Clare Vaz is a Cake Angel #AtoZChallenge

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan
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Millie and Matt did not have the best start to their wedding week. Millie - who loves baking - had painstakingly made her own 3-tiered dream cake for her wedding and the couple had driven down carefully to the venue the previous day only to find to their horror that the cake had fallen to pieces in the trunk of the car. While her fiance was devastated, Millie was more calm outwardly though she watched sadly as the hotel took the smashed cake away, promising to have an alternative cake ready for her wedding.

Which is why the couple were gobsmacked the next morning when they found themselves staring at the exact replica of Millie's cake for the wedding ceremony.

Millie's cake angel turned out to be  Clare Vaz of Patty’s Piece of Cake bakery.

Faith in humanity restored - Millie and Matt were devastated on the eve of their wedding when the wedding cake the bride had made fell to pieces as they were transporting it to the wedding hotel. Expecting to see an alternate cake the next morning, the couple were surprised to find an exact replica of the bride's cake, painstakingly recreated overnight by cake maker Clare Vaz. Clare just happened to be at the hotel coincidentally that day and after hearing of the misfortune, chose to fix the cake for free for a couple she had never met or spoken to.
The couple on their wedding day with 'The Cake'

Clare Vaz had gone to the hotel to drop off some cupcakes when she heard of the bride's fallen cake. Clare took it upon herself to try to help the bride have her dream cake and so began repairing it segment by segment. As luck would have it, she had an extra cake with her which she used for the smashed middle tier of the original cake, retaining the rest before crumb-coating once more and re-covering it with white cream.

She spent the whole day and a large part of the next, ensuring it was as close to what the original looked like. The best part? She had never even met the bride or groom about it. She had never spoken to them. She just did it because she wanted this couple she had never met to have a happy wedding. She did not even take money from them.

I got to talking with Millicent, the bride.

Faith in humanity restored - Millie and Matt were devastated on the eve of their wedding when the wedding cake the bride had made fell to pieces as they were transporting it to the wedding hotel. Expecting to see an alternate cake the next morning, the couple were surprised to find an exact replica of the bride's cake, painstakingly recreated overnight by cake maker Clare Vaz. Clare just happened to be at the hotel coincidentally that day and after hearing of the misfortune, chose to fix the cake for free for a couple she had never met or spoken to.


When did you find out about Clare Vaz's gesture?


I was disappointed that the cake may not be salvageable as I had spent days making and decorating it. But I was marrying the man of my dreams so it seemed trivial to get upset about the cake.
It wasn't until the next day, which was the morning of my wedding that I found out what Clare had done. As I was getting ready in my bridal suite, my sister came upstairs with her phone in hand and showed me a picture of the cake. It looked exactly like how I had decorated. She then went on to tell me what had happened.

One of the hotels chefs was married to a cake baker. She just so happened to be delivering some cupcakes to the venue the day before the wedding for another function and heard about my cake.
She took no hesitation in grabbing the cake, ordering a taxi to take her back to her home and spent her evening fixing up the cake and delivered it back to the venue in time for our wedding.

I saw a picture of the cake which had fallen apart. Yikes! Did you imagine it would be salvageable at that point of time?


When I saw the cake, I thought it wouldn't be salvageable. It was a mess, with buttercream and icing all over the place. I thought it would've held up okay as I had inserted cake dowelling in each layer with a sturdy base for each. Hitting traffic on one of the hottest days of the year just melted the buttercream and left the top two tiers in a big heap.

Faith in humanity restored - Millie and Matt were devastated on the eve of their wedding when the wedding cake the bride had made fell to pieces as they were transporting it to the wedding hotel. Expecting to see an alternate cake the next morning, the couple were surprised to find an exact replica of the bride's cake, painstakingly recreated overnight by cake maker Clare Vaz. Clare just happened to be at the hotel coincidentally that day and after hearing of the misfortune, chose to fix the cake for free for a couple she had never met or spoken to.
The original cake, the fallen cake and the dream cake remade!
My husband was most devastated as he was driving, and he had seen me take all that time decorating the cake. He obviously knows me as the "worrier" and I think he probably felt I would've reacted differently. But I was cool as a cucumber.

Have you and Clare stayed in touch since the wedding?


After the wedding, I didn't actually know the name of the baker who saved our day, nor did I know how I could contact her. Luckily, while looking on my Facebook timeline the day after I noticed a picture of our cake on Clare's business Facebook page.

I was rushed off to our honeymoon so I didn't get a chance to meet Clare in person. Instead, I messaged her and thanked her absolutely lovely gesture. We had been asked by the hotel to pay a fee of £60 for the repair of the cake which we ensured was paid directly to Clare for all of her hard work. When we got back from our honeymoon, we had a handwritten envelope waiting for us from Clare with a lovely card and the £60. She said she wouldn't accept the money, and was just so grateful to have been a part of our special day.


Is there a special message you and your husband would like to tell Clare?


Most little girls dream of how perfect their wedding day will be, they plan every detail over and over again as they envisage moments of their day. Then they meet the perfect partner that they want to share it with, and lets be honest... the details tend to stay the same because the men just want them to be happy. And then we grow up we learn that life isn't all rainbows and fairy-tales.

Sitting here now, I can honestly say that with all things considered, our wedding day was perfect and I wouldn't change it for the world. You hear about these "random acts of kindness" in movies but you never imagine that it'll happen to you.


