A. Bakery

The baker

A. Bakery is the cake business of Anita Williner, based in the Hochzits-Atelier at Alte Simplonstrasse 20 in Brig, in the Upper Valais. She makes wedding cakes in different sizes and tiers, cupcake towers, macarons, guest favors and cakes for other occasions, all to order. The site's tagline is "made with love", and it presents a one-woman operation: the About page is written in the first person and signed "Anita".

Her story is told simply. She found her passion for baking early, fascinated by colored sprinkles, cupcake toppings, fondant figures and food colors. Her first fondant cake was a Mother's Day present for her mother; a lot went wrong, she writes, but it still made her mother very happy, and that idea of giving big joy with small things is what hooked her. Since 2015 she has been attending baking and modeling courses on an ongoing basis, bringing that knowledge back into her kitchen. In January 2022 she became part of the Hochzits-Atelier, which she describes as a place full of creative people she is proud to work with, and she links to its website.

Wedding cakes and cupcake towers

The creations page has a section on wedding cakes (Hochzeitstorten). It opens with the saying that love goes through the stomach, so a wedding cake should not be missing on the big day. Anita offers to create a one-of-a-kind cake for each couple, and says the cake can be ordered in different sizes and with different numbers of tiers. If it does not have to be a tiered cake, a cupcake tower can be the eye-catcher instead.

She offers to advise couples on putting their wedding cake together. The cakes and cupcakes are made by hand, the page says, with a wide range of flavors and decorative elements, and the aim is for the cake to be as memorable in look and taste as the wedding itself. The contact page invites couples to a personal conversation at the atelier.

The fillings

The site lists the fillings you can choose from:

• Schokosahne: chocolate cream, with the chocolate of your choice
• Quark: with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, mango, passion fruit and more
• Vanille creme: vanilla cream
• Zitrone Lemon Curd: lemon curd, with or without blueberries
• Nuss-Giotto: a nut filling with Giotto
• Kaffee, Baileys: coffee and Baileys
• Karamell: caramel
• Pistazien: pistachio, with or without raspberries

That is a useful list to have before the first meeting, since it lets a couple arrive with a short list of combinations for a multi-tier cake.

For the rest of the wedding

Several other items on the creations page fit a wedding well.

Guest favors. Under "Macarons & Gastgeschenke", Anita offers favors for wedding guests, such as cookies with a message or boxes of macarons, and invites couples to ask for her range. She calls macarons the trendy pastry from France, also known as "die grössten Divas unter den Backwaren", the biggest divas among baked goods, a nod to how fussy they are to make.

Cupcakes with a question. Cupcakes can carry messages, and the site gives two examples: asking someone to be your best man or maid of honor («willst Du mein/-e Trauzeuge/ -zeugin werden?») or to be a godparent. For a couple who want to ask their witnesses in a memorable way, that is a practical use.

Number and letter cakes. Cakes shaped as numbers, letters or symbols, decorated with seasonal fruit, fresh flowers, macarons, chocolate bars or sprinkles, which suit an anniversary or an engagement party.

She also makes cakes for birthdays, christenings and baby showers, and offers cake smash photo sessions for a child's first birthday.

How she works

The homepage, headed "Welcome To Anita's Bakery", sets out the approach in a few lines: she looks forward to baking, modeling and carrying out your wishes for you and the people close to you. Modeling is the operative word. Her background is in fondant work and modeling courses, and the About page traces her interest back to fondant figures and decorated cupcakes, so decorated and sculpted elements are part of what she offers rather than an add-on.

On the celebration cakes, she describes the process as a joint one: from the flavor to the decoration, the cake is put together with the customer. The same applies to wedding cakes, where she offers her advice on the composition. The site's tone is warm and informal throughout, with sayings like "Kein Kuchen ist auch keine Lösung" (no cake is no solution either) and "Ein Leben ohne Torte ist möglich, aber sinnlos" (a life without cake is possible, but pointless). It reads like what it is: a small, personal business, where the person you talk to is the person who bakes.

How to get in touch

Contact runs through a form on the site (name, email, subject, message) or by email to a.bakery@bluewin.ch. She is on Instagram as a.bakery_by_anita and on Facebook as A.Bakery, where more of her recent work can be seen. The photos on the creations page are credited to Joana Fux.

What the site does not say

• Prices. There is no price list for wedding cakes, cupcake towers or favors, so every order needs a quote.
• Lead time and how far ahead to book.
• Delivery. The site does not say whether she delivers to venues, how far she travels, or whether cakes are collected from Brig.
• Largest cake or guest numbers she can take on.
• Dietary options. Nothing is said about vegan, gluten-free, nut-free or other diets; a couple with guests who need them should ask directly rather than assume.
• Deposits and cancellation terms.
• Language. The site is written in German, apart from a few English headings, and does not say whether she works with couples in English.

Who it suits

A. Bakery suits a couple marrying in the Upper Valais who want a personal, handmade cake from a small maker and the chance to talk it through in person at the atelier. The published filling list and the favors and cupcake options make it possible to cover the cake, the dessert table and the guest gifts with one person.

It is less suited to a couple who want a price before they make contact, need a cake delivered far from Brig, or want to deal in English without checking first. For couples planning from abroad, the first email should ask about delivery to the venue, lead time, language and dietary needs, and should give the guest count so she can suggest a size.