Cake artist Heather Anne Leavitt is trained in sculpture at the University of Michigan and her cakes show it. She adds gesture to cakes where most bakers simply add more decoration.
For one wedding, Heather made table centerpieces that looked like the bridesmaid dresses. These centerpieces each had their own individual gesture and personality. Better yet, the guests thought they were delicious!
The insides of Heather’s cakes are just as beautiful as the outside. She works with local vendors. In fact, she even has a relationship with most of her vendors (Calder milk, John Harnois, etc.) In fact, she even made a number of cakes to honor the vendors she loves so much, such as Zingermans, Anatolian Bakery, Roos Coffee Roast. See images of them here.
She became particularly attentive to food when she studied in Florence, Italy at the Lorenzo di Medicii program. There, dinner is an event. You eat what is in season. When she went to the Central Market, she discovered how little she ever knew about taste. She writes on her website: I learned that food was not a subject to be taken lightly, and unless it was fresh, in season, and from a reliable source, it wasn’t worth my while. When I struggled to maneuver my two overstuffed suitcases through the cobblestones to catch my train to the airport, I took one last fleeting glance at the market and thought, “I’ll always have Florence.”
She personalizes each cake to the individual customer. She sketches designs, like she did in art school. She believes that you should decorate your cake with as much attention as you would decorate your own home.
Heather has even been on TV. Recently, she assisted pastry chef Courtney Clark of Cake Nouveau on the Food Network’s Last Cake Standing. They made it through an entire month of challenges (phew!)
Look for Heather at Eve, where she works.
Heather only graduated from the University of Michigan in 2007. I can’t wait to see what she continues to do.
In Michigan and interested in reading more about local Ann Arbor food? Check out this blog (with a fabulous list of related blogs on the left)
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