Chef's wife wears edible wedding gown

Uzhhorod (Ukraine): Valentyn Shtefano's pastries were known for attracting stares, giggles and lip-smacking murmurs of “yum” in this western Ukrainian city.

But even his bride-to-be was surprised when Shtefano told her he was making her wedding dress - out of flour, eggs, sugar and caramel.

The edible dress made of 1,500 cream puffs and weighing in at 20 pounds (9 kilograms), took the 28-year-old baker two months to make, and by the end of the wedding reception, bride Viktoriya didn't want to take it off, much less devour it.

Shtefano is fast becoming a rising star in the mostly empty Ukrainian field of baking, earning him a devout following in this centuries-old city bisected by the clear Uzh River and dotted with church steeples.

His workday creations have generated a buzz in a place where cake is often layers of heavy cream, wafers and nuts or poppy seeds.

For many in Uzhhorod, cake was just something to eat, not something that can also be looked at and admired.

“At first glance, it's really a surprise; I didn't even believe it was a cake,” said Olha Nemyataya of Uzhhorod, who sampled some of Shtefano's new deserts at a pizzeria on a recent Friday night.

“Nowhere in Uzhhorod have I seen things like this,” Olha added.

Uzhhorod's city center has experienced an explosion of new businesses and cafes. Step away from downtown, however, and worn-out roads and gray Soviet-era apartment blocks still dominate the landscape of this city near the border with European Union member Slovakia.

Shtefano, his fingernails permanently stained with food coloring, is eager to introduce new sweets to this city of 1,25,000 people. He took a three-month baking course in Paris and entered an international baking competition last year with his sister, who lives in the French capital.

The siblings made a two-foot-long (0.61-meter), 1920s-era Cadillac from cream puffs and caramel. They won third place.

Shtefano's cakes have evolved with his experience. His first baking job six years ago was at a pizzeria where he made $ 40 per month.

He quit after the owner refused to give him a raise. Now he splits his time between two restaurants and works his own schedule, delighting this town with his culinary treats.

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“Every cake has its own unique taste,” said Svitlana Dorinets, who works the cake counter at the pizzeria where Shtefano's cakes are displayed.

“A few years ago, we never saw anything like this. It's new on the top and tasty inside,” Svitlana added.

Shtefano's cakes are more art than dessert. Sure, some might be for a mature audience, like a pair of breasts on display at the pizzeria.

But Shtefano also created an elaborate cake for Easter that drew hundreds to a local cathedral.

It was a black and gold globe hatching from an Easter egg, with pieces of eggshell on top of the globe and falling off to the side. It was too pretty to eat.

The wedding dress cake presented the biggest challenge. At first, he tried sewing the empty cream puffs together, but the dress collapsed. Then, he bought a wedding dress frame and carefully attached the puffs. He made a separate top and bottom for the dress, and Viktoriya spent a couple hours each night before the wedding modeling the dress as Shtefano added more.

Finally, he painted a few rows of cream puffs white to add some color to the dress. Viktoriya's crown, bouquet and necklace all were made from caramelised sugar.

Shtefano said the dress was a one-time thing and he'd never make another. He couldn't put a price on it.

“At first, it was even a little embarrassing,” Viktoriya Shtefano said of the dress she wore to the couple's reception at Uzhhorod's 1,200-year-old castle, attracting a rush of local media attention in August.

“Cameras, interviews, but after a couple of hours, I didn't even want to take it off,” Shtefano added.

The wedding dress is now being stored in Shtefano's cramped apartment, which he shares with his parents and new bride, until he can find a mannequin on which to display it in the pizzeria's window.

Shtefano hopes to someday open a business with his sister in Ukraine, believing there's more room for skillful bakers in Ukraine than in Paris.

“Here you can buy jobs,” he said.

“You want to be president, governor, (parliament) deputy, OK. But my job you can't buy, you have to do it,” he added.