Owner of multi-award-winning Northampton cake business ‘proud’ to still be going strong after more than a decade

The owner of a multi-award-winning Northampton cake business is “proud” to still be going strong after more than a decade.

Mindy Robinson has run SophistiCake Creations from her home in Duston since she founded the business at the end of 2012.

The venture first began when she was asked to make a wedding cake for a colleague and she believed it was important to become a registered baker before taking on the challenge.

Mindy had only baked treats for family and friends prior to this and after getting her kitchen inspected and becoming a registered baker, she decided to make a go of creating and selling cakes alongside her job.

Not only does SophistiCake Creations offer cakes of all kinds, including for birthdays and weddings, but Mindy expanded her offering during the pandemic – when she had no choice but to get creative to keep business going strong.

She delivered afternoon teas in boxes and hosted ‘make and bake’ sessions online for children and adults to join in with her during that time.

Post-pandemic, Mindy caters for afternoon tea parties for up to 24 people – kitted out with the crockery and cutlery to match.

One of the business owner’s most popular items at Christmas and Halloween are her DIY gingerbread house kits. These provide everything a child needs to be creative and decorate the house.

Before the pandemic hit, Mindy hosted a few cake decorating classes at Vintage Retreat for adults and is now looking into what sessions she can hold face-to-face once again.

“It’s just me and my kitchen,” said Mindy. “That’s the hardest part.”

Most of SophistiCake Creations’ orders are made through Facebook and Mindy says she has developed a “really loyal” base of customers who refer her to whoever they can.

She added: “The cake community in Northampton is supportive of each other.”

Mindy shared that she always helps those with new cake businesses when she can – which recently included giving tips to a new baker about perfecting their vegan buttercream.

The well-renowned baker has perfected, and become known for, her vegan cakes over the past three-to-four years.

Just last week, Mindy’s carrot, parsnip and pecan cake won silver in the artisan local vegetarian/vegan product category at the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards.

When asked how it feels to have been awarded silver, Mindy said: “It’s really great, particularly this year as a lot of new people entered.

“I absolutely loved getting silver and don’t take it for granted at all. There are phenomenal food and drink businesses and we are very lucky in this county.”

Having won many awards over the years, including the ‘Great Taste’, Mindy was asked how much these accolades mean to her.

“It boosts your spirit,” she said, sharing that it makes the late nights working on her own feel worth it.

Mindy’s biggest achievement since setting up the business is to have kept it going.

When SophistiCake Creations was set up in November 2012 on Facebook, there were a number of similar businesses who were part of the cake-making community.

Mindy, who continues to run the business alongside two other jobs, said: “85 to 90 percent of those people are no longer making cakes. It’s hard unless you are making a wedding cake a week or have a tearoom of your own.

“I’m proud I can continue.”

The business is known for its whacky flavours, with carrot, parsnip and pecan now being an award-winning combination.

“I always look for something that’s different and I’m proud of my recipes,” said Mindy. “You’re not going to find them in a cookbook or on the internet. There’s a lot of experimenting.”

The award-winning flavour combination actually forms three of your five-a-day – which Mindy says customers fail to believe – and it took a lot of work to get it to where it is today.

Mindy’s vegan sweet potato cake has also been given a Great Taste award, and she admits she enjoys the challenge of baking a vegan cake that is both adventurous and tastes delicious.

To top off Mindy’s amazing work, she does a lot to raise money for cancer charities. This included completing two 12-hour bake-athons, which raised more than £1,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The business owner looks forward to entering and taking part in more competitions towards the end of this year – and says her ultimate dream would be to run her own tearoom one day.

To find out more about the work of SophistiCake Creations, check out the business’ Facebook page here.