by The Lanesborough, one of the capital’s best hotels, to create a luxury dessert table of epic proportions made up of luxury cakes and sweet treats for their recent enchanted Easter extravaganza.

Now anyone who knows us knows that as one of the best cake makers, we relish creating luxury cakes with a difference.

We envisioned an Easter egg luxury dessert table filled with all things chocolate and delicious.

The focal point of the table was a giant faberge inspired egg cake which stood 42 inches high. The egg cake was decorated with filigree scrolls, hand moulded leaves and a beaded band. It was then crowned with the most divine sugar roses, sugar peonies and sugar blossoms. We also created 14 inch high smaller hanging easter egg cakes in blue also decorated with scrolls and sugar peonies.

We also filled the table with lots of hand moulded chocolate eggs, mini chocolate magnums and cupcakes topped with sugar roses.

The cake flavours included chocolate orange, our famous triple chocolate, caramel, lemon and cookies and cream. The chocolate flavours were milk chocolate, white chocolate, raspberry chocolate and mango vegan chocolate!

We are delighted to say that everything went in under 15 minutes as the children and their parents couldn’t get enough of our sweet treats!

Another huge success for Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium at the enchanted Easter party at The Lanesborough.

If you would like us to design and create the best luxury dessert table for you, contact us on 07958069116 or at info@elizabethscakeemporium.com

Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium presents Karen Tran’s Floral Opulence at The Savoy London

April 22, 2019

It’s spring time in London and for the second year running, the undisputed floral queen, Karen Tran, brings her floral masterclass to another iconic London venue. The most anticipated gala event in the UK events industry calendar, it was held on a perfect spring day. These beautiful photos from Stuart Wood Photography and video from Perfect Moment Films perfectly captures the opulence and fun of the incredible event held at the iconic Savoy Hotel in London.

Jane Riddell of Planned to Perfection was approached by Sasha Cullen and Penny Clements of Savoy Weddings to plan and execute the event, and she was supported by Leanne Roberts-Hewitt of WildAbout and Elizabeth Solaru of Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium.

The Venue

The Savoy is the only luxury hotel on the River Thames, perfectly placed in the heart of London, one of the world’s most exciting cities.

At the forefront of the luxury hotel scene for almost 130 years, The Savoy has a reputation for the excellence of its unrivalled hospitality.

Overlooking Embarkment Gardens and the Thames, The River Room with its light and airy ambience, chandeliers and grandeur was ideal to showcase the amazing florals created over three days by Karen Tran and her students. The room has the distinction of having the royal seal of approval, being the room where HM Queen Elizabeth was first seen in public with Prince Phillip when they both attended a wedding there in 1946.

The Flowers

Opulence was the keyword for this masterclass. The floral palette consisted of an abundance of the most incredible statement florals in classic whites, creams and blush. Karen ably assisted by the incredible WildAbout and students who came from all over the world, transformed the River Room and painted an unforgettable floral landscape using thousands of roses, hydrangeas, tulips, peonies and phaelanopsis orchids supplied by Rosa Prima Roses and Piet Van Kampen of G Fresh.

The tablescape featured gold mirrored topped tables with Karen’s signature tall cascading arrangements on specially created gold pedestals and floral runners across the length of the tables that cascaded onto the floor. The tables were dressed with tall gold candlesticks which complimented the china, cutlery and crystal from Whitehouse Crockery. Linen from Just for Linen and menus and specially scented paper roses from Ananya Cards completed the look.

The floral tunnel and archway of beauty that framed the middle of the River Room stood at an impressive 14 feet tall and 18 feet wide and was a sight to behold. Decorated with a flower carpet made up of thousands of roses, hydrangeas and orchids, there were also similarly decorated flower walls and even the pillars were dressed with incredible flower cascades.

Luminaire events provided all the event production and support and such was their attention to detail, they even created a special gold floral motif for their gorgeous dance floor. the gold and white chairs were from Event Decor Hire.

The Cake

Elizabeth Solaru of Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium created an impressive cake in gold and white for the event. 8 tiers in total, it stood over 6 feet tall and featured two petal shaped gold base tiers. She painstakingly hand crafted the white sugar rose appliques, rose bas relief and sugar flowers in blush, cream and white that adorned the cake. The specially created pedestal featured an asymmetrical floral swag of pink roses to finish the look.

The Gala Dinner

Once the guests had been assembled, the doors of the River Rooms were opened to reveal Karen’s floral wonderland. There were audible gasps as guests took in the beauty of the room .

The guests included a mix of the best event planners, editors of bridal magazines, bloggers, and some of the best influencers in the UK. They sipped on specially created floral inspired cocktails, the finest Champagne and canapes from the very talented chefs at The Savoy.

During the cocktail hour guests were entertained by performances by Dream Performance and ballerinas from Sophie Adams Ballet Company. Karen was warmly applauded and cheered as she made her entrance into the room wearing Galia Lahav from Brown’s Bride and jewellery from Boodles. The guests were then welcomed and all the partners thanked in speeches by Jane and Karen.

The 5 course meal started with beautifully presented English oysters and black pearls of the most delicious caviar.

