Image: The 'King of Cakes',  Eric Lanlard, Master Pâtissier & Owner of CAKE-BOY LIMITED

Quiet in the Kitchen with Magimix and Cake Boy

We are thrilled to release Quiet Mark’s 40th episode this week! The Big 40! Such a milestone is worthy of a celebration cake! So, who finer to invite to guest on this special episode than Steve Punter, Managing Director at Magimix UK, and the 'King of Cakes' himself, Eric Lanlard, Master Patissier & Owner of Cake-Boy, the relaxed yet glamorous lounge–café near the river Thames in Battersea?!

Magimix prides itself as “the Rolex of food processors” as Steve put it in a 2016 interview with ERT magazine. “I can’t believe you pulled out a quote of mine from six years ago!” he chuckled. “I do still stand by that statement however. I’ve found that customers love Magimix for a very specific reason; like a good watch, it’s built to last and it does what it promises. The product has to be pleasurable to use which is why the Quiet Mark certificate is so important - it enables the customer to buy well and buy once. Reliability isn’t based just on the physical but the audible and Magimix promises to deliver on that.”

The commercial grade motor used by Magimix delivers a delicate sound which, when compared to a generic motor, is more of a gentle hum rather than the high pitched scream of a generic motor. “It’s hard to describe what good or bad sound is to a customer in store and that's why I appreciate what Quiet Mark stands for and it's a reassurance that the product is now best in class in sound. 

Video: Hear The Difference! Magimix motor on the left, compared to a traditional motor on the right. 

It’s difficult to quantify sound because it's more than just decibels. That’s why Quiet Mark’s certification is so important - Quiet Mark awareness must be encompassed within our products in stores because customers can’t necessarily test the sound themselves before purchase. When I talk about Magimix the main talking points are motor guarantee, excellent customer care and Quiet Mark. Whenever I’ve done shows, half the people that come to talk to me aren’t interested in purchase but rather in saying thank you for the product quality as it promises delight and longevity. That’s why I try to bump up Quiet Mark and it's a privilege to talk about Magimix to people who love food!”

Beyond their domestic use, Magimix and its audible and physical reliability is also admired in professional kitchens such as that of our guest Eric Lanlard; “Magimix is part of a professional kitchen life as they are known for producing some serious kit. I can confirm that Magimix does last for life!” 

Eric has certainly made his mark in the UK both as a Master French Pâtissier and a much loved celebrity chef. His career so far reads like a pastry chef fairytale having previously worked for the French Navy and for the Roux brothers and having created masterpiece celebration cakes for the likes of the Beckhams and Queen Elizabeth. He has changed the face of British Patisserie and has been twice crowned the winner of the prestigious ‘Continental Pâtissier of the Year’ at the British Baking Awards. With his renowned Cake Boy boutique, popular tv shows, four published books and brand ambassador work it’s a wonder he has anytime away from the oven.

Image: The Cake Boy café -  ‘destination delicious’ for an incredible selection of cakes and pastries from the ‘King of Cakes’, Eric Lanlard, accompanied by a fantastic wine and champagne selection that turns a delicious treat into an event!

Eric enlightened us on the role of sound in his patisserie kitchen; “Pastry Chefs consider themselves more like alchemists than chefs. The official name for a pastry kitchen in French is laboratoire rather than cuisine, so pastry making is all about precision and concentration. We love our peace and quiet unlike the cliché savoury kitchen where they are known to shout and sweat! When we opened Cake Boy we gave up on the idea of an open kitchen because it would have been quiet and quite boring! Pastry chefs tend to be glued to our own spaces, piping away, so the mantra for our kitchens is the quieter the better. We like to play a little bit of classical music and the rest of the noise is made up by the sounds of the fridges and freezers or the mixers and food processors. I am actually so used to the noise of the mixers that I can listen out for the specific noise which indicates the perfect consistently and therefore know when it needs to turn it off by sound alone. All these noises help the craft.” 

While the majority of us may not be able to cook to Eric’s level of capability, Magimix products, like Eric said, enable people to become an alchemist of food but without necessarily the expert skill. We spoke to Steve about Magimix’s latest product, the Cook Expert, which is Quiet Mark certified and enables domestic users to reach new heights of food alchemy in their own kitchens.

“We have launched a new and exciting product, the Cook Expert, which blends cooking capabilities with our traditional food processors. We have always been multifunctional but adding cooking elements takes it to another level. Users can now temper chocolate for example, so can be extra precise. Food is chemistry and the Cook Expert can be set to one degree increments in heat. It combines time, speed and heat which, along with the accompanying app that provides hundreds of helpful recipes, helps to bring diversity into the kitchen.” 

Video: The Quiet Mark certified Magimix Cook Expert Food Processor

“My Cook Expert sits front and centre in my kitchen” shared Eric “it’s goodlooking and extremely functional hence why it sits so centrally. I've fallen in love with it despite how new it is and it’s helped me discover a new way of cooking. The French are loving it! It seems some users want to keep it a secret because they see it as cheating but it isn’t at all, it’s rather like having a sous chef in the kitchen which saves so much time. It also encourages low food waste. Personally, I was guilty of throwing away my leftovers - not anymore! There is no more food waste in my household because the Cook Expert helps utilise leftovers into soups and other recipes. My pea soup, for example, would never have been as good without the Cook Expert.” From our perspective, if that’s coming from Eric, we’ll take it! 

Quiet Mark is therefore enormously proud to see our certificate on the faces of Magimix’s food processor packaging in the hope of promoting more quiet kitchens, both domestic and professional, and encouraging more people to cook great food without sacrificing healthy noise levels. 

Explore the Quiet Mark certified Magimix product range HERE.

Listen to Episode 40: Quiet in the Kitchen with Magimix and Cake-Boy