London's hotel patissiers are in a battle as cakes become a booming business. Once upon a time, we expressed affection with flowers, but now we say it with cake. A pistachio Paris-Brest or Tahitian vanilla mousse from one of the country's new 'haute patisserie' stars is a thoughtful gesture, and the taller, the prettier, or the more extravagant, the better. The ammunition for this one-upmanship comes from the patisserie counters of London's most prestigious hotels. Michael Kwan, the executive pastry chef at the Dorchester, notes that many clients now prioritize the visual impact of a cake over its taste. 'It's mainly about size,' he says. 'I've had a request for a cake so high it touched the ceiling.' Another request was for a 2-meter croquembouche delivered to the steps of a private jet, and he once made a cake so large it couldn't fit through the hallway door, requiring it to be dismantled and reassembled. 'The biggest challenge is often transportation,' he adds, though this wasn't an issue for a cake shaped like a Chinese pagoda, which took a team of three three days to create and decorate.
