Behind every cake shed is a story, and Cakes by Alice is no exception. What started as a lifelong love of baking has grown into a successful cake shed business, helping one mum balance family life, work, and her passion for creating delicious bakes.
Meet Alice
Alice is a mum to two boys, aged three years and eight months. When she's not on maternity leave, she works as a supermarket manager. Alongside family life and caring for her two Labradors, baking has always been a huge part of who she is.
Her baking journey started as a child in her mum's kitchen, often baking alongside her grandad. As the years went by, she became the go-to baker for birthdays, with friends and family regularly requesting cakes before she even had the chance to volunteer.
At work, Alice would often bring in her latest baking experiments, with colleagues joking that she should start selling them. The idea continued to grow, especially after she made her own wedding cake and cupcakes the day before her wedding. When she was later asked to make a friend's wedding cake, it became clear that turning her passion into a business was the natural next step.
And so, Cakes by Alice was born.
The Idea Behind the Cake Shed
While pregnant with her youngest son, Alice began thinking about ways she could earn some extra income during maternity leave while still being present for her family.
Having seen other cake sheds online, she loved the concept. Baking would allow her to work around her children while doing something she genuinely enjoyed.
During maternity leave, she started planning everything. From researching different shed designs to choosing colours and perfecting recipes, she carefully prepared for her launch while continuing to practise and develop her menu.
Opening the Shed
Cakes by Alice officially opened in February, and like many cake shed owners, Alice admits she was nervous that nobody would come.
After promoting the shed on local social media pages, she baked as much as she could and hoped for the best. She also shared some sample bakes with neighbours, who quickly became some of her biggest supporters.
Within just a few weekends, she had built up a loyal customer base and started receiving orders for birthday cakes too.
Then came a milestone every cake shed owner dreams of her first sell-out.
Balancing baking with caring for two young children hasn't always been easy, and there have certainly been some long days. But seeing returning customers visit the shed each week makes all the hard work worthwhile.
One of Alice's favourite parts of running the shed is never knowing which bake will be the most popular each week. Even better is receiving messages from regular customers asking her to save their favourite treats for collection.
Looking Ahead
Alice has big dreams for the future of Cakes by Alice.
Her goal is to grow the business enough that she can eventually reduce her hours at work and spend more time at home with her family. She also hopes to introduce postal orders, allowing even more people to enjoy her bakes.
Alongside the cake shed, she plans to continue creating celebration cakes and custom orders for customers.
Looking further ahead, Alice would love to see her bakes stocked in a local café, and maybe even own a café of her own one day.
For now, she's focused on continuing to grow Cakes by Alice, refining her menu, and serving the customers who have supported her from the very beginning.
With passion, determination, and a loyal community behind her, it's clear that this is only the beginning of the Cakes by Alice story.
