Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog
Inspired Jewish Weddings
I am thrilled to welcome Bee’s Bakery to our Smashing Suppliers, Smashing The Glass’s handpicked selection of the best brands and services the wedding industry has to offer.
Smashing The Glass hand selects and verifies each Smashing Supplier, and can personally vouch for the fact that every one of them has the ability to turn your wedding day into something truly special.
You can find Bee’s Bakery in the Sweet category in the UK Smashing Suppliers.
I am thrilled to welcome Peboryon to our Smashing Suppliers, Smashing The Glass’s handpicked selection of the best brands and services the wedding industry has to offer.
Smashing The Glass hand selects and verifies each Smashing Supplier, and can personally vouch for the fact that every one of them has the ability to turn your wedding day into something truly special.
You can find Peboryon in the Wedding Sweets category in the UK Smashing Suppliers.
I was bowled over by Peggy Porschen, the esteemed wedding cake designer, when I heard her speak at Paperfest a few weeks ago. Her phenomenal success it an inspiration to all ‘kitchen table’ entrepreneurs and as much as her lecture was unbelievably inspiring, I wanted to hear more.
I got in touch with Peggy after her session and she managed to squeeze me in to her very busy schedule to reveal to me her love for flower markets, designing Mary Berry’s imaginary wedding cake, her path to the top, and much, more!
I moved from my home in Germany to London in 1998 to study at the internationally renowned cookery school Le Cordon Bleu. After successfully completing ‘The Grand Diploma of Cuisine & Patisserie’, I worked as a pastry chef at London’s Lanesborough Hotel and celebrated caterer Rhubarb Food Design, followed by a position as cake decorator for German master-baker Gerhard Jenne, proprietor of Konditor & Cook.
I set up my business ‘Peggy Porschen Cakes’ in 2003 from my home in Battersea, which I eventually had to move out of as the business grew and grew! The Peggy Porschen Parlour opened in London’s Belgravia in October 2010. It was always a dream to have my own shop and offer my cakes to people on an everyday basis, I also created my own home wares & cake accoutrements range and a collection of jams and loose leaf teas — all inspired by the ingredients used in my kitchen. I opened the Peggy Porschen Academy in January 2011 just across the road from the parlour. It’s a wonderful addition to the company because I am lucky enough to teach all year round and offer a range of different classes and courses to suit every proficiency level. Meanwhile the bespoke design side of the business continues to thrive, I regularly bring out new wedding and celebration cake collections and my brides enjoy visiting our Belgravia bridal boutique — a space dedicated to one-on-one consultation and tasting for those wishing to commission a bespoke Peggy Porschen design.
My cakes are renowned for their pretty designs that are traditionally elegant and understated with an emphasis on skilled craftsmanship and most importantly, luxuriously delicious! I pride myself on my dedication to perfection, good taste, an understanding of what people want and the skills to translate this to sugar.
Every so often I’m sent images that truly take my breath away, and I certainly had one of those moments when I first clapped eyes on Victoria Made‘s incredible creations. They are essentially works of art — beautifully sculptural, contemporary , sleek, elegant , and so utterly pleasing to the eye. I immediately felt like I had to get the inside scoop on Victoria Watkin-Jones, the woman behind these works of art (that I’m sure delight the taste buds in equal measure) so I asked Victoria if I could talk to her for my Wedding Smashers series.
She kindly obliged and I was delighted that she spilt the beans to me on how she quit her 9 to 5 to start her business from her home kitchen just 3 years ago, what a typical day is like, and who she’d like to be trapped in a lift with!
My work life started in hospitality and catering and I always loved the creative element of putting a dish together, though not quite Masterchef standards I have to say! After a very different career change working in the fitness industry – health and fitness is something that’s always been part of me (in varying degrees!), I felt the need to go back to something creative.
The whole baking craze was taking off and wedding cakes seemed the perfect fusion of my previous food prep experience and an outlet for my creativity. I quit my old job in mid 2011 and set up Victoria Made, initially wanting to make cakes just in the Sheffield area. Not long into the business I started getting a bit of attention from further afield and was well received by some blogs so I started to look at shifting up a gear and aiming a little higher. Now 3 years in I have made cakes for Le Manoir, Jess Ennis and been featured in Brides Magazine amongst others. It’s been both a blessing and a curse that things have happened so quickly but it still seems an age ago that I was in my kitchen in Sheffield. My designs really have come a long way from then, it’s been a very quick, steep learning curve!
When you’re deciding what wedding cake or dessert to have, think about making it reflect who you both are as a couple and let it symbolise your story or embrace the theme or essence of your wedding. Ditch the three-tiered extravaganza and go for something unique and unusual that represents you both.
I did without a wedding cake altogether and instead had a huge surprise birthday cake made for the Irish catholic friend that miraculously set Jeremy and I, a Jewish couple, up. It had a photo of her edibly printed as Yente the matchmaker from Fiddler on the Roof and it went down a storm! You can see pictures of the cake, and her reaction, here.
Here are some other alternative and unusual wedding dessert ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
1. A novelty cake featuring something you love. Natasha & Jez absolutely love cow print and went for a lifesize cow cake!
2. Do you and your partner love playing a particular board game? How about a Monopoly cake, a backgammon cake, or a Scrabble cake where you can really have fun with the tiles and words!
3. If you have a wedding logo or monogram, have cupcakes displayed in your monogram design or have it iced onto a cake.
