Krishanthi Armitt, an award-winning creator of bespoke and luxury cakes and a talented sugar flower sculptor of world renown, first met Zita in 2014.
She produced some stunning designs for Zita’s Sleeping Beauty wedding display at that year’s Bride The Show exhibition.
The whole stand, masterminded by Zita in her inimitable style, won the top prize, the Editor’s Gold Design Award.
Since this first creative collaboration, Krishanthi and Zita have worked many times together, notably for events such the Aashni + Co Wedding Show.
As Zita says, “we really understand and admire each other’s aesthetic approach and expertise.
I think this is because we share a connection to nature and flowers especially, their delicacy and their sculptural boldness, as well as the floral palette – it’s a visual language that we both love.
I find that Krishanthi’s interpretation of my design concepts is in tune, whether for a bridal event, Valentine’s Day or an exclusive fashion show – like me she always creates something new and original.”
In a recent meeting at the ZE Design Academy about a future event, Zita mentioned how fascinated she was by Krishanthi’s technique and her exquisite handiwork.
Krishanthi suggested that she could bring some teaching materials to the flower school in Kew and share some of her methodology with Zita.
“Zita and I have a deep mutual respect for each others’ craftsmanship and creativity, which made our session fun and relaxing.
We have known each other for years and have worked alongside on a number of cake designs for various events.
I loved teaching Zita how to make a rose. As a fabulously talented floral artist she has a natural eye for details and roses are one of the less complicated flowers to make, so a good starting point.
I prepared the rose cone and the wire prior to our class.
Zita then learnt how to work with flower paste, kneading, colouring and rolling it out thinly.
She then cut the rolled out paste with rose cutters in various sizes.
The petals were veined and thinned individually.
Veining gives the petals a natural and realistic look.
The next stage involved attaching individually prepared petals to the rose cone.
The centre is built first then the petals are gradually opened and curled so that they appear to unfold naturally.
The semi dried petals are dusted with edible colours and left to dry.
Zita also learnt how to prepare and cut a calyx.
After softening the edges and attaching the calyx it too was dusted with colour.
The finished wire was taped tightly in, in this case using white florist tape which was coloured in green.”
This informal class was such a success that Zita and Krishanthi plan to run a Cakes By Krishanthi workshop at the ZE Academy later in the year.
Keep an eye on the courses page or join the mailing list, at the base of this page, to be kept posted.
This will probably take place in the autumn once the wedding season has quietened down following the busy summer months.
Visit Krishanthi’s website for more information relating to her artisan cakes.
Photography, except where watermarked © Fiona Caroline