Sweet Dreams
This September marks the first anniversary of BKRY which opened its doors a year ago, offering coffee, delicious cakes – and upstairs, an Academy, where young and old alike can learn the art of cake decorating. Elestr Lee finds out more
BKRY IS THE brainchild of local resident Jo Deacon, who took the brave step of acquiring the lease on the derelict space wedged between House of Cards and Superdrug in Caversham centre in April 2024. “It needed to be completely renovated and a complete refit, which we largely did ourselves,” Jo recalled. Her determination to create her business is the result of a long-time interest in baking and cake decorating. “I started teaching in schools, firstly in Slough, then doing supply teaching in various primary schools in Caversham. While I was teaching, I became obsessed with baking cakes, so in the end, I took some professional courses. I now have three sons, and I took the pastry chef course at Reading while I was still breast feeding!”
In 2018 Jo converted a room in her mother’s house in Emmer Green, so she could bake cakes to sell professionally. “I was running my business around my children, so on occasions the oven would be running at 2am!” she said. “But I also met Candy Hall, who is a trained chef, through a mother and baby group, and she has now become my operations manager, and is pivotal in running BKRY. “I had always wanted to have my own cake shop, and when I found out about the space available in Caversham, I knew I could combine both my passions – baking as well as teaching.”
Jo is keen to take on new staff who she can train, including Viktoria, a refugee from the conflict in Ukraine, who knocked on the BKRY door and asked if there was any chance of a job. “I also take on teenagers who are looking for work experience,” she added. “I began my Academy, offering cake decorating classes in village halls and at parties during 2022. But now, at BKRY in Caversham, I can offer cakes and cookies for customers to buy, as well as classes, for young and old alike.” For now, Jo’s classes are all about cake decoration, and those attending are aged from 5 upwards. “Eventually, I would like to teach the whole baking process. One of my ideas would be to create an online teaching class, so people can go ‘from home baking to pro’.
“My ideas for developing the business don’t stop. We were in the news recently due to the burglary a few months ago, with the generous response from the community for the raffle raising money to help us out, which was amazing. But it made me realise what the local community can do to support each other. I am very passionate about helping others and have an interest in supporting adult mental health issues. In association with the Weller Centre in Caversham, I have launched ‘Bentos For Better Days’, for which we have developed a ‘Pay It Forward’ initiative, allowing people to provide a cake for an adult who would really benefit from a special treat, bring a smile to their face, and helping them to celebrate their birthday. It’s a way of ‘giving back’ and supporting others.”
Jo and her team are endlessly coming up with new ideas for cake decorations – “For example, I’m obsessed with food and flavours, so this might be inspired by places I’ve been to, or the seasons. Nature is another source of inspiration, especially for my floral designs. We look at Pinterest for ideas and to see the latest trends and check out Instagram. My best ideas come when I’m taking a walk, or just as I’m falling asleep! All of us here love decorating cakes, but it’s also our customers who come up with their own ideas. For example, I make brownies and for special occasions, we can put edible labels on them. One customer wanted a very cute photo of her baby’s face on the brownies I made for her! I do cakes for big corporate events as well as for weddings, so these always are personalised. I even had a customer who wanted to celebrate ‘One year being sober!’”
Jo has recently branched out so that customers in Henley can order her products through Pavilion Foods in Market Place, which can then be delivered there. And in August she started creating cakes which will celebrate a new country every month – starting, appropriately enough, with staff member Viktoria’s Ukraine. Jo loves the creativity which fizzes from the team around her. “While I created the brand, our staff at BKRY are all very creative in their own right – one is an artist, as well as a tattooist. All the designs you see painted on the BKRY walls are her work. As one of my bakers said, it’s nice that they all have something different to contribute, and everyone is allowed to be creative – while in the meantime, the customers keep coming back!”
Find out more:
Check out products and information about the BKRY Academy via bkry.co.uk
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