EK Cakery, Exclusive Boutique Cake and Dessert Shop

A Sweet Collaboration with Friendors

Blush and Olive Wedding Sweet Table featuring EK Cakery pastries and cake

Erica setting up Wedding Sweet Table

Macarons, PB & J bars and Key Lime cupcakes Rose Toile plates, blush cake stand and bowls

Birds of a feather flock together.  Yes, they do.  We have been blessed to find vendors who are easy to work with and appreciate teamwork. We call these people our Friendors. These hardworking business friends are more than just vendors to us. We know how much it takes to run these businesses, and we are so appreciative to be in their flock. Our recent photo shoot highlights three of our favs, so join me as I take you through this delightful day that we spent together.

Erica Simmons

EK Cakery, Belvidere, IL

Erica Simmons, pastry chef and owner of EK Cakery in Belvidere, told me that she made lots of pies when she was young, which eventually led her to pastry school. Her passion started long ago. Her experience with French pastries and her particular attention to hospitality gives EK Cakery that extra special something. As Erica says, "Food translates in any culture." This is why she goes above and beyond for her clients.  We had the opportunity to collaborate for a wedding sweet display photo session at Providence Vineyard, Hebron, IL. We featured her pastries and cake on our sweet display serve ware rentals. What do you think?

EK Cakery

EK Cakery is an exclusive "wedding only" (or large events) boutique cake and dessert shop. She also does monthly pop-up items.  All of Erica's items are baked from scratch including all of the fillings and frostings. Cakes are frosted with a meringue-based buttercream (Swiss meringue buttercream), so goodies are not too sweet.  She is able to decorate in a clean design style with this frosting. Check out what she made for our photo shoot.  And BTW we did enjoy these afterwards. YUM! Everything was too delicious for us to choose our favorites. Not only are these delights a treat for the taste buds, but also a treat for the eyes. So pretty!

Notice the color scheme...Pantone Color of the Year...Peach Fuzz...Blush

YUM! Look What She Made!​

Macarons in vanilla, orange creamsicle, pistachio and strawberries & cream
Double dark chocolate, key lime and blueberry maple cupcakes
Lemon and PB & J bars (with housemade jam)
Beautifully decorated vanilla bean sugar cookies
Vanilla cake with two layers of vanilla cream frosting and a layer of vanilla pastry cream
Raspberry vanilla cake with vanilla cake and two layers of raspberry butter cream and a layer of raspberry jam
​

Here's how she does it...

EK Cakery, Belvidere, IL

Desserts and Cake

Erica's bakery business

What about this adorable, air-conditioned van? CAKE ON BOARD! You can certainly tell that Erica loves what she does. 


Erica delivers the cakes in insulated boxes approximately two hours before the event with the help of her wonderful husband. She has a system since there's some butter in that frosting.


EK Cakery serves the suburbs, Chicago, Rockford, Lake Geneva, Milwaukee and even Des Moines.  ​

***I asked her if she is seeing any new trends in the wedding cake business. Dessert tables are still popular. However, she has been asked for more retro/vintage style cakes with columns.  Columns are coming back with heavy piping and mostly white.  Who knew!
***Erica's advice...avoid navy frosting...it stains.  No one wants a blue smile in their wedding photos.
***I also asked if she does fondant.  She said she rarely does. She prefers working with the meringue butter cream.
​***Erica does all of the consultation, baking and decorating for each order. Erica has switched from a store front type bakery to pop-ups, weddings and large events in order to maintain her work life balance. 
***Be sure to check out her website.  With her experience and expertise she is able to customize for her clients with ease.

Shaylee Berge at Providence Vineyard

When we contacted Erica for this sweet display photo shoot, we had to decide on a location. Of course, we immediately thought of Providence Vineyard in Hebron, IL. They are a Friendor that we have worked with often.  The building is absolutely gorgeous and would be the perfect back drop for these sweets! Working with Shaylee, the venue manager and lead wedding planner, is always a pleasure. This vineyard and barn located in Hebron, IL is a magical place. Be sure to go to their website if you are in search of a stunning wedding venue. Click on the photo above of the barn and read the blog where we featured Providence Vineyard.
Thank you, Shaylee for sharing this beautiful venue with us. 

Sandra Ortiz Photography

Sandra Ortiz Photography

Sandra doing her thing!

Huge shout out to Sandra and the beautiful photos of everything. Sandra's photography business captures all of life's moments from boudoir to wedding to babies to families. Dish & Decor was introduced to Sandra when she rented from us for her daughter's wedding. Since then, we have stayed in touch and support each other's talents. It was only natural that we ask her to be the photographer for our photo session. Aren't these photos amazing?  She knew exactly what we needed. These show off Erica's goodies and our pretty plates, cake stands and more. And she made us look good too! Thank you, Sandra.

​Dish & Decor Team

Kristina, Sara and Kelly

Pre-planning with Erica at Dish & Decor's Design Center for Photo Shoot

Where do I begin??? Our goal has been to highlight more local vendors and incorporate what we do with their businesses.  Of course with the plan to promote each other.  Janet has worked with Erica over the years, and Kristina had Erica make her birthday cake in blueberry maple. Delish! Small world, right? Sara and Kristina are rock stars and Janet's right-hand women who organized this session. Sara is our Operations Manager while Kristina is our Inventory and Production Manager.  

Kristina met with Erica in advance of the photo session to lay out the sweet display, to coordinate colors and to discuss pastry options. It was decided that the wedding sweet display would highlight the Pantone Color of the Year Peach Fuzz, or as we call it Blush, while adding in some greens for contrast. This is an example of how we play when clients come into our Design Center. The photo above is the plan for the photo session.

On the day of the photos, Kristina and Sara packed, delivered, and set up the displays. They then broke down and loaded up our rentals and headed back to the warehouse.  These two made the day run so smoothly. The creative arrangements they put together with Sandra and Erica truly highlighted the bakery goodies and our rental pieces. In addition, they coordinated with Shaylee and Sandra to make this event happen.  Collaborating with these vendors made the day a success!

I'm Kelly, the blogger, wordsmith or social media person. I had the opportunity to interview Erica in the pre-planning meeting and then again at the photo session to learn about her skill set and passion for her business. I want to add just how kind and thoughtful Erica is.  Any couple would be fortunate to order from her to create exactly what they envision. 

And that's a wrap! Let's eat!

Friendors

Venue @providencevineyard Providence Vineyard 
Photography @sandraortizphotography Sandra Ortiz Photography 
Bakery @ekcakery EK Cakery
Table top/Serve ware @dishanddecorvintagerental Dish & Decor Vintage Rental