If you don’t have an extra special Valentine for your Valentine yet… The dash over to Charly’s Bakery and say it with a cookie… Not today, they are closed on Mondays and are hectically preparing for an amazing Valentines day tomorrow… get there to tomorrow, seriously, you just don’t want to miss this – it is going to be awesome!!! And don’t leave your Valentine behind. Make it a date because seriously being there is so much part of the fun, you need to feel the creative vibe!!!
Read on and see what makes them so special… I know I have blogged about Charly’s Bakery before…
And I know I will blog about this Cool Cakery again and again…
Everybody knows that the heart of a party is the cake… And these guys have never ever made an ordinary cake!!!
And at the heart of these cakes are Charly’s Cake Angels… busy, busy, busy!!!
This is a team that believes in going beyond what was asked of them. They are passionate about their unique cakes… they laugh, they cry and they go the extra-mile again and again and again…
And I mean extra mile… miles and miles of petit-fours…
My heart goes out to them at this time of year… they are working around the clock so that the folks can rock their Valentine’s socks off with a treat this Valentines day… Seriously they do love their customers that much!!!
Just take a moment… have you ever seen a golden cake… with pretty petals… Nothing is too difficult for this awesome team!!!
At first glance in the bakery you are wowed by the magical scene… the walls are lined with cakes,
And cake tins…
Piles and piles of cake tins…
Piles of them!!!
And the ceilings are dripping with chandeliers…
Everywhere you look is prettiness…
And the counters are burdened with exquisite cakes…
And the cupcakes that go on forever…
And the cakes are all sprinkled with glitter…
So much to choose from and so little time…
Yup its a magical scene…
Anyway, I was taken behind the scenes to meet the wild and wacky team of Charly’s Cake Angels and what a bunch of brilliance they are!!! Not just a couple of TV stars I tell you… and if you haven’t been lucky enough to see their TV series yet – you will. They’ve gone global so look out for Charley’s Cake Angels on your local food channel and see the amazing artwork that some folks might call cake!!!
They wanted to show me how they prepare for Valentines Day… I went on a tour of – well wow… all the hard work that goes into producing magical cakes and cupcakes and cookies for the people of Cape Town…
As well as keeping up with the regular rush of birthday cakes… and all those tiny details…
And the rows or regular cookies… Oh I so think I need some cute t-shirt cookies in our house!!!
But for Valentines Day… Mountains of cookies are baked and iced by hand…
Romantic cookie after romantic cookie after romantic cookie…
I have never ever seen so many cookies…
Because folks don’t just order one or two cookies they order hundreds of them… and each of those cookies gets just as much care as another…
Shelves and shelves of cheesecakes…
And did I mention the little details…
Their cakes are more than just a cake…
They are topped with personality… and folks’ passions…
Can you believe these are made from icing…
The thing that makes their cakes magical is not all the hard work… and there sure is a lot of that… And did I say teeny tiny details… they have a whole room devoted to the tiniest details…
You have never seen anything like the hard work that goes into their cakes…
This is a disco ball and here is it’s tray… breathtaking!!!
Trays of teeny tiny hats…
Each one carefully made…
Little faces in progress…
And trays of flowers…
Just flowers everywhere…
And a wall of details in waiting…
It isn’t the bright colors… and there are plenty of those…
It isn’t the extra special attention to every single detail…
It isn’t even the piles and piles of ingredients… or the buckets of fresh flowers at the ready…
Stored in the fridge, ready to be topped on your cake!!!
It isn’t the rows and rows of petit-fours waiting to be iced…
After the grand tour, I sat chatting outside, nibbling on a giant palmier…
Chatting about their hopes and dreams…
Their plotting and planning – to make a better product and to serve their city even more…
I have to say these folk don’t just sell giant heart cookies, they have huge hearts… they really care about each and every cake… not just the cake but the people they are making it for… they know their product is special… but they want it to be extra special for their customers too!!! It is their huge hearts, their fearlessness and eagerness to try anything new… that makes their cakes so brilliant… and I have to say that while they make cookies that say: “I love you this much…:
We love them right back… Cape Town is a much brighter place because of you… and thank-you Charly’s Cake Angels for another wonderful visit!!!!
And no they didn’t pay me to say any of this!!! But I do love their feisty passion and incredible service and I am so happy to tell the world to watch for Charly’s Cake Angels… these girls are making the world a happier place: One cookie at a time… Thanks Team!!! Gotta say they did send me home with a huge box of cupcakes for my gang – Seriously!!! Seriously!!! Gotta love these guys!!!
It’s all so colourful and cute, if only it wasn’t all the way across the world from us.
Hi Marci, Oh I love that I can tempt you think about visiting the far side of the world!!! Have a wonderful week!!!
what a slice of CREATIVE-BAKING wonder and joy! We have NOTHING that even comes close to anything like that where I live… and I’m glad… because i would buy everything in sight to photograph (and then EAT)!!!!!! I bet you could spend hours and hours there. THANKS for sharing! It is fun to dream and experience it through your eyes. 🙂 and I love the never trust the skinny baker note… hehehehhehe
Oh Katherine-Marie… You would love these guys!!! So much to photograph, and it really is like stepping into a magical kingdom…pure fun!!! So much to munch on – you could never choose!!! And a group of such lovely folk all working away to make folks dreams come true!!! Oh get you guys to Cape Town for a visit already!!! Lots of love… And hope you have a sweet Valentines day with your little ones!!!
I must admit..you are so right,those ladies are so AMAZING!!!! I had a smurf cake made for my sons 1st B’day & I plan on having a cake made @ Charlys for every b’day to come…the amount of attention to detail & hard work put in there cakes is breathtaking! Well done Charlys Cake Angels…You guys rock!!!! Will definately see you guys later to get some valentines goodies for my hubby 🙂 Happy Valentines Day!!!!
Hi Faeeza, I think once they have made one cake for you – that’s it!!! You are hooked for life!!! Hope you get the Valentines goodies you are after!!! Have a lovely day!!!
What an awesome blog and I agree, they are so worth blogging about! Working with the girls on the first Season of Charly’s Cake Angels was great and they turned me into a sweet tooth! Well done on a super blog! And blog away on Charly’s Bakery, makes my tummy rumble!
Thomene – So good to hear from you, we may have almost met when we visited Justin Bonello!!!I am not surprised you have a sweet tooth now!!! My husband works a block away and the smell of chocolate is out of this world!!! Thanks for visiting our blog – Hope your have a great week!!!
That looks so gorgeous! I will have to make it one of my stops when I finally get to see Cape Town. Love all the happy colours!
Thanks for showing us the talent we have in SA! I didn’t think it really existed on this scale!
Hi TJ… Charly’s Bakery would definitely be in my top se7en things to do in Cape Town… right up there!!! Loads of talent, loads of magic. Hope you get to Cape Town to enjoy it!!! Have a great week!!!