Today I would like to feature a cake decorator from the United Kingdom.  I “met” Elizabeth Solaru through my former boss Ron Ben-Israel.  Elizabeth comes stateside to take classes with Ron each year.  Ron would come back from teaching and tell me all about this lovely British cake decorator in his classes.  We have never met in person but have maintained a virtual friendship through Facebook.  Elizabeth is the founder and owner of Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium in England.  She makes beautiful cakes and teaches classes as well. Elizabeth took a few minutes out of her busy day to answer a few questions for me…

How did you get your start in the cake decorating industry? My foray into cake decorating was gradual. I started out by learning from books and moved on to attending cake decorating courses, and I’ve been lucky to learn from the very best including Ron Ben-Israel, Alan Dunn and Colette Peters. In 2006, I set up Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium whilst holding down a full time job. I feel so lucky to be finally doing what I enjoy.

Where do you find your inspirations? I am inspired by nature, fashion and architecture. Of course the work of other fantastic cake makers also inspires me.

What is your favorite cake decorating technique? I love making sugar flowers and I try to make them as botanically correct as possible!  Countless number of times I’ve had to convince people that the flowers on our cakes are actually made of sugar.

Who are you inspirations in the cake and pastry world? There are too many amazing artists out there to mention but I love the work of Ron Ben-Israel, Colette Peters, Sylvia Weinstock, Alan Dunn, Rebecca Sutterby, Elizabeth Hodes, Christopher Garren, Mike’s Amazing Cakes, Ewald Notter, Flora Agababyan and Minette Rushing.

If you could design a cake for anyone/event – who/what would it be? I would love to design a cake for a dinner party thrown by Martha Stewart as long as the guests include Her Majesty The Queen, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen and Michelle Obama.

What are your favorite seasonal ingredients for the winter? In terms of puddings, my favourite ingredients are apples, cranberries, pomegranates and satsumas. There’s nothing like a hot apple pie and custard to warm you up on a cold winter’s night.

What are your top five favorite desserts? This is a tricky one! In no particular order my favourite desserts are Apple pie, Honeycomb Ice Cream with hot chocolate sauce, Creme Brulee, Bakewell Tart, Tiramisu and Tart Tartin!?

I encourage you all to check out Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium website and to follow her on Facebook so you can see her most current beautiful creations:

www.elizabethscakeemporium.com 

https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethsCakeEmporium.

Thank you Elizabeth for taking the time to share with me and my readers!