The Bite Magazine - Summer 2019 - Issue 25

How about mini Burnt Butter & Salted Pecan and Vegan Chocolate Brownies, Chocolate Raspberry Tarts or Bite- Sized Shortbreads? Or for a healthier option, try the Granola Bar, Mini Tart or Bite-Sized Vegan Brownies. On the savoury side, there are individual Mushroom Courgette Risotto Cakes, Sausage Rolls with free-range Cornish pork and smoked bacon lardons, Vegetable Rolls with butternut, leek, cheddar, caramelised onion and chilli, Tomato Tart Tatin with goat’s cheese crème, Goat’s Cheese & Beetroot Tartlets with smoked walnut and fig, and Filo Spinach Goat’s Cheese Gratin Tarts. Now if you’ve already had the opportunity of thoroughly enjoying the delicacy of Lily Vanilli on a Sunday but cannot always get to their shop and happen to be craving one of their delights, do not fear because Lily has this covered. You can make her delicious cakes and pastries in the comfort of your home by following the recipes found on her website. Imagine creating the Decadent Baileys Salted Caramel Cake with layers of Baileys infused sponge, chocolate and vanilla ombre buttercream, Baileys salted caramel, salt caramel popcorn, chocolate shards and almond crunch caramel? Yum! Or the Pomegranate and Vanilla Cupcakes, made with a defyingly light vanilla sponge topped with Lily’s signature buttercream and pomegranate seeds. “The combination of sweet and aromatic vanilla with sharp and refreshing bursts of pomegranate is heavenly - try for yourself,” says Lily. Inspired by flavours often found in Syrian cooking and a constant fixture at the bakery, Pistachio and Barberry Frangipane Tart is made with ground pistachios instead of ground almonds and small, dried and sweet barberries that is said to pair perfectly with pistachios. An interesting design is the Halloween Brain Cake which was first created for her book, A Zombie Ate My Cupcake in 2008. The online recipe is a scaled-up version to make this the centrepiece at a Halloween dinner party, or for an even bigger impact, it can be sat on top of a layer cake. To create this amazing cake, Lily suggests you make up a small batch of any Red Velvet cake baked in a 6-inch round cake pan and allow it to cool before adding marzipan, food colouring in ivory, copper and pink to create the colour effect, and mixed berry coulis or red berry jam. Since she started her brand, Lily has gone on some amazing journeys creating cakes and delicacies for different clients around the world. From the Fortnum and Mason shoot with fashion designer Clio Peppiat, BespokeWedding Cake Photoshoot by wedding photographer Natasha Hurley, Sym- metry Breakfast Book Launch with author Michael Zee, to the Dominque Ansel Breakfast on the London Eye, The Young British Foodie in 2016, Harlequin Christmas for Jo Malone, Afternoon Tea at Frenzy Fountain andWedgwood’s 260 Birthday at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Earlier this year they were asked by British brand Wedg- wood to create a selection of celebratory mini cakes to celebrate their 260th birthday. It was held at the Wedg- wood Tea Conservatory at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show where a new collection was launched to mark the occasion. “With this in mind we had made a light Earl Grey infused sponge and to mirror the beautiful new Wild Strawberry Gold Collection we created a bold Wedgwood Blue but- tercream with flecks of gold alongside a deliciously light, whipped, wild strawberry buttercream topped with gold berries and delicate seasonal blooms.” In April last year, Lily travelled to Nanjing, China to work on an afternoon tea concept for a restaurant called Frenzy Fountain. Mesmerised by the interior and given the theme of ‘Botticelli, the sea, Chinese folk tales and the birth Venus’, she created an afternoon tea that, “included edible choc- olate gold coral on a bed of toasted almond sand, with a mini chocolate oyster shell you can pick and eat, filled with passionfruit ganache and a chocolate pearly.” She also made flower jellies and matcha and dragon fruit seashell cakes to complete the set. It’s examples like these that has enabled this very smart and widely successful entrepreneur and extraordinaire to stay at the top of her game. Lily can take something like Branston Pickle and turn it into Branston Cheese and Pickle Mince Pies which was a huge success and is back by popular demand. Or even the Picklebread Man which is a savoury twist on the gingerbread classic and made with oven baked cheesy biscuit in the shape of the familiar jolly ginger, enriched with chunks of Branston Original Pickle and sealed in a Branston Smooth Pick Glaze. So, for more mouthwatering cakes and pastries, make sure you visit the Lily Vanilli cafe at 6 The Courtyard in Ezra Street, east London on Sundays. For cake collections, the shop is opened from Tuesday to Saturday. Or if you live in Georgia, in Europe, Lily has a cafe on 20 Irakli Abashidze Street in Tbilisi which is opened every day serving Allpress coffee, brunch and seasonal cakes, eclairs and pastries, including delicious dairy-free options. The bespoke wedding and celebration cake service is also available all year round, creating beautiful modern cakes for any occasion. https://lilyvanilli.com Images courtesy of Lily Vanilli bite desserts