A self-taught raw cake maker who has catered for the likes of Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood has opened a vegan cake shop in Glasgow.
Rawnchy Desserts owner Poppy Murricane had intended to use the unit in Maryhill Road to fulfil wholesale and bespoke orders only.
But passers-by began enquiring about the cakes – which are free from gluten, dairy, soy and refined sugar – and started requesting the slices when she opened the business in the 500sq ft premises a month ago.
“I was making 50 cakes a week in my mum’s laundry room supplying cafés, delis and restaurants, mainly in Glasgow but also a few in Edinburgh and one stockist in Oban,” Murricane, who set up the company in 2016, told British Baker. “I was going to use the space as a commercial kitchen, but it looked so pretty people started presuming it was a café and shop.”
Among the creations are Passion Fruit and Coconut; Strawberry Pistachio; and Matcha Green Tea and Snickerdoodle – a peanut base with chocolate cream, caramel piping and a chunk of home-made Snicker-effect bars. They sell for £3.50 a slice, while raw brownies are sold for £2.50.
Unlike sponge cakes, which are baked, Murricane’s creations are set in a freezer and resemble cheesecakes.
Instead of a biscuit base, many of her recipes use blended fruits and nuts, which are warmed into a sticky dough and pressed into a cake tin.
The 28-year-old came up with the idea of creating raw cakes after spending seven years in Thailand.
“When I came back to the Western world, I started eating things like bread and pasta, foods I hadn’t been eating, and my stomach didn’t take well to it,” she said. “I starting making the cakes because I wanted to eat some of the things that wouldn’t make my stomach feel horrendous.”
Murricane also makes raw celebration and occasion cakes.
In the past she has made a blueberry and white chocolate creation for Stella McCartney’s team, as well as a bespoke cake for a Vivienne Westwood party, themed on elements of the designer’s spring catwalk show.
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