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    Opulencia: Artisan Baking & Sugarcraft
    Opulencia: Artisan Baking & Sugarcraft
    Opulencia: Artisan Baking & Sugarcraft
    Ebook321 pages1 hour

    Opulencia: Artisan Baking & Sugarcraft

    By Elizabeth Solaru

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    About this ebook

    Elizabeth Solaru is founder of the multi award-winning Elizabeth's Cake Emporium, recognised as one the best cake companies in the UK. To celebrate 10 years of making exquisite cakes, Elizabeth has written Opulencia, a mostly inspirational book, showcasing some of her favourite creations from over the years. With cake designs ranging from dreamy lace cakes to the most decadent and lavish baroques, there is something here for everyone. Set to be a sugarcraft classic, it is packed with inspiration, tips and ideas for constructing sugar flowers, ingredient selection, cake design considerations plus invaluable advice for rescuing a split ganache or curdled buttercream! Opulencia is a tour-de-force of artisan baking and sugarcraft and an inspiration to aspiring cakers and seasoned professionals alike.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherElizabeth Solaru
    Release dateFeb 5, 2018
    ISBN9780993585715
    Opulencia: Artisan Baking & Sugarcraft

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      Book preview

      Opulencia - Elizabeth Solaru

      coverpage

      OPULENCIA

      Elizabeth Solaru is founder of the multi award-winning Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, recognised as one the best cake companies in the UK.

      To celebrate 10 years of making exquisite cakes, Elizabeth has written Opulencia, a mostly inspirational book, showcasing some of her favourite creations from over the years. With cake designs ranging from dreamy lace cakes to the most decadent and lavish baroques, there is something here for everyone.

      Set to be a sugarcraft classic, it is packed with inspiration, tips and ideas for constructing sugar flowers, ingredient selection, cake design considerations plus invaluable advice for rescuing a split ganache or curdled buttercream!

      Opulencia is a tour-de-force of artisan baking and sugarcraft and an inspiration to aspiring cakers and seasoned professionals alike.

      For Timi, Euan and Dare

      Text & Recipes Copyright © 2016 by Elizabeth Solaru

      Photography & Design Copyright © 2016 by Elizabeth Solaru

      All rights reserved

      Cover & design by SpiffingCovers Ltd.

      No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review. Reselling through electronic outlets without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of the book via the internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorised editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

      elizabethscakeemporium.com

      Published by ECE Publishing

      ISBN 978-0-9935857-0-8

      OPULENCIA

      ARTISAN BAKING

      & SUGARCRAFT

      ELIZABETH SOLARU

      ECE PUBLISHING

      Contents

      INTRODUCTION

      EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS

      INGREDIENTS

      BAKING TIPS

      GETTING STARTED

      RECIPES

      Victoria Sponge

      Rich Chocolate Delight

      Luscious Lemon

      Elizabeth’s Secret Recipe Fruit Cake

      Alternative Fruit Cake

      Swiss Meringue Buttercream

      Ganache

      QUANTITY GUIDES

      CONVERSION GUIDES

      LAYERING & FILLING CAKES

      BUTTERCREAM & GANACHE

      ROYAL ICING

      COVERING THE CAKES

      ICING A CAKE DRUM

      DOWELLING & STACKING CAKES

      STORING CAKES

      TRANSPORTING CAKES

      CAKE DECORATING TIMELINE

      COLOUR AND CAKE DESIGN

      KEY ELEMENTS IN CAKE DESIGN

      PRINCIPLES OF CAKE DESIGN

      CAKE DESIGNS

      Pearl Perfection Pillow Cake

      Marie Antoinette Cake

      Split Cake

      Grace Kelly Lace Cake

      Opulent Ruby

      Emerald & Gold Sari Cake

      Midnight Blue Sapphire Cake

      Jewelled White Peacock Cake

      Venetian Mask Cake

      Indian Summer Cake

      Pearlescent

      Dolce & Gabbana’s Sacred Heart

      A Night at the Royal Opera

      Black Baroque

      City Chic Cake

      Once Upon a Dream

      Alice’s Adventures in Wedding Land

      It’s Always Teatime

      Autumnal Garden

      Spring Garden Sensation

      Ombre Perfection

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      SUPPLIERS

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      INDEX

      Introduction

      Cake is my first love! Making, designing and eating cake occupies most of my waking thoughts and dreams. Although, funnily enough, I had two other successful career paths before I turned my full attention to my true passion.

      Life, I’ve found, is a lot like cake – the more layers there are to it, the more interesting it is! My passion for making and designing cakes started when I was eleven years old. A classmate had brought a cookbook to school and in it was a basic Victoria sponge recipe. The whole concept seemed like a miracle to me. How could a combination of the simplest ingredients create something so deliciously tasting as cake?

      From that moment on, I was hooked. However, there was a slight problem – my family! Believe it or not, our oven was never used for anything other than storage. What do you do when you’re eleven years old, and no one in your family has the slightest interest in baking? You do what all great bakers-in-the-making do – you improvise!

      Working with my mother’s discarded cooking pots and empty food tins, I experimented in the kitchen. Sometimes the outcomes were good; other times, they fell flat. Regardless of the end result though, I was learning.

      So, why didn’t I embark upon the path of my passion? Well, I come from a family where education is highly valued. I was encouraged to concentrate on my studies, earning my BSc and MSc in Medical Microbiology and Parasitology.

      I then became a trainee Biomedical Scientist, sat my professional exams, qualified and went on to spend many years working in some of the best hospitals in the world. Cake making? I had to put that on the back burner, dabbling in it for my family and friends as a creative outlet. I may have continued that way, had I not stumbled across a photograph of a wedding cake that literally stopped me in my tracks. I’d never seen anything like it before. It was the work of a renowned American cake designer, Colette Peters, and it resembled a stack of wedding gifts.

      It took my breath away. How did she do it? How had she combined those ordinary everyday ingredients to create this incredible, edible work of art? I had to know – so I rushed out to buy Colette’s book, along with as many other books on cake decorating that I could find. That wasn’t enough for me – I simply had to meet this woman. I took all my annual leave and savings and went to Florida to attend several of her classes. She was the most gracious and humblest of teachers. The cakes I made in her class still have pride of place in my heart.

      Yes, I’d found my passion, but I still wasn’t confident enough to take the big leap and declare myself a proper cake maker. Around the same time, I was tired of being a lab rat – so I went back to university for an MBA and became a headhunter. Talk about stress! I worked all hours, recruiting CEOs, Directors and board level executives. At the end of the day, when I staggered home, what did I do to unwind? You guessed it – I baked.

      I couldn’t eat it all myself, so I took my goodies to the office and my colleagues were astonished. Who was this woman, they wondered, with her elaborately decorated cupcakes. They were a treat for the eye as well as the belly. My colleagues declared them works of art before devouring them swiftly.

      That was a light-bulb moment for me. I’d never considered myself artistic, yet here I was, being praised for my creativity. I had a true masterly touch for sugarcraft, the most delicate skill of all – and I didn’t even know it! That did it. Despite my long working hours and the odds I was up against, it was time to see whether I had what it took to turn pro.

      I began by exhibiting my cakes at local wedding shows and kept receiving fabulous responses from potential brides. At one such wedding show, I met one of the producers from Wedding TV, who fell in love with my cakes instantly. I was then offered the chance to become a participant on a show called The Great Cake Bake (precursor to the Great British Bake Off) It was a terrifying prospect for me as I was up against very well-established and seasoned wedding cake makers. I was very much the underdog, but that was okay. Win or lose, I was determined to use it as a learning experience and an opportunity to try out new techniques. It all seemed surreal. Here I was, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the cake makers I’d admired for so long. It was even more surreal when I won all three challenges! The feedback I received was that I was the only contestant who’d really listened to the brides – this was a no-brainer to me – and made the cakes THEY wanted. (Step number one in any recipe, my friends – listen to the client!).

      I was still moonlighting as a cake maker, hanging onto my day job, but I could see the light at the end of the funnel. (Sorry – make that tunnel!).

      Along the way, I discovered other astonishing cake experts including Alan Dunn and New York-based Ron Ben-Israel – whom I practically stalked until I could take a class with him.

      I’ll never forget the moment when, a few years ago, a well-known wedding planner turned to me after viewing my portfolio and asked: Where is your book? I was a bit taken aback and quite flattered that he’d seen something special in my cakes. That really did it. My days as a headhunter were over. I became a professional cake maker – and a good one too – if I do say so myself.

      Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to have had my work published in prestigious national and international magazines, blogs and cake guides. They have also been shared widely on social media.

      My sugarcraft skills have brought me a really sweet tribute – I was invited to become a brand ambassador for the best sugarpaste in the world, Massa Ticino by Carma.

      Alongside my passionate endeavour, I’ve gained many loyal and incredible fans and have even travelled abroad to teach a number of classes. The recognition I get within the industry is amazing, with Condé Nast BRIDES magazine dubbing me the Queen of Statement Cakes.

      So now it is time for me to share some of my favourite cakes in print. I hope you will enjoy my creations as much as I have enjoyed creating them. And remember, it all began with an eleven-year-old girl who saw something incredible and promised herself that, one day, she would have her cake – and eat it too.

      Enjoy!

      Elizabeth Solaru

      Equipment & materials

      Oven

      An accurate oven that bakes evenly is critical for the production of consistently well-baked cakes. There are several good makes and models on the market. However, electric ovens generally have a better reputation for more even temperatures and cooking. Oven baking patterns can change over time, therefore get to know your oven’s quirks and idiosyncrasies, including any hot and cold spots. A simple way to determine this is to use the bread test. Heat your oven to 200°C (fan 180°C) and place slices of bread on a tray on the middle shelf for about 10 minutes. Check the slices for areas that are singed. These will reveal your oven’s hot spots.

      Free-standing

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