A highly skilled baker and cake decorator whose products are unbeatable for taste and appearance
Main event: Gorgeous celebration cakes, which look too good to eat
Is it worth the calories? There is cake and then there is Emma’s cake
Tips: Order in advance for special celebrations; these cakes take time to create
After graduating in Hotel Management in 1993 Emma Fuller completed a graduate programme at Harrods, which included merchandising and restaurant management. Next, as a wine merchandiser for Marks and Spencer, Emma gained an experience mix that gave her an enviable foodie CV. Proven in her next move when she became a restaurant and hotel inspector for the AA, leaving eventually to start a family. But bubbling under all this high-powered work Emma had been nurturing a love of baking. Cake making didn’t emerge as a possible career path until later.
Moving out of London and with young children at home Emma’s baking interests were allowed to flourish. First she decided to develop her decoration skill set and spent three years attending evening classes in Horsham. Not content with those skills she gained a coveted place on the intern programme with Mich Turner MBE, a celebrated cake maker and owner of the Little Venice Cake Company.
Since completing her internship Emma’s cake business, ‘Emmas Cake House’ has flourished. Working hard to establish her customer base she has wowed us with her stunning cakes. I first met this star baker at a networking event and it was love-at-first-bite with her signature salted caramel cake. There are not many cakes I would break the ‘no carbs’ rule for but these are an exception and I don’t think anyone else gets the salt sweet combination as precise. Emmas Cake House stands apart as this business is built on making wonderful cakes presented in a modern and stylish format that floats high above the competition. Without a retail outlet Emma attends food fairs, craft and Christmas events to showcase her products which you can also buy online from her website.
On our journey around Surrey we see a lot of cake stalls selling predominantly cup cakes many of which look great but are pretty average to eat. Serious cake eaters are Emma’s target market and she knows how to keep the orders rolling in. Whilst we chatted about her baking career Emma cut me a slice of her carrot cake. It almost seemed a criminal act to take a knife through the vanilla seed speckled icing, spiked with lemon curd to add a citrus kick. The cake itself is dense but not heavy, moist and cuts faultlessly. The fruit is soaked for 24 hours in brandy before preparation. After cooling, the baked sponge is liberally doused in syrup adding a luxurious mouthfeel. Finished with icing, this is a cake to celebrate with.
Christmas for Emma’s Cake House is a core element of her business. Emma designs three new-look Christmas cakes each year which she sells by attending events and through her website. In addition to cakes you’ll find jars of gingerbread stars, gingerbread houses and jar cakes. All of Emma’s recipes are executed with precision and attention to detail. This is so that she gets the most out of the quality ingredients, for example using brandy soaked fruit, muscovado sugar, fresh spices, nuts and free-range eggs whilst using only small amounts of flour gives the cake a rich moistness and luxury that hard to achieve on a tight budget. Not surprisingly the retail prices of her cakes reflects her investment in ingredients with Christmas cakes starting at £29.95 each. Having seen first hand the effort and care that goes into the baking here the phrase ‘worth every penny’ springs to mind.
It’s not just baking that keeps Emma busy, more recently, helped by the time spent with Mich Turner, Emma demonstrates at cake and bake shows and does tutorial videos and even boasts Lakeland among her clients. Emma is also in demand for food styling for photo shoots.
Her cakes are so revered in the Surrey food community that they have just been featured at the Houses of Parliament. This event, which was organised by Local Food Britain showcased some of our county’s top food producers to Government.
The accolade to Emma and her cakes doesn’t really get much higher than this.
We couldn’t resist the pudding menu and between us chose a zingy intensely fruity raspberry sorbet and a rich vanilla icecream (both £3.75) and a dessert of the day, a combination of poached and fresh fruit with fresh cream and berry coulis (£4.75).
Steak stones cleared away we finished with coffee a dessert of lemon and elderflower sponge with a hot caramel sauce.
