Not everything on our shelves came out of our kitchen. The birthday candles are beeswax, made by Hōhepa. The mugs are ceramic, made by Curios in Woolston. Cheaper versions of both sit in a wholesaler's catalogue. Nobody would have complained. So the decision is worth explaining.
Dhi Ferrari puts it plainly: we select for taste, not cost, and partner with the best. That applies to a bag of couverture and to the object a gift is handed over in. A cake is eaten within a day or two. The thing beside it on the table is still in the house a decade later. Every producer we buy from is listed on our premium suppliers page.
Curios, from Woolston
Curios make our ceramics across town in Woolston. Glazed by hand, so no two match exactly. The handmade ceramic mug is $70 and the handmade ceramic tumbler is $40, both sitting with the rest of our hand-made New Zealand ceramics. Pick one up and the weight lands in your palm before anything else does. These are the pieces to reach for when a milestone needs something the recipient keeps. A cake for the day, a mug for every morning after, and it costs about what a bigger cake would.
Hōhepa, and the candle on top
The Hōhepa beeswax birthday candles are $10, and they finish a cake nobody has to decorate further. Our finishes are ganache and chocolate elements. No fondant, no colourings, no bespoke decoration, no custom cakes. So the candle is the one thing you personalise. Beeswax smells warm and faintly of honey as it burns, where a supermarket candle smells of nothing at all. With the lights off and everyone looking at the same table, that turns out to matter.
What goes in the cup
The same logic runs through the drinks. Read the labels. Our coffee is the Terra Nova Fair Trade Organic blend from C4 Coffee Co, here in Christchurch. Our tea is Zealong, certified organic, grown in the Waikato on the only tea plantation in New Zealand and traceable from soil to first sip. It comes as a Zealong teapot for one. Benjer juices, Sidekick Soda and Chai Guy fill in the rest of the fridge and the chai. Inside the cakes, the chocolate is Barry Callebaut, the vanilla is Heilala, the dairy is local. We use no pre-mixed ingredients anywhere. Those names earn their place on the shelf.
Building a gift that is not only cake
For a milestone, start with the cake and work outwards. The specialty layer cakes run 15cm for 12 to 15 people, 20cm for 20 to 25, 25cm for 30 to 35. A whole cake too much? Then go sideways. The pre-configured boxes on the gift boxes page come in three sizes, and the full gift box range takes a handwritten note or a printed card. A gift card works when you genuinely do not know. The packaged sweet treats add weight to a box for very little. Our writing on gifting at work and on the handmade sweet range goes further into both.
Choose it with the other person signing the card
Bring whoever else is going in on the gift. Five minutes in front of the cabinet together settles a flavour argument that a group chat drags out for three days. Buy a couple of cake slices, take a fork each, and taste the contenders before you commit to a whole cake. One of you will change your mind at the second mouthful. Splitting the cost of a cake and a mug between two people is also how most of these gifts actually get bought. Dhi's own route from Rio de Janeiro to a Christchurch kitchen is set out in the story of the maker.
Picking the day you come in
Cakes need two days, larger desserts three, petit four trays seven. You choose the pickup slot at checkout, and the date picker only offers days the kitchen can meet. Ceramics, candles and packaged treats are shelf stock, so they need no notice at all. Collection only, from our patisserie inside The Welder at 20-26 Welles Street, Christchurch Central. Open 10am to 9pm Tuesday to Saturday.
