Dr. Caroline Cicero
Cambodia feels like a magical, exotic and tragic destination to the
Western traveler. The Angkor Wat temples around Siem Riep, accessorized
with elephant rides and vermillion-clad monks are indeed majestic and
surreal. On the road from Siem Riep to Phnom Penh, tourist attractions
offer those with hearty palates the opportunity to sample spicy fried
tarantulas and scorpions. Upon arriving in Phnom Penh, travelers bear
witness to the wretched history that unfolded in Cambodia less than four
decades ago. Indeed, visiting the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng
Genocide Museum requires a stomach that is strong enough to digest a
poisonous arachnid.
However, just two miles from the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, where the Khmer Rouge tortured and murdered thousands, Bloom Training Centre and Café
offers an unexpected urban oasis in which your eyes and taste buds can
feast on world class, magically-decorated cupcakes, cakes and cookies.
While you are enjoying the delicious treats, as well as air
conditioning, fair trade coffee, free Wi-Fi and a the travelers'
penultimate need -- a clean bathroom with a real toilet -- you help
leave the city's tragic past behind by enjoying and affirming the
artistry and the vocational training skills of a new generation of
Cambodian women.
Bloom offers 12-week training sessions in which local women are
taught the art and science of Western-style baking and decorating. They
receive a Hospitality Certificate with a specialty in Cake Decorating.
At the end of the Cambodian women's education, Bloom provides the
promise of employment and a comfortable, supportive, environment in
which to work. Over the next year or two, the women become world class
cake decorating and sugar-craft professionals. To go along with the
cakes, Bloom sells professional hand-made greeting cards, made by Bloom
trainees and employees as well.
Bloom's specialized cupcakes come in 48 flavors, with eight featured
each month. Featured flavors include great combinations such as White
Chocolate Raspberry Cake with White Chocolate Ganache, Carrot Cake with
Lemon Cream Cheese or Caramel Macadamia Tart with Vanilla Cream Cheese.
If you plan to stay a while or are travelling during a special occasion,
order one of Bloom's signature birthday and specialty art cakes.
Opened in 2010, Bloom Training Centre and Café is the brain-child of
Ruth Larwill, a mother of two from Brisbane, Australia, who found she
could use her passion for cake decorating to provide economic
opportunity for vulnerable women in Cambodia. With the affirmation and
encouragement of her church back in Brisbane, Larwill first visited
Cambodia in 2006 and then relocated her family to Phnom Penh in 2009 to
open the training center. Her eye for both whimsical and sophisticated
design and her heart for empowering local women are evident as soon as
you step in the café's iron-flowered door and set your eyes on the
colorful cake samples and cupcake case.
Find a respite from your travels and soothe your heart, stomach and feet at Bloom Training Centre and Café. Located at #40 Street 222, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tel. 855 077 75 75 00, bloomcreations.org.
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