They are the cute cupboards packed with home-baked goods that have become a Great British tradition, but now cake sheds are coming under increasing scrutiny from council officials – and some bakers fear the dream could be over.
Danielle Edgington set up her cake shed in Kings Heath, Birmingham, eight months ago, and it proved so popular that the 41-year-old quit her job as a catering manager to work on it full time. The Lavender Cake Shed now brings in between £500 and £1,000 a week, with customers flocking from neighbouring towns like Redditch and Solihull to her quiet suburban road.
“Cake shed baker Danielle Edgington quit her job after earnings hit £1,000 a week, but councils may tighten licensing.”
"It's a lot of cake," she said. Before the shed, Edgington had been selling baked goods at markets after launching a business during the Covid pandemic delivering afternoon teas and birthday cakes. She set up the shed to sell any spares.
"It's taken over my life," said the chef of 20 years. "I'd get up, I'd go to work in the morning and then I'd come home. I'd be baking all evening. So it just became too much. I've just not been able to keep up with the demand so I've decided to go full-time."
The shed is open seven days a week, 09:00-21:00 BST, and Edgington credits much of the interest to her TikTok account. "I've got quite a big social media presence. I'll get messages off customers saying 'What have you got in the shed today? Because we are travelling from a bit further out.' To see a queue out there is just unbelievable. It's quite humbling really to see."
But the sweet trend could be under threat. Some councils are considering enforcing tighter licensing rules, and dedicated cake shedders say if this happens they could be forced to close. One cake shed community online said it was getting up to 400 new members on Facebook a week. "Over the past few months the group has grown exponentially," said Susanne Niess, of That's Cake by Susanne.
"They are definitely becoming a feature in our landscape and are spreading from the countryside to the urban environment," said Bronya Seifert of Daisy Cake Company. "It's wonderful." Yet as the movement grows, so does the scrutiny – leaving bakers like Edgington waiting to see if the councils will let them keep selling.