If you love cake, listen to this conversation between tow friends who quit their jobs to follow their dreams.
Jake: My grandmother was French and she passed on her love of cake and pastry making to my two brothers and me.
Jane: Hi, I’m Jane. I started baking in my early teens. Nobody taught me how to bake, I just decided it was fascinating, and took things from there, collecting recipes, trying things out and making lots of mistakes. I met Jake at University, and we learned we had a love of cake – making in common.
Jake: Last year, we decided to take a big gamble with our careers. We quit our jobs as accountants and opened an online Cake Bakery called ‘The Cake Shed’.
After all, why buy a mass-produced cake from a bakery chain store when you can buy a home made cake from ‘The Cake Shed’? All our cakes are made to order from so you know they haven’t been sitting around in the fridge or show window for days. At present, we offer six fabulous delicious cakes from around the world.
Jane: First, the Dundee Cake. This comes from Scotland, and is a traditional cake made with currents, sultanas, cherries, almonds and dried fruit peel. The recipe has been around in Scotland since the nineteenth century. The cake is decorated with almonds placed in circles on the top.
Jake: The Black Forest Gateau is a traditional cake from South-East Germany. It is made up of layers of chocolate cake separated by cherries and topped with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and more cherries. This is definitely the cake for chocolate lovers!
Jane: Our Victoria Sandwich comes from England. It is named after Queen Victoria who used to enjoy a slice of this cake with her afternoon tea. It is a very simple but utterly delicious cake. It is made up of two round, light sponge cakes, one placed on top of the other with a layer of raspberry jam and cream in the middle.
Jake: The Sachertorte comes from Austria and was invented in the city of Vienna in 1832 by a baker called Franz Sacher. It is a two-layered chocolate cake with apricot jam in the middle and rich chocolate icing on the top. It should always be served with a generous dollop of whipped cream.
Jane: If you were going to name a cake after a ballet dancer, you would expect it to be delicate and light. The Australian Pavlova created originally to honour the ballet superstar Anna Pavlova, is exactly that. It is a meringue with a crispy outside and a gooey centre. It is filled and decorated with whipped cream and pieces of fresh fruit.
Jake: Our sixth cake comes from America. It’s the Angel Food Cake, a light sponge cake made from whipped egg whites, flour and sugar. There is no butter in an Angel Food Cake, and that is why it’s so light and fluffy. Our Angel Food Cake is the simplest cake we make, but it can be decorated however you choose. We drizzle our version with a fruit glaze.
Jane: Our homemade cakes are made with the finest ingredients and a lot of love. Treat yourself with a visit to ‘The Cake Shed’. Our cakes are waiting for you.