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From our conversations I can tell that Clare is an amazing, proud and loving mother to her beautiful children, she runs a busy business that she is so incredibly passionate about and she puts her all into everything she does. She truly is one of the best of humanity. Clare put aside her busy life and an evening of family time because she wanted me, a complete stranger to have a perfect wedding day.

Just talking to Clare, you know she is the kind of person that would do anything for anyone. We are blessed that we could be some of those people. ❤

Faith in humanity restored - Millie and Matt were devastated on the eve of their wedding when the wedding cake the bride had made fell to pieces as they were transporting it to the wedding hotel. Expecting to see an alternate cake the next morning, the couple were surprised to find an exact replica of the bride's cake, painstakingly recreated overnight by cake maker Clare Vaz. Clare just happened to be at the hotel coincidentally that day and after hearing of the misfortune, chose to fix the cake for free for a couple she had never met or spoken to.
You can find Patty's Piece of Cake Bakery where Clare Vaz works online here


Author's note:

This is part of my #AtoZChallenge where I will be focusing on Real Life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion.
The list for this year's (2018) Heroes of Kindness can be found here.
Of course, I have been tracking these lovely human beings for years now and have found children as young as six years old and old women in their eighties from across the world who will restore your faith in humanity. You can find the entire list of Real-life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion here.

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26Comments

Let me know what you think.

  1. What a lovely angel - a cake angel. I honestly wonder how she managed to fix that cake.

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    1. You are so incredibly sweet thank you xx to be honest I really didn't know if i could fix the cake....I just kept my fingers crossed it would come together and thankfully it did xxxx

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  2. Clare has got to be a wiz baker to have been able to repair the cake so well - it looks exactly the same. Bless her kind heart to do this- she really understood how the bride would be feeling and gave her the best wedding present ever!

    V is for Vinyl Cafe #atozchallenge

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    1. So very very kind of you xx the funny thing is i dont make wedding cakes......they make me far too nervous and worry if i can do them xx i would help anyone again in this situation xxxx

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  3. OMG! The fallen cake didnt look like that it could be salvaged and Clare went ahead to not only to repair it but made it EXACTLY like the original and that too without knowing the couple is so AMAZING. This is such a heartwarming story, Roshan. Loved it!!

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    1. Thank you x xxx I really didn't know if i could fix the cake xx im just thrilled i could provide the amazing couple with that extra memory for the photo album xxxx

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  4. Awesome ....clare had to go an longer way which she could hve turned blinded... but its d best gift for matt and millie... and a toast to all wonderfull people... splendid work roshan .... ☺

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    1. Indeed icould not walk away and ignore thats not who I am xx I just knew I had to help 2 strangers on their special day xx thank you for your kindness xx

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  5. These stories make kindness seem like a cakewalk.. 😀

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  6. Indeed a cake angel. May God bless her.

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    1. Thank you and may he bless you also xxx

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  7. being a fan of the show Masterchef Australia I know how the process of making a lovely cake is... but one thing I know for sure is that a special kind of talent is required to repair a cake that was so badly damaged... and it takes a special heart to take such a difficult task to heart and finish it so well and that too for people who you have no idea about just to make their new life together extra special... YOU madam in my eyes are the BEST MASTERCHEF of all because u have heart... I wish u all happiness to you in future...

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    1. You brought tears to my eyes xx it really wasn't much I did at all. A few hours out of my day yo ensure someone has that extra picture for the album and that their already most perfect special day is just a teeny tiny miniscule bit more perfect xxxxx you are so very very sweet and so very very kind xxxx

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  8. Such a wonderful soul! And he helped with cake! More reasons to love her more.

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    1. So very kind of you xxxxx thank you xxx

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  9. Baking a cake for somebody you don't know and that too just in time is really commendable. Such acts of kindness is rare to see

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    1. Oh bless you xxx it really wasn't that big a thing xx I would do it all again for anyone stranger or not xxxx

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  10. Claire is such a sweetheart This is true kindness and expect nothing in. Return. She saved the brides cake.

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    1. Oh how sweet of you x xxx thank you xxxx kindness costs nothing I teach my children this xxx hopefully we can make a very small change in the world xxx xxx bless you always xxxxx

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  11. Have had the pleasure of meeting Clare and she is truly a special lady, inside and out, an amazing wife, mother friend #payitforward however you can, even a smile, opening a door XXX Clare you are an angel xxx, Leigh xxx

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    1. Leigh..... thank you from the bottom of my heart xxxxxxxxxx

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  12. Clare proves there are rral.angels trapped in people.Good story of kindness

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    1. So sweet xxx xxx there is an angel in all of us x xxx so very kind of you to say such sweet words xxx thank you xxxx

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  13. Thank for your very good article! i always enjoy & read the post you are sharing!

    หนังออนไลน์

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  14. Oh my......after a year i have refound this amazing heartwarming article.....I really still can't believe it is written about me!!

    I am just in awe someone who is India's top blogger and creative writer would think what I did, worthy of sharing xxx

    It will be 2 years this September that this happened but feels like yesterday. To this day and every day forward i will still say I'm no angel, i certainly didn't save the wedding day and it really wasn't that big a thing what I did.......but God forbid IF it were to ever ever happen again......I would do it all over again without any thought or hesitation.

    God bless Dr Roshan, may your pen always be full of ink

    Thank you from the bottom of my heart xx

    With much love
    Clare Vaz @ pattys piece of cake

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