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‘Sweet’
temptations
Patisserie’s
expanded cake division is helmed by artist-chef
By
Lisa J. Curtis
The Brooklyn
Bride Editor
In April, pastry chef Andrea Lekberg of Cobble Hill’s
Sweet Melissa Patisserie fired up the ovens of the company’s
new wedding and specialty cake headquarters in Gowanus.
Lekberg’s training as a painter at the Art Institute
of Chicago shines through in the artistry of her gasp-producing
wedding cakes, which she has been baking for Sweet Melissa
for the past four years. But since April, these cakes have
been her only focus.
“One of the reasons that I’m even in baking is that
I love the traditions,” Lekberg told The Brooklyn Bride.
“I’m so happy that people appreciate wedding cakes
as this beautiful symbol of a festive celebration.”
Of course, it’s imperative that a wedding cake taste
as good as it looks, so Lekberg, a graduate of the Cooking
and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, creates a new menu of
cake flavors each season.
“When I think of what wintertime makes me feel like,
it’s cooler out, so our peppermint ganache with espresso
buttercream has a wintry feeling to me,” said Lekberg,
describing one of the flavor combinations on her New Year’s
2006 menu.
“We do traditional cakes, but we have a lot of people
who want a chocolate or ganache finish,” said Lekberg,
who also works with slick fondant and buttercream. While she
said she admires the “perfect beauty” of a fondant
finish on a cake and “artistically I get enjoyment out
of fondant, buttercream is beautiful because it begs you to
put your finger in it. It has a natural hand in it. It’s
not perfect, so it’s prettier to me,” said Lekberg.
The pastry chef said that Sweet Melissa distinguishes itself
from other bakeries because it doesn’t freeze its wedding
cakes.
“We charge more, but we make them just a couple of days
before the wedding,” she said.
Although Lekberg bakes out of the Gowanus location, she prefers
to have her consultations with brides and grooms in the patisserie’s
Cobble Hill dining room.
“When the two of you are looking for a cake, it’s
nice to do a consultation and tasting,” said Lekberg,
who has been a pastry chef for 15 years.
“It’s just me and the couple, and they bring their
pictures or cut-outs from magazines. We just go over ideas,
and I let them know what we can do, and they can take [that
information] and decide if they want to go with us. We don’t
charge for that [consultation], and I just recommend it. If
the cake is your dessert, it’s a very important part
of your meal.”
Lekberg’s wedding cakes are so gorgeous that even customers
who aren’t brides can’t resist them.
“One woman ordered a small wedding cake for a bridal
shower, and it was so charming,” said the chef about
the diminutive cake. “It’s a beautiful thing to
have at a shower.”
Lekberg’s confections can incorporate seemingly any adornment:
edible bows, handkerchiefs, Swiss dots, roses, and more.
“Our cakes are bright and cheerful,” said Lekberg.
“I want to make people smile when they see them.”
Wedding cakes
begin at $7.50 per person at Sweet Melissa Patisserie (276
Court St. at Douglass Street in Cobble Hill) and Sweet Melissa
Central (296 Bond St. at Sackett Street in Gowanus). For an
appointment with Lekberg, e-mail andrea@sweetmelissapatisserie.com.
December
17, 2005 edition |. Read
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