Beloved Hamilton bakery publishes mouth-watering cookbook
Published April 22, 2022 at 11:11 am
Cake and Loaf Bakery has been one of Hamilton’s most beloved businesses for over a decade. Not only have they been serving up delicious treats, but Cake and Loaf has also been a vocal advocate of paying workers a living wage. Owners Josie Rudderham and Nickey Miller even appeared before provincial politicians at Queens Park to advocate for fair working conditions.
Now, you can add “published authors” to the list of accomplishments for Josie and Nickey.
“We had always dreamed of sharing our recipes far and wide,” Josie says. “We often get requests from around the globe and knew there was an appetite for a book. We had no idea where to get started or how to find the time for a project like a cookbook.”
The pair were approached by Penguin Random House Canada who asked the Cake and Loaf owners if they wanted to put together a proposal.
“It seemed too good to be true, but the editorial team was amazing at walking us through all the steps to creating a book we are truly proud of,” says Josie.
Videos
View this post on Instagram
The literary market is saturated with cookbooks, but what makes Cake and Loaf’s unique is that it caters to all levels of baking. The recipes have also been tried, tested, and received glowing reviews.
“(Our book) is full of all the basic recipes you need, from chocolate chunk cookies to fudge brownies, but the book also has a lot of our most popular cakes, pies, and bars, too,” says Josie. “This book has everything you need for Baking 101. We’ve made the recipes approachable and easy for beginners, but there’s a little something for experienced bakers.”
“These are recipes we know you will love because they have all been customer favourites at our bakery for years,” she adds.
Josie says their most popular recipe has been gummy bear-stuffed cookies.
View this post on Instagram
“They are adorable sugar cookies stuffed with gummy bears and rolled in mini chocolate rainbow candies, then topped with more gummy bears,” she says.
Josie and Nickey took this book project very seriously. Josie polished up her writing and says she poured all of her love for their bakery into her words. Nickey has been the machine behind Cake and Loaf’s mouthwatering social media accounts, mostly taking photos with her smartphone. But now that their baked goods were getting published, Nickey knew she had to up her game.
“Nickey has always taken drool-worthy photos for social media but this was her first experience with a real camera,” Josie tells us. “She bought herself a camera, started taking courses and practicing her skills with friends, and transformed her spare room into a photo studio.”
View this post on Instagram
The pair say they were shocked at how natural the cookbook writing process actually felt and that they developed a beautiful rhythm creating together.
“We would absolutely love to continue writing cookbooks together,” Josie says. “We certainly have enough recipes at Cake and Loaf Bakery to fill several more books!”
Cake & Loaf: Satisfy Your Cravings With Over 85 Recipes For Everyday Baking And Sweet Treats is currently available on Indigo.
insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising