The last few years has witnessed the rise in popularity of baking – evident in how invested we all were in The Great British Bake Off final! But what happens when you take the huge leap from baking for fun to baking for business? This week Her Campus caught up with Hailey Ramanathan, a final year at Nottingham University who’s managed to do just that. We know who’s making our next birthday cake!
Cupcakes and baking are all the rage nowadays – what triggered your interest in it?
I’ve been around baking since I was born. My mum used to bake amazing cakes for my birthdays when I was a little girl – humpty dumpty cakes/Polly Pocket themed cakes/ Snow White and the seven dwarfs/grandfather’s clock etc – so when I was old enough I would sit and watch her using a piping nozzle and occasionally she’d let me have a go. When I got to uni and had the kitchen to myself, I started baking and have fallen in love with it!
And what was it that compelled you to turn a hobby into a business?
A lot of people said that they’d be happy to buy a cake off of me, so I thought why not?! It adds a different dimension to my uni life and I enjoy it! I also just wanted to see how much interest there is out there for my cakes and use it as a very small trial run to see what I could be capable of in the future. Caked Bakes is all about student priced cakes that hopefully look and taste a lot better than your average cake from Tesco or Sainsbury’s, but at affordable student prices.
How are you finding balancing this with your final year of university?
From start to finish, the average cake takes me between 3 and 4 hours to complete, so I’ve just got to be smart about when I bake so it doesn’t interfere with my work. Normally, I bake for my customers in the evening after I’ve done a day in the library or have been at lectures, so it’s more relaxing than anything else!
One of Hailey’s gorgeous creations!
Would you recommend starting a business to other university students?
Yes, definitely. Mainly because it makes you feel like you’ve done something during your uni life that is completely different to the norm. Also it looks great on a CV – I think employers always want to look for the entrepreneur within.
Is it something you hope to take further, maybe as a full-time job?
Absolutely. I love decorating cakes and one day would love to start my own wedding cake company. I’m still thinking of the niche market I’d like to go into, but ultimately I want people to be eating my cake on their big day!
What is your favourite type of cake to bake?
I’m your typical girl, so it has to be the double chocolate cake with chocolate frosting I make – it literally hits the spot every time.
What has been the strangest/most interesting order you’ve had so far?
My friend has asked me to bake him a cake shaped like a unicorn. I’m still not sure if he’s joking or not but I’m willing to give it a go!
If you could be any type of cake, what would it be and why?
This is a tricky one. Back to chocolate again – chocolate and raspberry cake with chocolate ganache – mainly because that’s one of my favourite cakes to eat!
To check out Hailey’s cake company Caked Bakes, and for contact information, visit the Caked Bakes Facebook page here!