Meet the four Kitchen Queens, who have each made a successful business out of selling their delicious creations
WORDS: KAREN EVENNETT
Katie Cross (41) founded the Cake or Death bakery . . .
I’m a massive fan of Bake Off, and in 2018, I was one of thousands of people applying to take part in the show.
It’s been a springboard for so many contestants’ careers, and I saw it as a chance to start up the baking business I’d long dreamed of launching. Though I didn’t make it onto the final list, my cakes went down well enough that I decided to start my business unaided.
My husband Edward (43), a film editor, agreed to cover our mortgage for a year while I gave it a go. I had a background in sales and started by visiting local cafés with a tray of cakes. I asked each one, ‘If you were looking for a new supplier, what could they offer that you’re not already getting?’
It soon became clear that there was a market for tasty vegan brownies.
It was a challenge I was excited to take on, and I immediately started experimenting with different recipes.
I paid £200 a month to use a community kitchen near our home in London, and baked from 5am to 11am two days a week – before a nursery school chef came in to cook fish fingers for toddlers.
Fudging It
A brownie is one of the easiest vegan cakes to make. It doesn’t have to rise, but it does have to be deliciously gooey and chocolatey.
It’s the melted chocolate that gives it that yummy fudgy texture and I worked hard at getting the balance just right.
I sold to 25 regular outlets, and was soon able to hire a pastry chef and rent kitchen premises full-time. It was all going so well.
Then the pandemic hit. Overnight I lost all my clients and feared my business would also have to close. But I’d already dabbled in a bit of online selling – sending out brownies in gift boxes for people’s birthdays – and decided to give this side of the business a push.
I posted on Instagram and Facebook and watched in amazement as orders poured in. People couldn’t go out – but they could enjoy a bit of luxury at home with a box of brownies!
The pandemic changed our lives in other ways, too. Edward could work from home, so we moved to Exeter and opened my Cake Or Death bakery.
