About the studio
Belarim began in a rented kitchen with one oven, a tired mixer, and a rule that nothing leaves the bench unless somebody has tasted it first.
Est. 2011
How it started
The first order was a birthday cake for a neighbour. It went out with a crooked edge and came back with three more requests.
Belarim started the way a lot of small kitchens do, which is to say accidentally. A friend asked for a cake, then a friend of that friend asked for another one, and after about eight months of baking on weekends the rented kitchen stopped being a hobby. The name stayed because changing it felt like bad luck.
What has not changed since those first months is the way we work. Cakes are made close to the date, not frozen in advance. Buttercream is mixed in small batches because it behaves better that way. And if a sponge comes out dense or a ganache splits, it goes in the bin rather than out the door. That sounds like a marketing line, but it is really just the practical answer to a simple question: would we eat this ourselves?
The people
Five of us, and you will probably speak to at least two before your order is done. Nobody here handles only one part of the job.
Founder and the one who still refuses to write down the buttercream recipe. Marisol trained as a pastry chef, spent six years in hotel kitchens, and left because she wanted to make the same cake for the same family twice. She handles the design sketches and every wedding order.
Pastry chef, and the reason our éclairs look the way they do. Owen came from a bread bakery and brought a stubbornness about temperature that has improved everything we churn, fold, or chill. He runs the catering side and does most of the early-morning deliveries.
Front of house, order desk, and the person who answers the phone. Ines keeps the calendar honest, which mostly means telling people no when the week is already full. She also runs the tastings, so if you book one, you will meet her before you meet the cake.
Two more work the bench part time, mostly on Fridays and Saturdays when the platters and tiered cakes overlap. We do not put their photos here because they asked us not to, which seemed like a fair request.
Work we are proud of
Not everything, and not the most elaborate things either. These are the ones we would show a new customer if they asked what we mean by a finished cake.
Philosophy
Small kitchens have to choose what they care about, because they cannot afford to care about everything.
Butter instead of margarine, actual vanilla instead of essence, fruit when it is in season and preserved fruit when it is not. None of that is unusual, but it is also not universal, and it shows in the taste.
We cap the week at twelve orders. It means turning people away, sometimes people we like, but the alternative is a kitchen that bakes until midnight and a cake that tastes like it.
If your date is full, you will hear it in the first reply rather than three days later. It costs us nothing to be straight with you, and it saves everyone a wasted week.
Milestones
No grand plans at the start. Mostly a run of small decisions that happened to add up.
We have no plans to open a second site. A second kitchen would mean someone else baking to our name, and we have not worked out how to do that without losing the point.
What you can order
Cakes for the moments with a date attached, and platters for the ones where people drift in and out over a few hours.
Made to order
Birthdays, weddings, christenings, and the occasional quiet dinner that still needed a cake. You bring the guest count and the flavours, we bring a sketch and a straight price.
For events
Trays of small pastries for launches, meetings, and anything that runs over an afternoon. Delivered plated and labelled, with an ingredient card for the guests who need one.
Before you order
Three flavours, one afternoon, and as many questions as you want to ask. The fee comes off the order, so it costs you nothing if you go ahead with us.
We are in the studio most weekdays and always happy to talk through an order in person. If you would rather not travel, a phone call works just as well, and it is usually quicker than email.