The next course consisted of seasonal English white asparagus with wild garlic hollandaise and Iberico Ham. A particular favourite was the creamiest saffron risotto served with edible spring flowers. The main course was a lotus flower wrapped steamed halibut with park choi, vegetables and a sesame dark soya source. Dessert was a very pretty and delicious mix of strawberries and cream, vanilla pana cotta, elderflower and buttermilk ice cream presented on a floral bed of dry ice.

During the course of the dinner, guests were completely serenaded and captivated by The Function Band who delivered world class entertainment. They had guests on their feet and up on podiums all night with many commenting on what an unforgettable night it was.

Jane of Planned for perfection who meticulously planned the event, said – “Thank you to a wonderful team of outstanding suppliers for helping us ensure that the gala was perfectly planned and to Karen and her team for the magnificent floral designs. The masterclass was a huge success and the gala exceeded all expectations. The memories will live in our hearts forever”

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Venue:

The Savoy

https://www.fairmont.com/savoy-london

Wedding & Event Planner:

Planned for Perfection www.plannedforperfection.co.uk

Cake:

Elizabeths Cake Emporium –www.elizabethscakeemporium.com

Support Florist:

WildAbout

www.wildabout.co.uk

Party Entertainment:

The Function Band

www.thefunction.band

Stationery:

Ananya Cards

www.ananyacards.com

Photographer:

Stuart Wood

www.stuartwoodweddings.com

Videographer:

Chris Buckley

www.perfectmomentfilms.co.uk

Hair /Make up:

Gemma Sutton Hair and Make up

www.gemmasutton.com

Entertainment:

The Dream Performance

www.thedreamperformance.com

Lighting, Sound & Production:

Luminaire Events

www.luminaireevents.com

Crockery, Cutlery & Glassware:

WhiteHouse Event Crockery www.eventcrockeryhire.co.uk

Jewellery:

Boodles

www.boodles.com

Chair Hire:

Event decor hire

www.eventdecorhire.com

Linen:

Just 4 Linen

www.just4linen.co.uk

Illustrator:

Live Event Artist

www.liveeventartist.co.uk

Karen Tran’s Evening Dress:

Browns Bride

www.brownsbride.com —

Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium Is Delighted To Present Karen Tran’s Opulence At The Savoy

March 18, 2019

We are delighted that for the second year running, Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium will be partnering with the iconic hotel The Savoy, Jane Riddell of Planned to Perfection and WildAbout to welcome the flower empress, world-renowned floral designer Karen Tran for her annual three-day Floral Experience Masterclass from 16-18^th April 2019.

This masterclass will then culminate in a by invitation only, VIP gala dinner on Thursday 18^th April in The Savoy’s stunning Lancaster Ballroom.

Last year, Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium was instrumental in creating what was considered to be the event of the year and we are really looking forward to creating another luxury wedding cake masterpiece to compliment the stunning florals.

Karen will share her expertise of transforming any location into a breath-taking event space with her masterclass students. She will teach them how to create the most astonishing floral designs and show-stopping displays, while sharing her knowledge of the luxury weddings and events industry. The masterclass will also feature a select number of guest speakers from the events industry.

On Thursday 18^th April, “Opulence at The Savoy” will conclude in a magnificent gala dinner, brought to you by award winning luxury Wedding Planner, Jane Riddell, from Planned for Perfection, in association with wedding cake designer, Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, and Karen’s UK support florist, WildAbout. The Savoy and Karen Tran will host the event, where VIP guests will enjoy an evening of timeless glamour in the London landmark hotel.

“I am absolutely delighted that The Savoy is hosting this year’s London Masterclass and I cannot wait to see my floral designs in one of the most prestigious hotels in London. I very much look forward to welcoming students from around the world to the masterclass and to a magnificent gala dinner celebration” says Karen Tran.

Sasha Cullen, Wedding Sales Manager at The Savoy says: “We are really excited to be hosting the Karen Tran Floral Masterclass at The Savoy. We have such incredible creative’s in our Industry who continue to inspire us throughout our events careers and Karen is one of them. We cannot wait to see what she creates; and what better venue to host this extravagant spectacle than where Glamour first began”.

Jane Riddell, owner and creative director at Planned for Perfection, added: “I am thrilled to have been asked by Sasha and her team at The Savoy to bring the Masterclass to London again this year. Last year’s gala dinner was a huge success and this year’s floral experience is all set to be another incredible few days”

Tickets can be purchased at

www.thefloralexperience.com/course/london/

ABOUT THE SAVOY

www.thesavoylondon.com

The Savoy is the only luxury hotel on the River Thames, perfectly placed in the heart of one of the world’s most exciting cities. 267 rooms and suites are accompanied by some of the most well-known restaurants and bars in London, alongside magnificent and varied meeting space.

With exceptional service at the heart of everything, a Savoy experience is built on memories created and stories told across the generations. You don’t just stay at The Savoy, The Savoy stays with you.

OFFICIAL PARTNERS

Karen Tran – www.karentran.com

The Savoy – www.thesavoylondon.com

Planned for Perfection – www.plannedforperfection.co.uk

WildAbout – www.wildabout.co.uk

Elizabeths Cake Emporium – www.elizabethscakeemporium.com

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.

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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

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