IF I KNEW YOU WERE COMING... » Maisie at work

Weddings at Claridges

Maisie — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:09:25 +0000

Maisie Fantaisie is recommended by the events team at Claridges and we have supplied numerous wedding cakes and birthday cakes for weddings at Claridges and private events. The events team will help you plan your day ensuring that every requirement is met to a very high standard. I have spent some lovely evenings with friends in Claridges bar and the service and atmosphere is really special and I can thoroughly recommend the hotel to host your wedding event.

Claridges is a traditional grand hotel located in a terraced block in Mayfair, central London. It has old connections with royalty and it’s reputation in terms of elegance and prestige was cemented in 1860 when Queen Victoria was entertained during an extended visit by Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.

Over the years the Claridges has been popular with Actors and entertainers including Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Alfred Hitchcock and Mick Jagger. The restaurant is currently run by Gordon Ramsay and offers an exquisite array of menus and a history of state banquets and royal receptions ensure it’s function rooms offer outstanding facilities making them perfect for a very special London wedding or civil partnership.

On arrival you enter the hotel through the impressive main lobby….

The Art Deco Ballroom is a luxurious wedding venue and it has been the setting for many society weddings and balls. It is exquisitely decorated and flooded with natural daylight through five floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s capacity is 192 but caters for up to 240 when used in conjunction with the mirror room…

Alternatively The French Salon is perfect for cocktail receptions and weddings and also ideal for dancing and evening entertainment. The room features an impressive mural of a dancing couple, uncovered during refurbishment…

There are also numerous other rooms available, you can book weddings at Claridges here.

Weddings at The Ritz

Maisie — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:53:25 +0000

The weekend saw me delivering another wedding cake to a wedding at The Ritz hotel on Piccadilly. It’s such a wonderful hotel. Opened in 1906 by the Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz, it was designed to resemble a stylish Parisian block of flats. Mr.Ritz personally managed the hotel’s operations for many years. The high standards to which he held his staff and luxury which provided his guests had previously been entirely foreign to Victorian Londoners, and the sensation he caused in the hotel industry began a change in the industry’s focus.

I was supplying the cake for an intimate wedding reception in the hotel’s William Kent room. The William Kent House was renovated and opened in 2006 as an extension to the hotel and has a wonderful function area including the Burlington room, the William Kent room…

and the Queen Elizabeth room..

Although I’ve been here quite a few times now I was thinking to myself, whilst setting the cake up, that it is always such a treat to see the room’s opulence up close and personal and that I’m lucky to have these opportunities while supplying some of the best hotels in London. I remember first seeing this room whilst watching the film’ The September Issue’, Anna Wintour (editor-in-chief of American Vogue) was having a meeting and I remember thinking that it was an amazing room that I had no idea existed within the walls of the Ritz Hotel and there I was standing there myself!

So here is a picture of the lovely little sparkly cakes I delivered, I think I might have to think up a reason to book out the room myself! You can book weddings at The Ritz here!

30th Birthday Cake

Maisie — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:48:53 +0000

I always think that come winter things might slow a little in the Maisie Fantaisie cake kitchen, but this winter has been our busiest to date, so please accept my apologies for neglecting my blog.

When production designer Bruce French commissioned a cake from Maisie Fantaisie for this year’s 30th birthday Brit awards, his single request was that it was fabulous! We had some discussion about the aftershow party area and I was told that it was going to be a classic birthday party with a dress-up area, crazy golf, karaoke, tarot, dodgems, balloon makers, bingo and a dancefloor. The tables would be covered in pink gingham, with metallic balloons in the ceiling and glitter drapes everywhere. So, with that in mind I set about designing the cake. It needed to be tall, so we went for a five tier with a large base, and in keeping with the eclectic party theme I decided to make each tier of the cake a different design with a lot of pink glitter. I didn’t want it to be overly music themed as it was primarily a birthday cake, but the music notes on the middle tier were the perfect gesture.

When I arrived at the venue with the cake Robbie Williams was soundchecking, especially for me! I have a soft spot for Robbie and it put me right in the mood for the show later, for which we had been given tickets. My friends and dapper chaps Laurence and Wolfgang who have a company called laroache brothers were there taking photos of the impressive backstage area which Bruce had designed, and the cake fitted in just perfectly so we were all very happy.

