A few weeks ago I got an email from one of my repeat customers. She was turning 30 and was supposed to be celebrating in the South of France but because of COVID (boooo) she was still in St. Pete and ready to drown her sorrows in some cake.
She wanted a cake that was inspired by the dreamy French location and sent me a picture for reference.
Amazing, right? And to make this assignment even better, she finished with the following: "I'm creatively open to anything (all your cakes are *always* so pretty)".
Uh, so you want me to get creative making you a cake inspired by one of my favorite places in the whole world?
Yes, please!
First thing I did was channel my inner Great British Baking Show illustrator and sketch out what I wanted the cake to look like.
The first thing that stood out to me were the colors of the sea. How the different shades of blue and green made a beautiful ombre color palette.
Then there were the natural tones of the rocks and greenery and finally, one of the most vivid memories i have of the South of France are the beautiful bright flowers and fresh berries in the summer so I chose those as the decoration on top.
In the end I had to make a couple of adjustments. In Florida in July it was impossible to find fresh lavender so I used artificial stems. I sprinkled some of the dry lavender I got in Nice a couple of years ago on top, though! And I had to sub the jasmines for hydrangeas — again because they're impossible to find in FL this time of the year.
I loved how it turned out but most importantly, so did the birthday girl!
She then posted the photo on social media talking about how much she loved it and how she took 9000 pictures of it!
That made my day. Because while I love getting creative in the kitchen and making art out of cake, nothing beats knowing I made someone's day a little more special, a little more memorable and a whole lot better!
If you have a cake vision you want turned into a reality, send me an email at hello@curiouscatbakery.com and let's make it happen :)
Stay curious,
Natalia