After 13 years of serving customers at Laura in the Lakes cafe, which she founded in the heart of Keswick, entrepreneur Laura Johnston has turned her cookery skills to developing the thriving business Cakes from the Lakes.
Having sold the cafe in March this year, Laura has been able to focus on the new family business, based at Threlkeld and specialising in delicious tiffins, cakes, scones and much more.
Laura is from a hospitality industry background, having studied for a hotel management degree in Switzerland and Brussels. She said: “As part of my degree I was learning all about chocolate and patisserie — skills and techniques which I was able to bring to the cafe to create our delicious bakes.
“However, after running the cafe for 13 years, I couldn’t progress the business any further. I had done everything I could and I also wanted to have more family time.
“Moving from the cafe to the bakery was a change of direction which has released more of my time and provided us with more opportunities to develop the business.
“The bakery is a Monday-to-Friday operation, so as a family we have our weekends free, yet we have the scope to do so much with the business and develop in numerous new directions. Cakes in the Lakes has gone from strength to strength, and we have several exciting projects, including collaborations with other local producers such as Wild & Fruitful, using their jams, and also Torpehow Cheese Company’s butter.”
The Cakes in the Lakes bakery now employs seven people and has created four new jobs.
Providing cakes and treats for all occasions, from birthdays to weddings, as well as supplying cafes, hotels and restaurants throughout the Lake District and beyond, the bakery is turning out products which are growing in popularity.
Laura said: “We have had some great interest in our products when we have attended the Christmas trade shows this year in Harrogate, Birmingham and London. We have even got our products in the House of Lords’ gift shop now, and have interest from Selfridges and Booths.
“We have an extensive recipe book of the cakes, bakes and creations we have made and it is still continuing to grow. Our bespoke wedding cakes are becoming very popular as the design opportunities are so exciting.”
And it is not just the interest in their products which has grown for the Cakes in the Lakes business — a new cookery school is being developed.
Laura said: “Our new baking courses and classes are a great success. People are keen to learn how to bake and we have welcomed everyone from complete beginners through to people looking to polish up their baking skills and enjoy a fun morning in a professional bakery.”
Courses cover learning to make scones, flapjacks and brownies, which can then be taken home.
Laura and her husband Steve moved to the Lake District in 2006 with their two children, Charlie and Oliver.
Laura said: “My husband, a professional hotelier, was offered a job in the Lakes. Whilst raising two small children, I worked part-time, but soon became restless, sat behind a desk having previously worked all hours in the hospitality industry. I simply missed the buzz of that industry.
“One day in December, 2008, Steve came home from work and announced he had found my next ‘10-year plan’. The following February we signed the paperwork for the adventure for Laura in the Lakes. Now we are artisan bakers in the Lakes, building upon that success with Cakes from the Lakes.”
