Behind the trailer glass, tiramisu cups are lined up for the next customer. It is a tidy scene. Suzan and Hamza's account of their first event gives a better idea of the work that goes into it.
The recipe she brought north
Suzan grew up in Sydney. In her last years there, she noticed tiramisu becoming more popular and began making it herself. She worked on her own recipe before she and Hamza married and moved to Queensland. The idea came with her.
She has a clear ambition for The Crema Room: to become a name Queenslanders think of for tiramisu, particularly when they are planning an event. For now, it is a business built one market day and one booking at a time.
Start with the traditional
That is Suzan's advice if you are new to her tiramisu. It is the signature. Her own favourite is the brownie-base version: brownie underneath, traditional tiramisu on top. She has also experimented with coconut and Rooh Afza, rather than treating the menu as a finished list.
The Rooh Afza idea has a personal connection. Suzan spoke about her best friend's Pakistani family, and wanting to make something that acknowledged their place in her life. Her friend is still in Sydney; the dessert became one way to carry that friendship into this chapter.
Coffee is part of the trailer, too, although Suzan does not drink it. Hamza tastes the coffee while she works on making it. She told us she especially likes making a cappuccino for the froth.
Before the first coffee
The coffee machine broke before they had made a single cup at their first event. Hamza remembers the pressure: they were the only coffee vendor there, and it was a Sunday. They found someone who could come and repair it. Once it was working, the day became busy.
None of that is visible in the neat row of cups waiting for the next customer. Hamza tells it as one of the early lessons in getting the trailer ready for whatever the day brings.
A different pace at the window
Suzan likes the conversations that happen at markets, including the small talk and the regulars who come back. Events and weddings ask for a different sort of preparation. She and Hamza deliver desserts or set up for celebrations, then get to see the people they have made them for enjoy the day.
Her approach to wedding-day pressure is practical: stay calm, trust what you make and take your time. The trailer does not have one fixed address to memorise, so the best way to find the next market stop is through The Crema Room's Instagram.
Room for each other
Hamza introduced himself as the “muscles behind the scenes” and laughed about the amount of tiramisu he has eaten while Suzan tested ideas. Suzan talked about something less visible: having someone to encourage her when she comes up with the next one.
At the launch of The Crema Social, Suzan says a couple who had recently returned from Italy told her they preferred her tiramisu to what they had eaten there. It is a compliment she remembers. But her answer about Brisbane was not only about her own food: she asked people to try different things, meet people and explore other cultures.
“Supporting other businesses will never take away from yours.”
Suzan, The Crema Room