It’s official: Wellingtonians love cake

It’s official: Wellingtonians love cake

Sweet Bakery & Cakery celebrates first birthday (with cake!)

WELLINGTON (June 11 2014) – In the past year Grace Kreft has been inundated with all kinds of weird and wonderful requests for cakes from Wellingtonians after launching Sweet Bakery & Cakery in June 2013.

Grace, who spent two years working as a financial services lawyer in a Wellington law firm before moving to London to train as a cake and cupcake baker and decorator, couldn't be happier with her decision to choose chocolate icing over corporate law when she started Sweet in Wellington in 2013.

“I do miss the challenge of being a lawyer,” owner Grace Kreft says, “But there's no doubt about it that running your own small business has even more, and very varied, challenges of its own, and is very satisfying.

“We've worked very hard over the last year to bring Sweet to life, including working until midnight on Friday nights, and coming back early from our wedding to create someone else's wedding cake!”

Requests for themed birthday or celebration cakes have come thick and fast at Sweet, with these ranging from the cute and pretty to the occasional hen’s party order that is a little rude or X-rated.

“It’s always interesting to find out the themes customers want for their cake or cupcake order; it's really fun for us to bring these ideas to life in cake form!”

Grace says her first year in business has been a huge learning curve. Figuring out pricing structures, testing recipes and sourcing the best quality ingredients have been some of the key challenges so far. Grace's advice? “Say yes to everything, then figure out how you'll make it work later!”

Sweet is now celebrating not only surviving – but thriving – in its first year in business.

The first year, usually the toughest for small businesses, has seen Sweet succeed beyond expectations, with Grace having to move her business into her own commercial kitchen in Marsden Village, take on two assistants in the kitchen, and create over 700 bespoke cake and cupcake orders, meanwhile selling at two Wellington markets every weekend.

Amongst other milestones, Kreft says a highlight was making her own wedding cake in January this year, when she wed now-husband Brad in Wanaka, and writing a monthly baking column for teen magazine Creme.

Grace and the team will be celebrating the occasion with a party, inviting the Wellingtonians who have helped Sweet flourish over the past year – and of course there will be a birthday cake!

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