Selwyn Times: July 26, 2016

26
Tuesday July 26 2016
Taste
SELWYN TIMES
Baking perfection is no piece of cake
Cakes by Anna owner
Anna Worthington
• By Gabrielle Stuart
IT WAS cake perfection:
Three layers baked, iced and
decorated, ready for a wedding
that afternoon – until Anna
Worthington dropped it.
As a new business-owner,
looking down at the mess that
was the once perfect cake she
had spent hours crafting, she
said it was one of her lowest
points.
But also it taught her perspective,
she said.
She was able to pull herself
together and create a new cake
in just three hours, and the bride
and groom never learned about
the disaster, she said.
“I used to lose sleep over
making wedding cakes. But now
I think even in the worst case
scenario, if I was to walk into the
reception and drop the cake in
front of them, it would have to
be pretty bad to completely ruin
their wedding.”
It was the same attitude that
gave her the courage to quit her
job to start her own cake-making
business, Cakes by Anna.
She grew up in Christchurch,
but left the city as a teenager to
do a fine arts degree in Auckland.
She went overseas after she
graduated, and travelled around
Europe for more than a year.
There, she put her hand up
for whatever work she could
find, and discovered she really
enjoyed cooking and baking.
She was also inspired by the
food and culture around community
markets there, she said.
She returned to Christchurch
in 2012, not planning to stay for
long, but said she was inspired
by what was happening in the
city.
“Growing up I didn’t have a
big attachment to Christchurch.
It felt it wasn’t exciting enough
for me. But coming back I was
meeting really interesting people,
and it felt like a fresh start.”
She began working in a cafe,
but on the side began developing
her own business idea, selling
cakes at the Christchurch Farmers
Market in Riccarton.
She said a lot of cakes being
sold at the time were very sweet
and covered in fondant, and she
wanted to do something different.
Her goal was to use as many
natural and local ingredients as
she could, and always experiment
– pulling together flavour
combinations like gin, lime and
coconut or her most popular
pear, date and salted caramel
cakes.
She began baking cakes after
work in her mother’s kitchen,
and selling them each weekend,
but she said the business grew
fast.
“I was working crazy hours,
from 6am to 2pm at the cafe
in the kitchen, and once I was
finished there I would go and do
baking until late. After about six
months doing both jobs I totally
burnt out.”
At that point she quit her job
to start baking full-time.
Although it was a big step, she
decided she had nothing to lose.
“After I quit the job I realised
I had so much more time to put
effort into it and really research
recipes, and instead of being
tired all the time I was really
enjoying it.”
She now has one employee,
and works form a commercial
kitchen in Linwood.
Although she has enough
work from orders from local cafes
and events to keep the business
going, she still plans to stick
to her roots and keep her market
stall running each week.
HOMEGROWN: Cakes By Anna started as a small stall at the
Riccarton House market, but Anna Worthington now works from
a commercial kitchen and has a growing customer base.
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
It’s time to grow
The magazine for gardeners who like to get their hands dirty
Bigger from August 22