Creatively Niche

Anyone involved in the creative industries will appreciate the time and effort that goes into creating something by hand. That is, of course, on top of the many years it takes to perfect your craft.

The cakes and macarons that are lovingly created by Libby and Gen from Elizabeth and May are among the most delicious you will ever try

Add to that the creativity that goes into the colours, theming and decoration and you take it a whole new level.

These two remarkable ladies joined forces just over a year ago. Libby was creating wedding and celebration cakes from her store in Montville and was at capacity.

She had to decide whether to expand or close down as she knew she could not sustain the pace at which she was working.

Following the arrival of her first baby and having a background in hospitality/cooking Gen was asked to make a cake for her cousin's wedding.

She laughs now as she recalls the challenges delivering the fondant covered cake on a very rainy and humid day. Moving on from this, Gen went on to carve out a niche making macarons.

She met Libby when she needed to start using a commercial kitchen and Libby kindly offered her the use of her own.

You could be forgiven for thinking the pair are mother and daughter such is their bond. Libby takes care of all the business and accounting aspects of their venture while Gen handles all the marketing and social media – and they cook everything together.

Their macarons are in high demand from corporates who order them branded in their corporate colours for client gifts, product launches and exhibitions and they are making roughly seven wedding and celebration cakes each week.

Because of nut allergies and a younger demographic ordering cakes, there is no longer a big demand for the traditional fruit cake, with most of the celebration and wedding cakes being mud cakes, hidden under a layer of butter cream, ganache or iced fondant.

Libby and Gen have built their reputation on providing an outstanding product every time – where the high quality of their cakes and macarons never waivers.

This has opened a whole new market for them as their macarons are now being sourced by cafes and restaurants from all over the region.

The ladies credit the quality of their product to the local ingredients they use.

“We always use local eggs in our baking, and the almond meal we use in the macarons in sourced locally,” Libby said.

“The Sunshine Coast Hinterland provides a wonderful opportunity to include fruits such as limes, lemons, passionfruit, strawberries and oranges as they are locally grown and readily available particularly during the cooler months”.

Adding another string to their bow Libby and Gen are about to release a range of Melting Moments which are going to be very special.

They are currently developing the flavours which will all be based around and feature fresh locally grown fruits and they are talking to the team at the Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN) about ways they can work together with other FAN members to create a truly special range of Melting Moments.

With orders for 2019 already filling up their books, this delightful duo understands what it takes to truly collaborate, and as they focus on growing their business expect to hear (or taste) from Elizabeth & May!