Meet Elysia Root of Elysia Root Cakes in West Fulton Market

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elysia Root.

Elysia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Elysia Root Cakes was launched in 2011 and has quickly become the go-to bakery for beautiful and delicious wedding cakes in the city of Chicago.

Having an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS from the University of Illinois, I pursued a corporate career for 10 years and my last position was the Director of Distribution at CNA Insurance. Starting a custom cake business was quite the unexpected second career for me. I had never made a decorated cake until I took a cake decorating class in 2010 with some girlfriends. I fell in love with cake decorating and it quickly became a fun hobby for me. I volunteered to make cakes for friends, family, and co-workers and loved the process of creating something beautiful and delicious from scratch.

I left my corporate job and enrolled in to L’Art du Gateau at The French Pastry School downtown. I graduated in April 2011 and then quickly launched Elysia Root Cakes in July 2011. I started my business by working out of a shared commercial kitchen as I was trying to decide if I wanted to pursue this as a business. I had never worked in the food industry and I likely made many mistakes my first year as I learned by doing and working many long hours. Continued education was very important to me and I pursued and took classes from many of my cake idols during my first years and learned as much as I could, as quickly as I could.

About 3 years ago, in 2014 we moved into our current cake studio, located at 1939 W Fulton St. in Chicago’s West Fulton Market district. Our 2,000 sq. feet location houses our production kitchen and our client consultation and tasting space. I have a wonderful team of hard working and dedicated individuals that keeps us running smoothly and efficiently. I’m very proud of what I was able to build in six short years and we have experienced amazing growth in the industry.

Has it been a smooth road?
With any small business, it has not necessarily been a smooth road. I had never worked in the food or service industry much less a commercial kitchen and I made a lot of mistakes my first year or two in business. I learned a lot about working in the food industry and also about myself. It takes great dedication and a lot of hard work to consistently create cakes

I made the decision early on to specialize and focus on custom cakes. It was a struggle early on to stay focused because opportunities would present themselves that were not necessarily a good fit, but it was an opportunity and it was difficult to say no. Our cake studio space is appointment-only and we are not a retail business. I liken what we do to commissioning an art piece in that we create an art piece that is edible.

I also struggled finding the right people for my team. There are many talented individuals in the cake world, but not everyone is a team player. It takes an amazing team and consistent processes to produce the quality of work week in and week out.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Elysia Root Cakes – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Elysia Root Cakes is known for creating beautiful bespoke wedding and special occasion cakes that not only look amazing, but taste even better.

We are known for our cake artistry and our handmade botanically correct sugar flowers. I have studied under amazing cake masters such as Nicholas Lodge and Ron Ben-Israel and have trained my team to produce amazingly life-like sugar flowers. We also make more than wedding cakes and create amazing sculpted cakes.

I made the decision early on that Elysia Root Cakes would be eco-friendly and implement sustainable business practices – we try to use local and organic ingredients as much as possible and we use limited packaging and re-use materials where we can. We are a member of Chicago’s Green Wedding Alliance, a group of like-minded business dedicated to reducing waste in the wedding industry.

I am proud of building a brand and a team that is synonymous with professionalism and quality.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I grew up in Chicago and have lived in the Chicagoland area my entire life, so I love the city and the people in Chicago. There’s a vibrant and ever growing food scene in Chicago. I love the different unique venues in the city and with the wedding cakes we produce, there is a nice balance between tradition and more leading edge cake designs.

The weather in Chicago is my least favorite thing about living here. Winter always feels too long and the summer always feels too short!

Pricing:

• 2017 pricing starts at $7.75 per slice
• Wedding minimum: $500 before tax and delivery
• Special Occasion Cake minimum: $375 before tax and delivery

Contact Info:

• Address: 1939 W Fulton Street
  Chicago, IL 60612
• Website: www.elysiarootcakes.com
• Phone: 312-344-1046
• Email: info@elysiarootcakes.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/elysiarootcakes
• Facebook: facebook.com/elysiarootcakes
• Twitter: twitter.com/elysiarootcakes
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/elysia-root-cakes-chicago

Image Credit:
Bob and Dawn Davis Photography
Olivia Leigh Photographie
Tuan B & Co
Kent Drake Photography
Rebecca Marie Photography
Christian Oth Studio
Dennis Lee Photography

Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.