Pastry chef and cake designer based in East London, she curates the “London by Lily Vanilli” Afternoon Tea at Four Seasons Tower Bridge (2025) and co-founded the YBF Awards (2012). Author of three books, she received La Liste’s “Pastry Talent of the Year” in 2025.
Raised in London and initially trained in graphic and photographic production, she returned from Australia during the financial crisis and turned a love of sweets into a profession. The first steps were a home micro-business: a stall at Swanfield Market near Brick Lane, then East End markets. In 2008 the Lily Vanilli brand was born; in 2010 the Sunday café opened on Columbia Road, soon known for queues and dramatic window displays.
After early commissions came higher-profile work: concessions at Harrods and Selfridges and bespoke projects for institutions and public figures. Press profiles cite clients including Elton John and 10 Downing Street; her name also appears across London’s cultural scene (V&A, theatre and fashion). In 2018 she extended the project by opening a second shop in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Her aesthetic—clean batters, Regency-style swoops of icing, fresh flowers, studied asymmetries—goes hand-in-hand with a pragmatic approach: seasonal ingredients, readable textures, calibrated sugars. From the London bakery she also developed consulting work: in 2014–15 she helped launch Bloomsbury’s Boutique Café & Artisan Bakery in Kochi (India), after collaborating on the concept for the brand’s UAE stores. In 2018 she consolidated ties with the Georgian scene through openings and creative pop-ups.
Writing arrived alongside baking: A Zombie Ate My Cupcake! (CICO, 2010), a playful décor manual; Sweet Tooth (Canongate, 2012), covering core techniques and flavour pairing; #Bake for Syria (2018), a charity volume born from the campaign with UNICEF NextGen. In 2017 she co-launched #BakeForSyria as a pastry offshoot of #CookForSyria, organising bake sales and editing the book with recipes from Syrian families and leading authors.
In 2012 she co-founded the Young British Foodies (YBFs) with Amy Thorne and Chloe Scott-Moncrieff, an award that spotlights grassroots talent in UK food and drink; in subsequent years she served as judge and mentor.
From 2021 her name also appears in London’s teatime salons: first the sweet programme at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, then—since 27 March 2025—London by Lily Vanilli at Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square (Tower Bridge): a ritual that nudges afternoon tea toward the aperitivo hour (Aperi-Tea) with mini-cocktail pairings.
Civic engagement and education round out the profile: classes in the bakery, online courses and the Lily Vanilli Birthday Project (2023–). In partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for London, the initiative finances and delivers personalised birthday cakes to children who might otherwise go without, across the capital’s boroughs.
