Pan de Miel

Pan de Miel is a dessert atelier in Zurich, run as Pan de Miel Dessert GmbH at Landenbergstrasse 18, that makes wedding cakes, celebration cakes, chocolates and desserts. It was founded in 2014 by Corina Davatz, its owner and managing director, and its wedding page states a clear starting point: cakes "created from scratch", from 30 portions and from CHF 900.

Where the style comes from

The about page, written in German in Corina Davatz's own voice, explains the thinking behind the business. She writes that she always had a love of sweet things, and that her family's motto, "lieber weniger, dafür selbstgemacht & mit frischen Zutaten aus dem Garten" (better less, but homemade and with fresh ingredients from the garden), gave her high standards for desserts of quality and distinctive flavor.

In 2013, in Buenos Aires, she learned to work with vegetables, spices, acidity and bitterness in the pastry kitchen of the closed-door restaurant ilatina, so that a dessert does not only taste sweet but becomes, in her words, an exciting combination of textures, aromas and flavors. She brought back "Pan de Miel", an aromatic South American honey, nut and spice pastry, as her inspiration, and in 2014 founded the dessert catering business of the same name.

Since then, the page says, the business has devoted itself "dem süssen Finale jeden Dinners" (to the sweet finale of every dinner), creating special, surprising flavor experiences in its Zurich dessert atelier that crown a meal and send guests home "mit einem Highlight auf der Zunge" (with a highlight on the tongue). The page closes with an invitation to get to know couples and their cake wishes.

For a couple, the practical meaning is a cake maker with a restaurant dessert background, whose own description of its work is about flavor combinations as much as looks. The site's description in search results adds that its cake and dessert creations are light, fruity and made to the client's wishes for weddings and events.

The wedding cake offer

The wedding page carries the line "unique as you are" and invites couples to "create your delicious dream cake for the most beautiful day in your life". Its one hard fact is the starting point: "Wedding Cakes created from scratch: from 30 portions / from CHF 900.-*". The asterisk is not explained in the page text, so it is worth asking what it refers to.

Publishing both a minimum size and a starting price helps a couple budget before getting in touch. A couple planning for fewer than 30 guests is pointed elsewhere: "for short notice and small occations, please check our shop." The celebration cake page gives the same starting point (from 30 portions and CHF 900) under the lines "the smaller the party" and "the more exclusive your guests", and again refers smaller and spontaneous orders to the shop. For a couple, the shop may be the answer for the smaller events around a wedding, such as a civil ceremony with a handful of guests a few days before the main celebration, while the made-from-scratch cake is kept for the wedding day itself. When asking for a quote for a larger wedding, it helps to say how many guests will eat cake and whether it is the only dessert, since the price starts from 30 portions and rises from there.

The site's page description for weddings speaks of bespoke luxury wedding cakes, "Cake Art & Tasting in Zurich, delivered to all Switzerland". So a tasting is part of the offer, and the business says it delivers across the country, which matters for a couple marrying at a venue far from Zurich.

The rest of the range

The menu lists wedding cakes, celebration cakes, chocolates, desserts, a "Flavours & Design" page, a shop, a gallery and an about page. The site's description names luxury wedding cakes, bespoke cakes, celebration cakes, dessert catering and a chocolaterie. For a wedding, that means the cake, a dessert course and chocolates for guests could all come from one atelier, though the site does not describe wedding packages. The celebration cakes page is aimed at company events, product launches and birthdays as well as private occasions.

The about page lists press coverage: NZZ Bellevue (under patisserie and separately), a wedding feature, Gastro Graubünden, Falstaff (an Easter piece), Viva, the Helvetia magazine, Glückspost, Südostschweiz and SI Style. It also has a section for partners, which names none in its text.

How to get in touch

The contact page invites contact by phone, email or form: Mail@PanDeMiel.ch and +41 79 723 45 74, with the address Pan de Miel Dessert GmbH, Landenbergstrasse 18, CH-8037 Zürich. The site mixes English page headings with German text, so a couple from abroad can follow the wedding offer in English, although the about page and the contact page are in German.

What the site does not settle

• Price above the minimum. Only the starting point is published; the price for a larger or more elaborate cake has to be quoted.
• Tasting terms. A tasting is mentioned in the page description, but not its cost or whether it is credited against an order.
• Delivery cost. Delivery across Switzerland is mentioned without a price or setup details.
• Lead time. No booking deadline is given for wedding cakes.
• Flavors. The "Flavours & Design" page exists in the menu, but the flavors are not listed on the wedding page.
• Dietary options. Nothing on the wedding, about or contact pages covers gluten-free, vegan or allergen needs.
• Language. The site does not say whether consultations are held in English.

Who it suits

Pan de Miel suits a couple with 30 or more guests who wants a wedding cake designed around flavor as well as appearance, from a Zurich atelier with a published starting price, press coverage and delivery across Switzerland. Its restaurant-trained founder and the tasting make it a good choice for a couple who thinks of the cake as the last course of the meal.

The caveats: the entry price and 30-portion minimum put it out of reach for a very small wedding, the terms for tasting and delivery are not spelled out, and parts of the site are in German only.