A Conversation with: Anna Worthington of Cakes By Anna

I had the pleasure of interviewing Anna Worthington, the baker turned business woman behind one of Christchurch's most delicious enterprises, Cakes By Anna.



When did you decide to leap into Cakes by Anna as a full time business? 

I began CBA in September 2012 and went full time with it in February 2013. I was working at a café in the early cake days and was working crazy hours fulfilling cake orders on top of the café job. I didn’t have time to experiment with new recipes or meet up with customers, and I was emailing people back at 1am which I’m sure was really appreciated (laughs). It wasn’t a huge decision for me to make, going full time. I had nothing to lose, and the idea of being free to do my own thing outweighed any
doubts or fears I had.

Obviously a big selling point with your cakes isn’t just the taste, but the look. How do you decide how to decorate each individual cake?

From the start, CBA has always been described as having a ‘rustic’ aesthetic. I think this term is a little overused and a bit naff, but I guess it describes my style pretty well. I hate fuss and have always liked to think that the brand is unpretentious and fun. The toppings I use on the cakes, such as fresh berries, caramel sauce, lemon curd etc, suit being slopped on, as opposed to painstakingly applied. The season also determines how the cake looks. In spring, I get so excited about our edible flower garden, and so the cakes always look very bright and colourful. In winter we tend to garnish with dried fruit chips, lashings of caramel sauce, and whatever survives the harsh winter climate.

      

      Are your cake decorations influenced at all by your own personal style?

I suppose my own style is fun and playful, so yeah I guess this comes through in the way the cakes look. I'm also usually covered in icing and berry stains so the cakes and I have that in common too.

Recently people have become a lot more health conscious, particularly around sugar, how do you tackle this when your product isn’t a traditionally healthy one?

When I first started CBA I tended to turn my nose up at gluten free/vegan cakes. I'm not sure why this was, possibly because I didn’t know anything about catering for these kinds of dietary requirements, so it was easier to just not offer the option. Nowadays, about a third of my orders would be gluten free, and we make a lot of refined sugar free cakes too. Personally, I don’t eat much refined sugar at all, but I don’t like to put a label on my diet. I guess I didn’t feel comfortable offering only products that I myself wouldn’t eat that much. It seemed a little dishonest. At the market we offer cakes to suit pretty much all diets. I’ve learnt that cakes don’t have to be laden with sugar to taste good. Sometimes too much sugar can hide the real flavours of the ingredients, so I’ve reduced the sugar in a lot of my recipes.

As your cakes have now become your business, do you still love cake? Or are you a bit over it?

People think I eat cake all day, everyday. I love cake, but it's not just the eating part I love. Even more so, I think I like the process (behind) it. The baking aspect which is strict and scientific, balanced with the opportunity to be really creative when it comes to picking flavours and decorating. I'm certainly not over it, otherwise I wouldn’t be still at it!

You have quite a following on social media, how important was that in building your brand?

Social media is a massive part of CBA. It's how I connect with my customers on a day to day basis, and also allows me to connect with others around New Zealand, and globally. Instagram is my favourite form of social media, as the visual content suits cake very well. I have no private Instagram account, so the CBA 'gram isn't just about cake, but what I get up to day to day. It allows people to get a behind the scenes look at how we work. I like to think of it as a really great way to document the journey of my cake business.

      What’s an average day like for you, when working on CBA?

I’ve just restructured how I work, and its making life a lot easier! I used to get up at 4am and have a frantic morning of baking, (to get) things out the door by 8am. Now I bake the cakes in the afternoon and ice them at night. That (way) I can get up at a normal time, deliver the cakes, and spend the morning answering emails and doing other jobs. That’s a typical day Monday to Thursday, but Fridays and Saturdays (I'm) pretty much in the kitchen for at least 10 hours a day.

What would you say is the best and worst part of your job?

I like the freedom of being able to plan my days according to how I'm feeling. I have a pretty flexible schedule which suits me well. I can pretty much spend my days however I like, as long as the cakes get made. Worst part would be the long hours. Some weekends are pretty chaotic and I can be in the kitchen as early as 2am. Every job has its downsides, but even when things are pretty mental, I still think I'm lucky to be doing something that at the end of the day, I really love.

What’s your most popular cake? And what’s your personal favourite?

I really love all my cakes, and my favourite changes all the time. I usually snack on the gluten, dairy and refined sugar free Apple Date and Raspberry cakes (they are a good option for breakfast!). My most popular cakes would be my Lemon Lovers, and the Big Banoffee.  

Cakes By Anna can be found at the Riccarton Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings and orders can be placed online, at www.cakesbyanna.co.nz.

All photographs taken by me, at the Cakes By Anna stall.


Lou