Caketastic Creations named Celebration Cake Business of the Year 2022

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This category sought excellent cake artistry along with an awareness of trends, customer service and marketing initiatives. All the finalists proved they can add a touch of magic to their products.

Winner: Caketastic Creations

Twelve years ago Johanna Moloney was working in a scientific role – today she’s the owner of the 2022 Celebration Cake Business of the Year.

Her journey to awards victory started in 2010 when she was made redundant and took a cake-decorating course while looking for another job. She discovered a love for the art and never looked back, decorating cakes from home for nine years before opening her own shop in 2019.

As a royalist Johanna loved the Jubilee theme given to all this year’s finalists to interpret and create a tiered cake for the final assessment. Her inspiration was a trip she made to an exhibition at Buckingham Palace of iconic royal dresses.

Johanna specialises in making wedding and celebration cakes to order, along with a range of treats including cupcakes, traybakes, traditional bakes, cheesecakes and decorated cookies.

Her shop at Middleton, Manchester, had only been open for seven months before the pandemic hit but she kept busy cake making during the shutdown and is today back to bursting with orders, having attended wedding fairs to promote the business.

Caketastic Creations also operates a popular vintage caravan ‘tearoom’ that travels to artisan markets and an annual airshow where the team serve creams teas and cakes on china crockery.

Finalist: The Berkshire Bakesmith

The Berkshire Bakesmith, based in Wokingham, Berkshire, is run by Kerry Smith with the help of a part-time assistant who manages enquiries. This year the business is gearing up to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Kerry is also celebrating being shortlisted for the Female Entrepreneur of the Year title in the Great British Business Awards. 

She is currently looking to expand her business by appointing a baking assistant who will release time for her to hold more one-to-one tuition and teaching sessions as well create online tutorials and a recipe book. The judges praised Kerry’s creativity and passion as well as her future business plan.

Finalist: Shuga Budz

The past few years have been the toughest the team at Shuga Budz has ever known since the business opened in Tettenhall, West Midlands, in 2007.

Run by mother and daughter team Debbie and Amelia Nutting, the shop is now based at Compton, Wolverhampton, and has four other members of staff who work in the production of the celebration cakes as well as in the Shuga Budz café at the front of the shop. The team prides itself on being able to create almost anything in cake – from the Burj Al Arab to the Taj Mahal. The judges praised the team’s passion, creativity, and robust approach to business.