In this interview we introduce you to Cakery Rocks, a creative bakery that stands out for its personalized cakes for events, which combine flavor, design and personality to create true works of art. Behind each creation is Larissa Abache, a passionate pastry chef who has made her love of sweets a way of telling stories and expressing personalities.
From epic weddings with cakes inspired by geeky universes to sweet tables that reflect the memories of couples, at Cakery Rocks everything is possible. Each cake is unique, and there are no challenges for her, since she can’t even resist the difficult sugar flowers.
But beyond the technique and design, what really makes Cakery Rocks special is the close and unique approach that she captures in her personalized cakes for events. Here it’s not just about baking, but about creating unforgettable moments that sweeten the most important celebrations in life.
If you want to discover how these unique cakes are created, what trends are sweeping the baking scene and even some funny anecdotes, keep reading and immerse yourself in the world of Cakery Rocks.
If you had to describe your passion for baking with a cake, what ingredients would you use to represent it?
Coffee, chocolate and rum. I think they are ingredients that can be very good on their own, but when combined they complement each other in such a way that they create an indescribable flavour. That is my passion for baking, it is the fruit of the mixture of many years of work, training and exploration, with a very rich legacy of bakers in my family, and my eternal interest in art, aesthetics and beauty.
How did Cakery Rocks start? Was it an obsession with sweets or a need to create personalized cakes for events?
I loved cooking, especially sweets, since I was little, and my grandmothers were bakers in their time and from a very young age they taught me a lot of things. My family, in general, always encouraged the development of my culinary talent, so much so that my first baking order was made by my older sister, who when I was 11-12 years old asked me to make her some oatmeal cookies to take as a gift to a birthday party, and then to another and another, my sister has always been one of my best clients!
Many years later, when I was about to graduate as a psychologist, my sister got married and my grandmother offered to pay for my training in Creative Pastry so that I could make her wedding cake. That’s where it all started, and although I worked as an HR Consultant during the day, I spent my afternoons and nights in the kitchen baking for friends and family until one day, my husband (at the time my boyfriend) urged me to stop giving away my work and turn it into a business.
The crazy things and adventures that arose after that would be enough for a book or a Netflix series, but in short, after several years of combining an independent job with my baking business in Venezuela, we decided to come to Spain. Here I studied an MBA and the Professional Cooking and Pastry Degree from the Higher School of Hospitality and Tourism in Madrid, while giving English classes to children and adults. So, one day on the commuter train on the way home, the wordplay Cake and Bakery came to mind and I could even visualize the logo I wanted and so on. My husband, who is a musician and music photographer, always has music playing while I work and it’s always some kind of Rock or Metal, so that’s where the name of the brand Cakery Rocks came from.
I’ve been making personalized cakes for events for over 15 years now, and the truth is I don’t know if it’s an obsession with sweets or wanting to make epic cakes. I love accompanying my clients in special moments of their lives, it’s an honor and a responsibility to be part of their special day, that’s why I take it very seriously and always try to make their cakes as beautiful and memorable as possible.
What has been the most incredible cake design you’ve done so far? Was it hard to do or was it a fun challenge?
I find it very difficult to choose a particular cake, I think that they are all unique and incredible in their own way, and the truth is that I always take on all of them as a challenge, because beyond the technical demands that a cake may entail, I think that the most difficult and at the same time important thing about what I do is to be able to design a cake that reflects the style and personality of my clients and that also amazes and pleases the other guests.
Among all the geeky themes that you work on, which is the most challenging and why?
At weddings especially, I love the classics (Marvel, Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones), but I think these are not as challenging as those that have to do with anime or video game characters (Legend of Zelda, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Cult of the Lamb, etc.), because the aesthetic they have is very particular and colorful (usually) and you have to know it well in order to design something original but keeping the wedding spirit, meaning that the cake still looks like a wedding cake, but at the same time the geeky element is recognizable.
How do you make a cake that is not only pretty, but also incredibly tasty without being cloying?
First of all, by working with high-quality raw materials, second, by working in balance with all the internal elements of the cake, and finally, by starting from the purest principle of “do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you.” My recipes are the result of an extensive process of experimentation and standardization, I have tried them all first and if I did not like any combination or it seemed too sweet, I have adjusted it until I reached the ideal point.
What are the most popular trends in baking right now? What are you most asked for lately and what do you think will be the next trend?
Current trends I would say are 1) sculptural cakes, those that include ruffles, ethereal flowers, and elements that seem to give movement to the cake, 2) cakes with lots of flowers, whether painted, natural or sugared, and 3) personalized cakes for events with textures or color effects, such as those that imitate marble, or include watercolor effects. However, the ones that I get the most requests for, apart from the geeky ones, are the already classic Naked Cakes.
