She’s a cake artist with an astonishing list of celebrity clients, from The Beatles and the Beckhams, to Madonna, Gordon Ramsay and Queen Elizabeth II.
Now Mich Turner MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) has set her sights on Dubai, whipping up one of her legendary cakes for a VIP supper being held at Expo’s UK Pavilion on Thursday, in honour of UK National Day.
The four-foot masterpiece has eight tiers, and features 1,000 hand-moulded sugar petals and Union Jack detailing. The base itself has a width of three square metres and a depth of eight inches.
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“It was a huge honour to be asked to bake for Expo and the cake we’ve produced is spectacular,” says Turner. “The brief was to create a cake that represents the nation, so it had to have stature, it had to be majestic, and it had to represent the diversity and unity of the United Kingdom.
“The base is a layered vanilla cake with chocolate ganache buttercream that is covered in frost fondant icing and draped in the Union Jack flag,” explains Turner. “This tier alone is made of at least 30 kilograms of cake batter and more than 5kg of chocolate has gone into creating the ganache.”
cake artist and founder of Little Venice Cake Company
Turner began working on the cake back in December and has spent more than 600 painstaking hours baking, hand-moulding, hand-painting and hand-piping. The top seven tiers were constructed in the UK and flown over to Dubai earlier this week in special refrigerated planes.
Turner then baked and decorated the base tier in the kitchens of Atlantis, The Palm before the final assembly at the UK Pavilion.
“The logistics of creating a cake of this magnitude are pretty complex,” says Turner. “A huge amount of work has gone into it, but it carries such gravitas to represent the nation.”
Each tier has been designed to represent the qualities of the UK, with nods to science and innovation, creative arts, music and sporting achievements etched on to each layer. The top tier then culminates in a sphere to represent Al Wasl Dome, a “crowning glory” that is also draped in a Union Jack flag made of icing.
“From one foundation of the United Kingdom, our pillars of strength grow, culminating in a real gratitude to Dubai and Expo at the top,” explains Turner. “There’s also a tribute to British royalty, with 70 hand-moulded white sugar roses representing the platinum jubilee of her majesty the queen.”
The base of the cake will be eaten at Thursday's dinner, while the top seven tiers will remain on display at the UK Pavilion until the end of the Expo.
For Turner, baking the high profile cake has been a “fantastic honour, privilege, opportunity and challenge”, but it certainly hasn’t been a first. Known as the Queen of Couture Cakes, Turner has created a birthday cake for former US president Obama’s daughter Sasha in 2009, as well as baked for music mogul Simon Cowell, former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and rock star Ozzy Osborne.
She says her most memorable commissions were Pierce Brosnan and McCartney’s wedding cakes, while David Beckham’s 30th birthday cake was a bit more of a challenge.
“I was only given a 48-hour notice for David Beckham’s birthday cake and, at the time, he was living in Madrid,” she says. “I had to bake it, decorate it, box it and transport it in that time so it was a tall order and the only time I’ve had to physically work on a cake through the night.
“When we landed, the pilot personally escorted us off the plane and through the terminal building to make sure the cake got there safely.”
For Turner, however, one cake takes the crown. “I made the diamond wedding anniversary cake for her majesty the queen and Prince Philip as a gift that was delivered to and set up in Buckingham Palace for a private royal family event,” she says.
“The top tier was a traditional fruit cake that the queen later took to Sandringham to enjoy for Christmas.”
The visit to Expo will be one of many jaunts to Dubai for Turner, whose Little Venice Cake Company will be opening at Atlantis, The Royal later this year. “Walking into the Little Venice Cake Company in Dubai will be like stepping into my world,” says Turner. “There’ll be red-carpet glamour, prestige, quality and the constant theatrics we’re known for.
“It’s an honour to take our place among the incredible food concepts opening at Atlantis The Royal and we can’t wait to bring a slice of our own special magic.”