My husband and I went to the show with our friends Olly and Rachel Knights. Olly is the singer in a sublime band called Turin Brakes, who make beautiful music and deserve a Brit themselves…maybe next year! My assistant Emily came along with her fella and we all danced the night away – a great time was had by all….I went to get some cake….but it had all been eaten. Perfect!

Amaretto apricots

Maisie — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:19:02 +0000

Earlier today I was thinking about the next recipe I’m going to post and I thought I might like to make something with apricots, one of my favourite fruits. I’m not quite sure of the combination of the recipe yet (apricots and chocolate, apricots and almond, apricots and orange), but I’m certain that I want to include the delicious Amaretto liqueur. So I’m preparing some dried apricots in Amaretto. I half filled a jar with apricots and I’ve covered them in the liqueur. Seeing the fruit soaking in the jar made me think that this would also make a lovely Christmas treat or gift. These great storage jars can be picked up in most kitchen shops, I got mine in the kitchen department at John Lewis. Name and date the jars with a sticker or tie a label to a ribbon. Whilst I’m deciding what to make, these apricots will soak up the liqueur and are going to taste fantastic! Recipe coming soon (Maybe I’ll add it to my range of wedding cake flavours). x

Sugar roses

Maisie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:31:15 +0000

I wanted to show you what we’ve been up to in the Maisie Fantaisie cake kitchen this week. One of our wedding cakes is to be decorated with an abundance of these beautiful sugar roses. They’re just so pretty I wanted to share them with you! The inner layers of petals are made with individual petals and the 2 outer layers are made with a 5 petal cutter. We’ve left the roses to dry overnight after adding each layer, this makes them a lot easier to work with and a lot less fragile. When the cake is finished, I’ll post a picture!

Update: And here is the finished cake!

Silk fans as wedding favours

Maisie — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:52:54 +0000

I really love this idea. Yesterday I was having a cup of tea with a bride and we were discussing favours. She is having a summer country wedding at ‘Le Manoir’ and all the female guests will be receiving a silk fan. I often struggle to find lovely boutique wedding favour gifts and I’m always on the lookout for new inspiration to share with my clients. So, I thought i’d share this idea with you too…..Just a thought. By the way, take a look at my new fan styled wedding cookies.

Interiors stylist – Selina Lake

Maisie — Thu, 28 May 2009 10:55:37 +0000

Today I spoke to the very talented Selina Lake. She is a fabulous stylist and author of the best selling interiors title ‘Bazaar Style’ (available on Amazon) She is on the hunt for beautiful homes/gardens/studios to feature in her new book. She loves my cakes and wondered if my clients homes and their wedding venues were as stylish as my wedding cakes and whether I could recommend any shoot locations. And boy have I seen some wonderful venues! From classic English hotels, to idyllic country houses and magical garden marquees, trendy roof top London clubs and sumptuous mansion houses. I viewed some of the work that she has done and I have to say that I wanted to jump into all of her pictures and live there. She has wonderful creativity and a great eye for detail and I will be making some pretty cupcakes for her next book.

Her website is here http://www.selinalake.co.uk/
and her blog is here http://selinalake.blogspot.com/

It’s a wrap!

Maisie — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:55:07 +0000

Last week I had the final shoot of my new book, and the day culminated with my portrait shot for the back page. ‘Sweet and Simple Romantic cakes’ has been a lot of hard work but I’ve really enjoyed it. Having already released one book I knew what to expect and I prepared myself and took a deep breath! Since the first planning meeting with my publishers where I showed them my first cake sketches, the book has evolved and the designs have changed. I like to show a variety of different techniques and styles within the book so it’s helpful and resourceful to my readers, so as i was making the cakes I would often alter the designs, changing details, colours of ribbons, tier sizes and shapes, flavours etc. I’ve included wedding cakes, birthday cakes, cupcakes, mini cakes and cookies. My photographer, Ginette Chapman, and I would have a lot of fun over the shoot days. We get on really well and I’m very lucky to have such a talented photographer to work with. My husband would buzz around us with design ideas along with countless questions about photography and lenses! I took a lot of time choosing the right backgrounds for the all the shots, often placing the cakes with complimentary cupcakes or cookies. At the end of each day’s shoot, Ginette would joyfully take home boxes of cakes and cookies, much to the delight of her waiting friends and family! I am so pleased with this book and the designs that I have chosen and I’m really looking forward to it’s release at the end of the year. I’ll keep you posted on the dates. x