Our Guest Blogger this week is Janet Mohapi-Banks who designs and creates the most exquisite cakes to suit every taste and wedding theme.
Designing and creating cakes is the most enjoyable part of my job. Wedding cake design can take inspiration from the clients stationery, dress, flowers or colour scheme. This ensures that the wedding cake is the centrepiece of the day that ties everything together.
The design process starts with a private consultation that typically lasts a couple of hours and is usually held at the clients home or wedding venue. The luxury service I offer means that I usually get to know my Brides and Grooms really quite well and I feel that this is an important part in designing a cake perfect for them. Although my Brides and Grooms get a portfolio of previous cakes to look at, each design is unique and based on their tastes and their unique wedding day.
Sketches are drawn with the clients present that enables them to visualise their cake and the ability to let know the features they like and the aspects that they would like to change. The sketch is then changed accordingly until the client is happy with every part of their wedding cake design.
Once the design is finalised and the order confirmed, I get to work creating the sugar features that will be present on it. Whether it’s sugar flowers or piping templates, all aspects of the cake including the cakes themselves are handmade to order.
The design process starts with a private consultation that typically lasts a couple of hours and is usually held at the clients home or wedding venue. The luxury service I offer means that I usually get to know my Brides and Grooms really quite well and I feel that this is an important part in designing a cake perfect for them. Although my Brides and Grooms get a portfolio of previous cakes to look at, each design is unique and based on their tastes and their unique wedding day.
Sketches are drawn with the clients present that enables them to visualise their cake and the ability to let know the features they like and the aspects that they would like to change. The sketch is then changed accordingly until the client is happy with every part of their wedding cake design.
Once the design is finalised and the order confirmed, I get to work creating the sugar features that will be present on it. Whether it’s sugar flowers or piping templates, all aspects of the cake including the cakes themselves are handmade to order.
My signature cake Rose contains literally hundreds of hand-pulled sugar roses. Each sugar rose takes between about 10 minutes to about an hour to create depending upon size so it is therefore necessary to start making sugar flowers as early as possible if many of them are featured on the cake.
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Rose Sculpture Cake Cake: Janet Mohapi-Banks - http://janetmohapibanks.com/ Photography: Juliet McKee - http://julietmckeephotography.co.uk/ Styling: Stacey-Marie Chalk - http://www.cherrytopped.co.uk/ Flowers: Woods Florist - http://www.woodsflorist.co.uk/ Stationery: Ivy Ellen - http://www.ivyellen.com/ |
Extensive hand-piping usually requires planning and templates are created to ensure that the pattern is evenly spaced. Obviously the hand-piping can’t be done until the cake is baked and covered in almond paste and icing. This means that although the planning can be done in advance the actual piping has to be done at the last minute.
Given that all Janet Mohapi-Banks cakes are baked as close to the delivery date as possible to ensure freshness, except the rich fruit cake that takes three months to mature, extensive hand piping sometimes requires working through the night.
Whatever the design, a Janet Mohapi-Banks cake is guaranteed to be aesthetically exquisite and tastes as good as it looks.
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| Forget Me Not Sculpture Cake Cake: Janet Mohapi-Banks - http://janetmohapibanks.com/ Photography: Juliet McKee - http://julietmckeephotography.co.uk/ Styling: Stacey-Marie Chalk - http://www.cherrytopped.co.uk/ Flowers: Woods Florist - http://www.woodsflorist.co.uk/ Stationery: Ivy Ellen - http://www.ivyellen.com/ |
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