Mention wedding cakes anywhere in the Virgin Islands and the LSL Bake Shop and Restaurant is sure to come up.
Seriene Maduro has been baking up sumptuous goodies for well over thirty years. She’s touted as ‘the best in the BVI’ by the many who have sampled her delicious pastries. Originally from the island of Antigua, Seriene – as she is popularly called – moved to the British Virgin Islands in 1979, later settling in Virgin Gorda with husband Lester.
“My grandmother used to bake cakes… from then I always like baking so when I came here to live I started again,” Seriene says. “I started at home baking black cakes and other cakes, then after I got to Virgin Gorda people were demanding cakes so I did it.”
It started out as L&S Accessories with cake pans and other baking supplies sold alongside the pastries. But as the business grew, the accessories side was abandoned to focus on baking. The name changed to LSL after the birth of her second daughter, Lesteine. LSL stands for Lesley – the eldest daughter, Seriene and Lesteine.
With daughter Lesteine working alongside her in the business, Seriene has earned the reputation for not only delicious wedding cakes, but also intricate, eye-catching designs that have her customers beaming with delight.
“I love to see a wedding cake and I like to work with them to create the fanciness, I really like to see the finished product,” she adds.
Lesteine is also developing a reputation as the “cake boss” having studied cake making and decorating overseas.
“She went away to school and came back with all these fancy cakes. So I usually do the wedding cakes but if you want a cake for a baby shower or anything like that, Lestine is the one who does it because she is very good with that,” Seriene tells Wedlock.
With so much experience between them, the staff at LSL know exactly what to do to ensure the bride and groom get what they want, even if sometimes the lovestruck couple aren’t too sure themselves. Ordinarily up to one month’s notice is required to ensure orders are ready in time for the big day, and LSL will go out of the way to make sure the finished product reflects the couple’s personality and tastes.
“Some people will give you exactly what they want, others will just tell you to do your thing and we work with them. Often with a wedding or birthday cake we find out what sort of things the person likes, what kind of job they do, if they like fishing or cars or whatever so that we when we make that cake for the person, it’s an individualized cake,” she explains.
This year’s popular flavours include red velvet, chocolate, and regular pound cake, but there are those who prefer rum or fruit cake. Of course with the cupcake craze taking over the wedding scene, LSL is more than happy to oblige brides who wish to have fanciful cupcakes for the wedding.
“I don’t know what’s the fever with cupcakes but that is the trend right now… whether you shape it to form a character or you just do something plain with the name written out on each cake, we do all that,” adds Seriene.
And the prices are very competitive with the average cost of a three-tier cake going for around $350. Of course, Seriene and her staff are more than happy to accommodate a tight budget and requests for simple cakes for small weddings are not unheard of.
“These days, things are really hard so we work with those with a budget to finalize what they really need. Some people go overboard because they want a really big cake but we don’t push that on you. I like to ask how many people you’re catering for and I will suggest a size. It doesn’t make sense you have 50 persons at a wedding and order a five/six tier cake,” she notes.
As for those whose tastes might be a little bit different, LSL will do a vegan cake – minus eggs and milk – in plain or chocolate flavours. Seriene and her team also scour the net for the latest trends to ensure that they’re in-tune with customers’ needs.
“We like to be a step ahead of everyone else and I guess that’s one of the reasons we are so popular… there are some things that come out that nobody has heard of before and we try to introduce it to our customers,” she adds.
Whether it’s a simple wedding cake or a towering, intricate design, LSL Bake Shop and Restaurant gives brides one less thing to worry about. Breads, cakes, cookies as well as catering services are also offered and dinner is served at the restaurant by reservation.