If you thought baking was all about twee country kitchens, flour-covered aprons and Cath Kidston prints, think again.
Self-taught Charlotte White, who lives in Yeading, has combined her love of burlesque and vintage fashion with her cake making and decorating talents.
Now, with the help of her debut book, you can too.
Burlesque Baking is bursting with 25 beautiful recipes inspired by some of the world’s most glamorous performers.
Charlotte, 31, will teach you step by step how to create her decadent designs, from passion flower cupcakes influenced by Parisian cabaret house Moulin Rouge, to a bejewelled iced sponge cake, based on the corset of American burlesque star Dita Von Teese.
“The Dita cake is definitely my favourite,” said Charlotte.
The blue icing is decorated with ‘rhinestones’, just like the boned corset Dita wears in her famous Powder Puff Pin-up act.
Other women who appear in cake-form include English performers Immodesty Blaize and Polly Rae, while American artist Catherine D’Lish has written the foreword.
What would Mary Berry say?
“It’s a celebration of beauty and women,” said Charlotte.
“Imagine retro glamour switched up to 11 – that’s how I like to think of it.”
Some may say burlesque and baking do not naturally sit hand in hand, but Charlotte disagrees.
“Burlesque is all about beauty, indulgence and decadence – and so are the cakes I create,” she said.
“I have received lovely messages from all the performers saying how much they are looking forward to seeing the book.
“My favourite reaction was Kitten Von Mew, who said ‘I’ve always wanted to be a cake!’ when I first told her about the project.”
Charlotte was taught to bake by her grandmother many years ago and later in life went to adult education classes to learn sugar craft and decorating.
She turned her hobby into a career in 2009 when she started her own bespoke wedding and occasion cake business, Restoration Cake.
“The Restoration era was a time of opulence and pleasure and it was also a very good time for women,” said Charlotte, a self proclaimed ‘history geek’. It is in this spirit she creates her cakes.
“Women were allowed to be on stage for the first time, although that was stopped a few years later, but it was a period of change,” she said.
“This country went from being very black and white to this huge explosion of colour.
“Even King Charles II was known for liking his mistresses to have a bit of personality!”
Alongside making bespoke wedding and celebration cakes, Charlotte also teaches her craft and it was at one of her classes in Islington that she was approached by a publisher.
“It’s really exciting,” she said.
“Creative things like this always become more popular in a recession.
“There’s something so nice about making something and giving it as a gift that is made with love.
“People are always so touched, it feels nice.”
She cites Nigella Lawson as the embodiment of all she hopes her book represents.
“She’s astoundingly beautiful as well as being amazing at what she does, and her books are so beautifully written,” she said.
Being constantly surrounded by tasty temptations, Charlotte has strict rules about self indulgence.
“I don’t ‘get high off my own supply’, otherwise I would eat far too much cake to be healthy,” she said.
“But I believe in treating myself and don’t deny myself anything, but I go to the gym regularly to compensate.”
Charlotte is confident that any idea, no matter how elaborate, can be transformed into a cake.
“I like a challenge and I even created a wedding cake for the UK’s first ever Star Trek Klingon wedding,” she said.
“It was three tiers of Borg Cube and took a full week to create.
“I love people coming to me with their ideas.
“I have the best job in the whole world.”
The book is out on February 13, so Charlotte sent the Gazette some red, glittery Valentine’s Day cupcakes.
Following a rigorous taste test, the Gazette team can confirm they taste as beautiful as they look!
? Burlesque Baking costs £9.99 and print and Kindle editions are available at amazon.co.uk. Bespoke cakes cost £550 on average, but Charlotte can work to any budget.
Visit restoration
cake.co.uk, Pinterest.com/restorationcake and follow her on Twitter@restorationcake.
To discuss orders, call 07794 469689.
