As one of the area’s leading artisan cake-makers, Emma Fuller’s spectacular creations have long been tempting the people of Surrey and beyond, beautifully showcased through her website and Instagram page. Well, now we have the chance to learn a few of those skills ourmselves. New for this year, Emma has just launched a series of workshops from the charming cake studio she has recently had built in her garden.
“It’s so exciting to have this gorgeous new space in what is a lovely setting,” says Emma, who runs her cake-making business, Velvet Fig, from her home in Dorking, located in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. “As well as being a great base to work from, having the studio has also enabled me to offer these new workshops. We are starting off with a combined cookery and yoga day, with a delicious vegetarian lunch in the middle, and we’re already fully booked! So there will more to come soon.”
One thing is certain; anyone who attends the workshops can be safe in the knowledge that they are learning from the best. As well as being a former restaurant manager in the food halls at Harrods, Emma has worked as a food merchandiser at Marks and Spencer and also as a restaurant inspector for the AA. Having later gone on to study cake decorating for three years, Emma founded her own business in 2009 – and has never looked back.
Today, her gorgeous creations are in hot demand for weddings, birthdays, food festivals, garden parties, cake fairs and cookery demonstrations far and wide – and they were even used recently in a Champagne master-class at The Dorchester Hotel in London. And the secret to her success? Well, in addition to her master baking skills and creative flair, Emma insists on using only the best ingredients.
“Having high-quality ingredients is so important,” says Emma. “So, for example, I will only use free-range eggs in my cakes and make a point of using English butter. Coming from a family of farmers, I always try to buy British whenever possible.”
In addition to running her own cake-making business, Emma remains busy with other projects, too. As well as being a freelance food consultant, she also provides her home economist expertise for master-classes, workshops and photo shoots – and even worked on a cookery book last year by celebrity cake-maker, Mich Turner MBE, whose A-list clientele includes Gordon Ramsay, David Beckham and Her Majesty The Queen. Entitled Have Your Cake and Eat It: Nutritious, Delicious Recipes for Healthier, Everyday Baking, the book became an instant best-seller – and is yet another string to Emma’s bow.
“Working on the book was a fantastic experience,” says Emma. “As home economist for the project, my role was to assist with the recipes, ensuring that the cakes were just right in terms of colour and texture, and then that they looked amazing in the photo shoots. It was great fun and it’s something I’d love to do again.”
The way things are going, we’re sure it won’t be too long before her next publishing project – and, who knows, maybe next time it could be Emma’s own cookery book. A clear case of watch this space...
Tags: cooking advice
Baking
Cakes
