Business

Creative London: Roxyrara a baking sensation

If you don’t love cake where have you been?? We caught up with the awesome Roxy of Roxyrara who puts to shame the Cakeboss himself.  RoxyRara is a bespoke baking boutique that specialises in couture, one of a kind, cakes. Everything is designed, baked, and handmade to your specification by Roxy, using only the finest ingredients – perfect for weddings, christenings, birthdays, in fact, any occasion!

Roxyrara

We love cake and your cakes are amazing! How did you realise you wanted to bake?

Aw thanks so much, I really appreciate that. I love cake too! I actually trained and worked as an actress before I started my baking business and never intended to go into baking. My parents are both fantastic cooks; so I grew up surrounded by exotic flavours and lots of food but It wasn’t until my third year in drama school that I started baking. I was given the lead of ‘Dolly’ (an Irish cook) in the show “Dolly West’s Kitchen” and my director told me to practice cooking/baking at home to familiarise myself with the kitchen and make my character believable onstage. After that, I went home and baked my first ever batch of cookies, I took them into rehearsals the next day and the rest is history!

After drama school I worked as an actress for around three years with baking as a huge hobby before I auditioned and got down to the final stages of the audition process for the BBC’s “The Great British Bake Off”. This was an absolutely amazing experience where I was able to bake for Mary Berry & Paul Hollywood and although I didn’t make it onto the show, getting so close two years in a row really gave me the confidence to start my own business… And that’s how the RoxyRara brand was born.

Roxyrara

We watch Cakeboss and people ask for some strange things, what is the strangest cake someone has asked you to make?

I love Cake Boss and believe me I’ve been asked to make some strange things. It seems the stranger the cakes I make, the stranger the requests keep getting… And I love that, the sky really is the limit. Umm, this is a tough one. I’ve made loads of unusual cakes. One of the strangest wedding cakes I’ve made is probably a couple of Labrador dogs dressed as peacocks on top of a cupcake wedding tower.  The Labradors represented the bride and groom (who absolutely loved their golden lab dog) and they had a peacock themed wedding so naturally wanted bride and groom dogs dressed as peacocks and the figurines on their cake! Wacky!

We saw that you only use the best ingredients for your cakes, do you think it really makes a difference?

Absolutely. Quality breeds quality. Luxury needs luxury. It’s all very well having an amazing looking cake but what’s the use if the inside is dry as a bone?! Using top quality ingredients in your baking at home really will produce a better quality cake and if you want to know the key ingredient that makes the best cakes in the world… It’s LOVE. Sounds cheesy I know, but if you bake with a full heart and lots of passion then you will produce magic… I guarantee it!

Roxyrara

Can we say Roxy you are stunning, what is your trick not to spend all day eating cake? (Can we say we probably would do)

Haha! Thank you. I actually have become immune to cakes and sweet treats. Don’t get me wrong… I absolutely love the occasional indulgence but being surrounded by cake all day isn’t as hard as it sounds. You get used to it. I’m too busy and focused on making sure my clients are happy and running the business than scoffing my face! Well… Most of the time!

Plus, I absolutely love yoga and I find that keeps me healthy inside and out! I’ve teamed up with ‘Yoga • Connects’ festival actually to create a new range of healthy yogi bakes. This includes vegan, gluten free and sugar free bakes that keep your body tight and your conscience clear. So no matter what your dietary needs, you really can have you cake and eat it too!

What is are the next steps in your baking story?

At the moment I’m working on creating a pilot for a TV show similar to “Cake Boss” that you mentioned earlier. So that would be an absolute dream come true! I’ve also started my YouTube channel. I’ve been filming weekly episodes of recipes and decorating tips to help you with your baking at home. I want to share my passion for baking with anyone who wants to learn really. Baking is huge right now and I love that! I’ve filmed a few YouTube episodes with my mates who happen to be very talented actors/celebrities/entrepreneurs that I teach how to bake, they were so much fun to film and are hilarious to watch! You can subscribe to my channel ‘RoxyRara Cakes’ to catch those. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfF3JVj4hxtheYB_Sq5S76Q 

Roxyrara

Can you give us 5 tips for budding new bakers?

Just bake, bake, bake. Any change you get, get in the kitchen and give it a go. Bake with kindness, bake with friends, bake with family and share your bakes with the people you love. That’s what it’s all about really. Food is love and it’s made for sharing!

If you weren’t a baker what would you be doing?

I’d probably be auditioning and working as an actress. I love all things creative and also worked as a makeup artist years ago, so I’d have loved to be a special effects makeup artist too for films and TV. Anything creative really!

 

FOLLOW ROXYRARA:

Website: http://www.RoxyRara.com

Online shop: http://www.RoxyRara.com/shop

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RoxyRara

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RoxyRaraCakes  (@RoxyRaraCakes)

Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/RoxyRaraCakes  (@RoxyRaraCakes)

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/RoxyRaraCakes  (@RoxyRaraCakes)

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfF3JVj4hxtheYB_Sq5S76Q  (RoxyRara Cakes)

 

Portrait photography by Nyla Sammons: www.nylasammons.com