At Lavonne, we make cakes for a variety of occasions, and our custom cake specialist, Chef Joonie Tan, creates multiple creative and unique cakes that span a various themes. In this section, she talks about her pick of the month and takes us through the creative process that goes into making them.
This month we’re featuring a birthday cake with a rather special story!
This cake order was really special for me, and also a very fun order to work on. Fahim has been a very supportive client of Lavonne, right from the time he placed his very first order with us, two years ago. So when he called with a request for a birthday cake for his lovely wife Sumreen, I said yes without thinking twice! What made the order even more exciting for me was that Fahim had placed complete faith in me, and I had complete freedom with the design.
The funny back-story is that the same day Fahim placed the order, Sumreen called me to place an order for her own birthday cake. I had to tell her a little white lie about not being in town, so that this order would remain a surprise.
When I sat down to design the cake, I pictured Sumreen in my mind. Since it was her birthday cake, it had to be a representation of her—elegant, graceful, lady-like and extremely pretty. That’s why I decided to make a two-tier cake, with the classic colour palette of light pink and gold, both feminine and refined. Apart from being her favourite colours, they were also the perfect ode to Sumreen’s grace and beauty.
The flavour agreed on was a banana-caramel. To off-set the soft colour palette, I placed a single, large, deep red peony right at the top, to create a gorgeous contrast and add a burst of colour. Because the focus was to make this cake oh-so-feminine, to bring out the softer, more delicate elements, I added feathers using the latest wafer paper technique.
Speaking of new techniques and approaches, the demands for fondant birthday cakes has seen a colossal rise, year after year. And because of this, the designs requested by clients are more and more challenging. Structural and gravity defying cakes are especially popular options. I’m loving this trend, because it gives me opportunities to try out new techniques and hone my own skills.
But getting back to our lovely couple, for me, it’s always been a lovely experience creating cakes for them. And this time was no different. Fahim and Sumreen make such a great couple, and I absolutely love adding to the happiness of their celebrations.