about me:
meet the baker
A note from the boss...
"Hi! I'm Mel and I'm the owner and baker at La Petite Bouche Bakery. I've been making cake for as long as I can remember - I grew up in a house where cake was something you made from scratch, not something you bought from a shop. I have so many childhood memories of days in the kitchen creating cake and carnage, where love and patience were as integral to my recipes as sugar and flour.
I like to think that the kitchen carnage is behind me now, but my passion for all things cake has only grown over time and I'm so glad I now get to call baking my full time job. Love and patience - plus creativity, dedication, joy, and more - are still part of every cake I bake. I hope it shows, and I hope you enjoy eating my creations as much as I enjoy making them."
What and when: our story
‘La petite bouche’ means ‘the little mouth’ in French, and is a nod to the beginnings of our cake-making adventure. Back when La Petite Bouche Bakery first launched in 2017, we focussed on miniature cakes in lots of different flavours so that customers could have a little bit of everything they fancied.
We strove to always have something for everyone, with options from classically flavoured mini sponges to small but decadent chocolate desserts, and everything in between. In the interests of inclusivity, we always had bakes suitable for those with dietary restrictions too, meaning extensive plant based, gluten free, and nut free choices. We called these our ‘pick and mix cakes’ and sold them at various markets and events - a ‘little mouth’ was all you needed to enjoy our little treats, hence La Petite Bouche Bakery.
Where it all began - our first ever day trading in August 2017.
Whilst our name has stayed the same, the business has grown and changed in many ways during the past eight years. Our primary offering is now luxury, bespoke celebration cakes for events such as weddings, birthdays, baby showers, anniversaries and more. You dream it up - the flavour, the theme, the colours, and so on - and we bring it to life in all its yummy, beautiful glory. Of course, we’re on hand to help with our cake design expertise and guidance as necessary, ensuring you get a custom creation that both tastes and looks exactly how you envisioned it. As well as made-to-order cakes, we also offer dessert tables, cupcakes, and have a range of postal bakes available via our online shop.
Though we now concentrate on regular-sized cakes, our commitment to catering for those with dietary restrictions has only increased over time. In fact, we’re proud to say our default recipes are now always plant-based, and we can make further adjustments to serve those who can’t eat gluten, nuts and soy. Baking without eggs and dairy might mean compromising on taste with other bakeries, but we can confidently say that that’s not the case here. It’s what we do day in, day out; most of our customers don’t follow a plant based diet, they just love our cakes. Don’t just take our word for it - you can read our Google reviews here!
We are registered as a food business with Wokingham Borough Council and received a rating of five out of five during our most recent food safety inspection (June 2024).
Why: plant power and the environment
Did you know that agriculture is the second most polluting industry in the world, behind only the fossil fuel industry in terms of greenhouse gas emissions? It’s a fairly shocking statistic. La Petite Bouche Bakery is only a small food producer, but we’re nevertheless committed to doing as much as we can to better our environment. Here are some of the steps we’re taking in the name of sustainability:
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Plant based baking: we’ve spent a lot of time perfecting recipes that don’t use eggs, dairy or other animal products like gelatine. Our vegan cakes aren’t just for vegans: there’s no dairy, no eggs, and absolutely no compromise. We’re passionate about changing the narrative around plant based baking because research suggests that a diet with no meat, dairy or eggs could be the single biggest way for people to reduce their impact on the Earth. Who knew that helping the environment was, quite literally, a piece of cake?!
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Solar power: In spring 2024, we invested in solar panels and a battery storage system. When the sun shines, we can generate enough power to run everything that uses electricity with zero emissions. Once the batteries are full, any surplus energy is sold back to the national grid. In time, we will replace our vehicles with electric cars too.
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Reducing plastic usage: we make a concerted effort to limit plastics consumption across all elements of our business. This includes the things we buy as well as what we sell. For example, we stick to functional, simple packaging as fancy cake boxes may look lovely but they’re often made of plastic (and the cake inside is what matters, after all!) Even the smallest details are considered - we use plastic-free tape on our postal orders, and reusable silicon piping bags instead of plastic ones. Every little helps!
How: Ingredients and design
A lot of time and effort goes into the cakes we make at La Petite Bouche Bakery. It therefore makes sense to us that similar time and effort is invested in choosing the right ingredients; they’re the building blocks for the end product after all. We want to create things that taste amazing so select the flours, sugars, chocolates, fruits, jams and so on that give us the best results.
Stunning visuals are also high on our priority list when it comes to our cakes. We aim for our creations to give a real ‘wow’ factor, and pride ourselves on our in-depth consultation and design process that enables us to get there. We treat each new cake order as a blank canvas to decorate to your exact requirements, and every little detail matters as much to us as it does to you.