What is coming next, which is actually from the time of our grandmothers but has come back into fashion, are Lambeth cakes, which are made with a lot of work using a pastry bag and special nozzles, which we call Coquette these days, and Sheet cakes, which are one-tiered cakes but large enough to serve all the guests and are decorated with flowers and fruit that add a lot of colour. The most common are rectangular cakes that cover several metres and serve almost as a central decoration for the main table, or round cakes covered in raspberries and other red fruits.
Let’s talk about the famous sugar flowers: which one has been the most difficult to make and how realistic can you make it?
The most difficult in my opinion are lilies and magnolias because of the size and shape of the petals which makes them very prone to breaking. Fortunately, I learned the art of sugar flowers from great masters, including the great Nicholas Lodge, from whom I learned his wonderful gum paste recipe that allows me to make any flower and reach the highest level of realism without fear of them breaking in the process.
As for cupcakes and cakepops, what is your favorite flavor combination to surprise those with a sweet tooth?
I think that both in cupcakes and cakepops my favorites are: Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting, Chocolate with Oreo cream and Funfetti that surprises and moves everyone.
What excites you most about the baking workshops you organize? Do you have any secret recipe that you teach your students?
I love teaching, it is a very beautiful vocation of service, and what excites me most is when, almost finishing the workshops, the students are surprised to see what they have managed to do, they go from disbelief and amazement to a greater sense of pride, seeing the change in body language and how they literally “get excited” fascinates me.
I don’t have any secret recipe, as I tell my students, “between heaven and earth there is nothing hidden” following a recipe is the easiest thing in the world and anyone can do it, taking ownership of the recipe, mastering it and making it your own, adjusting it to your taste, that is the real challenge, and to achieve it the first step is to feel confident that you can do it, so when I see that beautiful moment of “getting excited” I know that my work is done, that this student already knows that he can and now he will dare to do more.
As for the sweet tables, how do you decide what to combine so that nothing is missing and everything is delicious?
I always try to include the tastes of the bride and groom, our motto at Cakery Rocks is cakes and sweets 100% you, and at weddings I believe that all the details should speak of the couple, including the sweet table. That’s why I don’t have a closed menu of desserts and sweets. I’ve made wonderful sweet corners combining the bride and groom’s favorite childhood desserts and sweets, tables loaded with typical sweets from specific countries and cultures, even a buffet of cakes with the couple’s favorites.
In any case, I always try to have at least 1 fruit option, 1 chocolate option, and 1 vegan option on the table. In addition, I try to have a variety of textures and colors. And I usually always calculate about 4 sweet pieces per guest, understanding that you work with 70% of the total number of guests who will be the most likely to come to eat.
Tell us a funny or unexpected story that happened during the creation or delivery of one of your cakes
A couple of years ago a bride contacted me to make her wedding cake on the condition that it was kept secret and that the groom didn’t find out. It was a classic wedding but the groom was a big fan of Star Wars and she was an Arabian dancer. So the decoration included Star Wars elements and the couple figurines represented her in her Belly Dance dress and him as Darth Vader. I left the cake on a special table that had been placed behind a screen to keep the surprise and I left. After the wedding I met the bride again who told me that one of her friends accidentally told the groom about the cake and in the end she was the one who was surprised, because when it was time to cut the cake and she turned around to see her partner’s surprise, the groom put on his Darth Vader mask and took out a laser sword to cut the cake, it was an even more magical, fun and special moment. I still find it funny because he showed me videos and you could see that both they and the guests had a great time.
In a world full of sweet options and personalized cakes for events, what makes Cakery Rocks unique? What is that special detail that distinguishes you and makes people choose you again and again?
I think it’s the fact that I always get 100% involved in every project, I put time and effort into getting to know and understand the couple, their tastes and desires, and I try to give them exactly what they want. I don’t make “simple” cakes, even if they are white and minimalist, they all try to capture the complexity and personality of the couples in some way, either with their geeky sides or with their favorite flowers and flavors.
How do you imagine Cakery Rocks in the future? Any epic projects or collaborations you’d like to carry out?
In the near future I want the Cakery team to grow and thus have even more talent and aesthetic diversity in our portfolio. I also dream of being able to work with some of the top Hotels and Estates in Madrid that I haven’t had the opportunity to work with yet. And since I’m dreaming, I’d love to be able to create a cake for the cinema and see one of my creations on the big screen, and have or participate in a creative baking show.
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