Hanami Cake Design

This review is super late but I had to make sure I did it. Martha is the most inventive, creative, and truly masterful baker I've ever had the pleasure of working with. She made the entire process as easy as could be and worked with our venue and florist on the final arrangements and decor for our cake. Her knowledge of flavor combinations - ones you never would think of... and I mean NEVER - and ability to match your tastes from answering a few simple questions is truly genius! Our tasting was so challenging because all of the samples she put together for us were so incredible that it was hard to make a decision. But then she told us we didn't have to necessarily! We ended up with a 3-tiered cake with 2 flavor combinations and fillings!! I could tell she truly loves what she does because she was genuinely excited about the cake she is going to bake for us. She is prompt, responsive, and willing to step outside of her wheelhouse and try things she hasn't done before - my wedding was on the same day as my husband's birthday so I asked, last minute, if she would bake a birthday cake for my husband so that we could surprise him the night before. She was more than happy to accommodate and asked what kind of cake and theme he would like. My husband is a huge Marvel fan so I told her it would be awesome if she could make a cake with the Avengers and infinity stones. This is not something she had ever attempted before and she was honest about that (another attribute I appreciate about her) but she was willing to give it a go! The cake came out phenomenally and my husband was so thrilled when we surprised him. Now if I am going on about this additional cake, imagine how amazing our actual wedding cake was... It was perfect in every way!! Designed exactly as we'd discussed and the most delicious cake I've ever had!! Martha is not only a master of her craft but a genuinely wonderful person - just an absolute joy. So hire her. You will not be disappointed, you won't regret it, she's amazing!!

For a truly wonderful and unique cake I highly recommend working with Martha at Hanami Cake Design. We were able to design a unique cake from the ground up including two great unique flavors. If you can imagine it, I am sure Hanami Cake Design can find a way to create the wedding cake of your dreams!

Martha was so helpful throughout the entire planning process. She set up cupcakes for a no-contact pickup and held multiple planning calls to make sure she understood our vision. The cake was delicious and so beautiful, thank you Martha!

Martha was absolutely incredible to work with. From the very beginning she was so enthusiastic, and supportive of all our thoughts and ideas. She answered any questions we had, and we felt completely secure with her throughout the whole process. Our wedding was very colorful, and she was so excited to create a cake for us that reflected that! When the cake was brought out, people were stopped in their tracks, completely awestruck. It was absolutely delicious as well, and we barely had any left over by the end of the night. Thank you Martha!!!

Martha made us a beautiful beach themed wedding cake! Three tiers, each with an alternating diagonal "shoreline" between the water and the sand. For the ocean she was able to fade the blue so that it looked like deeper water running into shallower water. She also did some white cresting waves. For the sand she actually used graham cracker dust to give it a 3D effect. In the sand I had asked for various shells or sand dollars. Most cake decorators would have used fondant, which looks nice but eating a big glob of it isn't very satisfying. So she suggested we go with white chocolate pieces instead that way its more enjoyable and we still get that 3D aspect. It was truly a one of a kind cake that everyone said was gorgeous! And not to mention it was delicious! We couldn't decide between chocolate or vanilla so we went with marble with a strawberry mousse for the layering and it was very good! Highly recommend if you are looking for a stunning design that will blow your guests away!

Amazing cake for our wedding! Stunningly beautiful and so delicious. Martha worked with us on bringing together all the elements of our wedding. She made a delicious cake with two different flavors. We had lemon cake with strawberry rhubarb and chocolate salted caramel. Our guests couldn't decide which they liked better. We also got the mini blueberry pies which were a huge hit. When describing what I wanted in a cake i never imagined how beautifully Martha would be able to make. She was wonderful!

We found Martha (Hanami Cake Design) at another wedding we'd gone to and she happened to be friends with the bride. We saw their cake and were absolutely stunned at how beautiful it was and THEN we ATE IT. Oh Em Gee!!! This was the most delicious cake we'd ever had so we accosted her at the wedding since she was also a guest and hired her on the spot to make the cake for our wedding. She came through in spades with 3 tiers, all different flavors with the most interest flavor combinations: Feast your eyes on the flavors we had: Almond Cake with Mixed Berry Basil Buttercream and a Basil Meringue Ginger Molasses Cake with Spiced Pear Filling, Caramel Buttercream, and a Gingersnap Crumble Earl Grey Cake with Lemon Curd Filling, Ginger Buttercream, and Candied Ginger Pieces She came up with all of these ideas based on a conversation she had with us about our tastes and preferences. She can of course make more traditional flavored cakes as well but she will blow you away with flavor and design. She even drove all the way down to Beverly, MA to deliver the cake. Can't recommend her more highly!

I want to give a Special Thank you to Hanami Cake Design who made my Wedding Cake and my Mother's 60th birthday Cake both were splendid and so delicious. She is very talented and very easy to communicate. A big Thank you

If you are looking for a beautiful, unique, delicious SHOWSTOPPING wedding cake in Portland/midcoast Maine, look no further than Martha Elk of Hanami Cake Design. Martha was a joy to work with throughout the entire process, from our initial tasting to our wedding day. Martha made us not one, not two, but THREE gorgeous vegan cakes for our wedding weekend (which also encompassed multiple family birthdays - hence the two additional cakes), as well as gluten free, vegan cupcakes. Martha was the only cake vendor we found who met our top two criteria: (1) someone who could make us a vegan cake in an array of flavors without limitations (many vendors told us they could only make a plain vanilla or chocolate vegan cake), and (2) someone who was responsive, organized, and professional. We feel so lucky that in addition to meeting those requirements, Martha makes the most delicious vegan desserts we've ever tasted, and she is an absolute artist. Not to be biased, but I have never seen a more beautiful wedding cake than the one Martha created for us. She worked with us very closely to come up with a unique design that incorporated our wedding colors, multiple "on-trend" elements, and encompassed three flavors of vegan cake. She even found an elegant and creative way to incorporate our favorite hobby - rock climbing - by adding two mini gold leaf-covered rock climbers to the cake's prominent geode feature. Our guests absolutely loved it! Her cakes are a bit pricey, but worth every penny. Martha is a cake genius and I highly recommend hiring her for wedding cakes and any other special occasion!

I can't say enough good things about Hanami Cake Design (Martha). We first tried her cupcakes at a wedding show this winter. They were so delicious that we had to try all of the flavors. To our surprise we received an email from Martha the following week informing us that we won two dozen cupcakes (we had entered into a drawing while at the wedding show). We decided to have our prize cupcakes at our engagement party this summer. We ended up choosing blueberry-lemon and vanilla, which were some of the best cupcakes we have ever had. Even after the party our friends and family made it a point to tell us how good they were. During the whole process Martha was very accommodating and prompt to respond to all of our questions. I would wholeheartedly recommend Hanami Cake Design and look forward to having more of her cupcakes in the future. Thanks again Martha!

Hanami provided us with a custom wedding cake with elderflower frosting in our colors, scones, gluten free whoopie pies and mini meringues. We could not have asked for a better service. All of the items we ordered arrived before the reception started and were beautiful and very tasty.