Marina Boliscova, 35, majored in English and discovered her passion for baking by chance when she began baking and decorating cakes six years ago, after searching for something “tasteful, beautiful and exceptional” in Jeddah's confectionery market. She founded Confetti, a unique cake decoration business in February last year and with the motto “Sweet, Chic and Unique”, aimed to create and sell cakes, cupcakes and cookies that were not only unique in look but also in flavor. She used a combination of ingredients traditionally used by the European culinary school. In January 2011, the owners of Le Vendome, Jeddah's oldest French patisserie which established in 1979, approached her with the idea of a collaboration between the two businesses and she was appointed Le Vendome's Creative Director in February this year. Le Vendome is a highly regarded confectionery in Jeddah. Their policy of using only natural ingredients of the highest quality assures customers that they are getting the best quality pastries and sweets in the market. With growing concerns about the effects of artificial additives and preservatives to health, Le Vendome holds this as an advantage with claims that they never compromise on quality. Initially, Marina started by developing a new line of signature cakes and cupcakes for Le Vendome. One of those, named ‘Josephine', is a delightful combination of soft vanilla cake with mousseline cream and raspberry preserve and decorated with fresh roses and berries was launched in February. Its modern appeal and mouthwatering flavor made it an instant bestseller. The next signature line of cupcakes was created with eight unique flavors, including the After Eight chocolate mint, Pina Colada and Ferrero Rocher chocolates. These cupcakes come in regular and mini sizes, a perfect fit for parties and with all those who are careful about their waistlines. Apart from their unique flavor and delicious taste they all look like little masterpieces too, each with its particular decoration and character. They are definite show stoppers. Recently, Le Vendome have also launched a cake decoration studio, where they design and create anomalous decorated cakes for all customers and for events including baby showers, birthdays, graduations, engagements, weddings and anniversaries. Everyone wants their special occasion to be a memorable and delightful one and with the social scene in Jeddah bustling with life, customers want cakes that are exceptional and tasteful. “My primary aim as the creative director of Le Vendome is to bring an innovative approach to traditional pastry styles and develop new and unique products and desserts that will absolutely blow people's minds by their unique flavors and presentation,” explained Marina, who also created the new slogan for the company “Where Tradition meets Innovation”. Before something is created, there are certain things to keep in mind. In the cake business, Marina explained that the main objective while making a cake is to make it perfectly right for the person it is intended for; trying to find out as much as she can about the person is one of the first steps before creating a cake. The building of a cake is a long process and similar to what artists, musicians or any other artists are going through. “You have to let the idea develop in your mind, then there's a process of sketching and careful preparation of every single detail. You have to not only be a confectioner, but an artist, a scientist and an architect to make the final result stunningly beautiful for your customer,” she remarked. Being a part of the cake business is not a very easy task, but like everything, all the hard work pays off at the end. “I am an artist and my job is to create unique designer cakes for my customers which makes all the hard work and long working hours worthwhile for me,” Marina said. “To see the happy face of a mother picking up the birthday cake for her child, to hear the stunned ‘it just can't be a cake!' from people observing my work for the first time, this makes me the happiest person in the world.” She believes that opportunities present themselves when one is ready for them, and then it's just the matter of making the best out of it. Her personal goal is to establish a cake academy in Jeddah which would essentially be a cake decorating school for women, where they could “attain the joys of baking and decorating and further explore their talents and explore their creative side”. She is also looking at the possibility of opening a women-only patisserie, with the entire management comprising only of women. As for Le Vendome, Marina considers the personal integrity of the owners and their strong leadership coupled with a competent staff and traditional values make the French patisserie the leader in Jeddah's confectionery market. Many new lines of desserts are under development, so watch out for new products at their showrooms located at Diner's square, Al-Malik Road and at Arafat St in the Al-Hamra district of Jeddah. Le Vendome can be contacted on (02) 6924606 or (02) 6632476. It is also on Facebook, where the pictures of all their new desserts and news on any upcoming products and promotions are available.
