Owner of gluten free and vegan cake business, Sweetcheeks Ltd, Catherine Rose’s dream had always been to open up her own deli but after a trip to New York, she identified what the UK’s gluten free market was missing; healthier gluten free baked goods which, as a Coeliac herself, Cat would also like to eat.
Inspired by her discoveries in New York, Cat then set about developing and extensively testing suitable recipes for gluten free and vegan cakes (using no eggs or butter) which would taste so fabulous that her customers wouldn’t notice the difference. After 6 months of recipe development she was ready to launch Sweetcheeks in January 2010.
One rainy and miserable Saturday (aren’t they all these days?!) Cat very kindly brought around a box of her delicious cakes for me to try. What a treat! I shared them with Mr D who has no need to eat gluten free. He definitely didn’t notice the difference in the taste from their gluten containing cousins, he just enjoyed them for the fantastic cakes they are.
What we liked about the cakes was that unlike many companies which make the cakes and baked goods in their range with similar textures and consistencies, all of the Sweetcheeks cakes we tried were different to each other.
Having an allergy to almonds often proves difficult for me as many gluten free cakes contain these nuts. So I was very happy to learn that so many of the Sweetcheeks’ products do not contain almonds.
Lemon & poppy seed whoopie pie. I thought the lightness of the lemon flavour in this whoopie pie was wonderful.
Gloreo: A gluten free take on an Oreo cookie. Just looking at this photo is making me drool. Because Cat’s cakes are made with natural ingredients and without artificial substitutes, this tasted far less synthetic than the cookie which inspired it.
Mmm…doughnut! I thoroughly enjoyed this cinnamon flavoured doughnut. I served mine heated up and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
And you don’t just need to take my word for how great these cakes are! Sweetcheeks were winners with both their almond biscotti and maple & pecan cupcakes at this year’s Free From Food Awards.
Cat can cater for bespoke requests such as weddings and other celebrations. She loves getting creative, working with briefs provided by customers who enjoy her style of cakes to produce something unique and wonderful for an event.
You can find Sweetcheeks at the London Allergy Show from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th May. Cat is able to offer a hand delivery service on orders to most addresses in London which I think is a truly personal touch. Alternatively, orders can be made via the Sweetcheeks website or for collection on Saturdays from the market on Marleybone High Street.
If you’re off to the Allergy Show this weekend, get in quick – those delicious doughnuts won’t hang around for long!
Very, very nice looking cakes indeed. I’ll have to remember this for my next trip over your way 🙂
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Highly recommend them! I tried some of the Sweetcheeks cupcakes – chocolate and also a mojito flavour – at the Allergy Show yesterday and there were also wonderful.