"By now, if you haven’t witnessed the cutting of one of Amirah Kassem’s signature exploding cakes, chock-full of candy and an array of sprinkles in all imaginable hues, you might want to refresh your Instagram feed.
Since she first brought the concept to life nearly three years ago under her Flour Shop brand—a bakery cofounded with now-husband Ross Harrow in their Brooklyn apartment and now located in Manhattan at 177 Lafayette Street—the cakes have become the treat of choice for special occasions across the country, but none more so than birthdays.
With this in mind, the baker extraordinaire chose to create her signature confections for her own birthday party last night, a beautifully gluttonous dinner held at Palette, the newly redesigned cafe located within Bergdorf Goodman’s subterranean beauty section. It began with vodka martinis sweetened with cotton candy and cookie dough place settings, revealed by popping a balloon, and ended with one showstopping Explosion cake topped with a Barbie doll and decorated to match Kassem’s own dress for the evening.
When it came to the night’s dress code, there may have been no set rules, but when celebrating Kassem, it seemed unanimously implied that guests should arrive wearing their best versions of a no-holds-barred smattering of vibrant color. “We were all on a text chain, and I said, ‘Obviously we have to go rainbow and something sparky,’” Alice + Olivia’s Stacey Bendet quipped, surrounded by Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Dani Stahl, and Kassem, all in matching ensembles selected from Alice + Olivia. “Everyone just knew what to wear. Amirah didn't have to tell us.”
Telling the same Lisa Frank–worthy color story was Lizzie Tisch, a frequent Flour Shop client and budding retail entrepreneur behind the equally glitter-friendly LTD by Lizzie Tisch retail experience, who first introduced Kassem to Ashley Longshore. The artist, with her bedazzled frames and Louisiana accent, was responsible for Palette’s new rip-roaring injection of Pop Art emblazoned with slogans like “There’s no crying at Bergdorf Goodman” and “I do not cook. I do not clean. I do not fly commercial.”
“Other than our love of dessert, we bonded over everything sparkly and sequined,” said Tisch, sporting a flared-sleeve minidress designed by Ashish. After Tisch introduced the baker to Longshore: “She told me about Amirah, and my team and I were celebrating with one of her cakes. We had some drinks, so I didn’t use a fork, and the thing just exploded. It looked like I had put a stick of dynamite into a cake. It was a dream. I said, ‘Who is this woman? Take me to her.’”
And as the evening waned, the birthday girl gave the final toast of the night. “If you’re in this room, I love you, and you’re so special to me,” the ever-cheerful and delightfully quirky Kassem told the crowd. “Okay, I’ll stop talking now. Eat cake!”"
Zachary Weiss
Online Article
