We are pleased to bring you this “Passion & Luxury” profile of Elizabeth Solaru, founder and baker extraordinaire of Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium in London, UK. Her creations are edible works of art. She is deeply passionate about fine baking, excellence, and expressing herself with baking. Her magnificent, visionary creations grace the tables of fine events. weddings and for luxury clients who appreciate the craftsmanship she puts into every tier. Elizabeth, the “Queen of Cakes” spoke to EAT LOVE SAVOR® about her passion for cake, creativity, luxury, following your intuition and life. We bring to you that conversation.
ELIZABETH SOLARU
Tell us about your background, about the path that sparked your passion for creation and that brought your luxury business to life.
I set up ElizabethsCakeEmporium.com in 2006. But prior to that 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 was 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 — 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 gobbling them down.
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!”). 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 the most 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 and named alongside the best luxury brands in the world, in the Masterful 100 by EAT LOVE SAVOR® Magazine.
I’ve gained many loyal and incredible fans and have even traveled abroad to teach a number of classes. The recognition I get within the industry is amazing, that I’ve been dubbed the “Queen of Cakes”. 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.
Passion has ebb and flow. What drives your passion? How do you keep your creative forces and passions alive?
You are absolutely right. Passion does ebb and flow throughout the course of any creative’s life, period and moment. However over the years, I’ve realised that the one constant is my passion for luxury, beauty and the transformative process, so I’ve developed a few tricks to maintain my passion. I am thankful that I attract clients who keep me inspired and love what I do, so I have to keep upping the ante. To do that, one of the things I’ve done is collaborate with people, particularly those outside my industry.
Doing something outside your comfort zone has a way of generating fresh ideas and concepts which reignite your passion and stimulates the mind. That is why I got involved with blockchain technology and created the world’s first million dollar cake NFT over a year ago. Another exciting collaboration for me was joining forces with a fellow creative, Simba Wakatama to create the Luxury News Weekly Podcast which has paid unexpected dividends.
What are the causes you support that you are passionate about?
In terms of charitable causes, one of the issues close to my heart is maternal health and this stems from my own near death experience. I support a charity called Fivexmore. They go beyond just advocacy and have been making huge strides in this area. I also support Great Ormond Street Hospital charity, where every day, around 600 children and young people from across the UK arrive and every day, doctors and nurses battle the most complex illnesses, and the brightest minds come together to achieve pioneering medical breakthroughs.
This extraordinary hospital where I had the pleasure of working at as a Scientist, has always depended on charitable support to give seriously ill children the best chance to fulfill their potential.
What other passions in your life drive you?
A few passions in my life drive me. Needless to say, I’m very passionate about baking. I love the process of researching new recipes and testing them out. This led me to write my best-selling book OPULENCIA: Artisan Baking and Sugarcraft when I celebrated 10 years of Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium. I love the scientific aspects of baking and aside from the beautiful cakes featured, the book looked at troubleshooting when things go wrong as they sometimes do. I also love travel and I’ve been incredibly lucky that my work has taken me to over 30 cities around the world. It’s such a privilege to deliver a cake to a palace, a chateau or even a yacht but it’s not all as glamorous as it sounds. Logistical and transportation issues need to be sorted which can be a nightmare.
If you had a message to pass on, what would it be?
Mere passion is not enough to create and manage a successful brand. Passion can sometimes be limiting, it may not be goal orientated and there’s every possibility that you may not be good at what you are passionate about. Consistency, hard work and spotting and acting on opportunities that are presented are much more powerful. Self-evaluation and reflection and being able to receive criticism (whether solicited or not, whether constructive or not) as a gift goes a long way. Having said that keep dreaming, keep that passion alive and go for it.
For more information about Elizabeth and her cake emporium, visit https://elizabethscakeemporium.com/
EAT LOVE SAVOR’S editorial special feature “PASSION & LUXURY” profiles select people in luxury and their passions. We are highlighting true luxury brands, ateliers and maisons small through large. The feature paints portraits of passionate people in luxury – the creators, designers and founders who inspire others with their passions in life not just in business. Without passion, there is no luxury. Passionate creators that are a source of inspiration, fueling the luxury industry and preserving its skills and essence, whose passionate energy is infectious and drives their creations and pursuit of excellence.
