Andy Clark Cakes London Comes Home To Motherland, Nigeria!

I met Adetola Andrea Akitoye, the Creative Director and Head Baker of Andy Clark Cakes back in England on a Hertfordshire train about 4 years ago, we were both tired from work but somehow, we got talking.I could sense from how she spoke passionately about cakes, that her cakes would be special and for the rest of the journey we talked Cakes,Cakes,Cakes. We kept in touch afterwards and still managed to keep the 'Cake topic going.' Well, I was an Events Organiser (weekends) and I was pretty keen to work with her but I moved back to Naij on a whim  and we lost touch until Seriously Doughnuts reunited us!!! Yay! Go SD! Go SD, Go...:)
I couldn't believe my ears as she told me she had taken the plunge coming home too, I mean her business was all set up and all but hey, Naija has its was of luring you to her. BB pins swapped and she has since been torturing me with the most beautiful profile pictures of her lovely cakes that I just had to share some of them with you...

"How did she learn to make such beautiful cakes" I hear you say?
Well, She's been baking since she was 9 years old and according to Economic Graduate, Adetola, baking came came naturally, although she went on to formally get certified in Cake Decorating at Enfield College and other cake making schools in the UK.


Not satisfied, I went on and asked her the following questions...


SD: What inspires you and why cakes?
Adetola: For me I love baking but more importantly I love the decorating aspect. Believe it or not I have over 200 baking books. I find it relaxing to sit down think of a design and see it come to life in sugar!

SD: What have you found to be most challenging with baking in Nigeria?
Adetola: There are no words to describe how scary and challenging it has been. In England a lot of things are prepped for you. You can easily get fondant, gumpaste, decorations etc and that speeds up the production process so much more. I have found ingredients here are quite inconsistent and availability is also quite poor so I have to import. In England I could decorate a cake in four hours but in Nigeria it can take twice as long with power cuts and everything else we have to contend with. The humidity also affects everything and I find that quite frustrating as sometimes the the fondant on the cake can start to sweat but fortunately I have never had any cake disasters. So it's not at all doom and gloom.

SD: What is the most important thing in baking fabulous cakes?
Adetola: For me attention to detail is very important so we always ensure that our cakes not only look good but taste heavenly and I have to ensure that I am constantly retraining so I can keep abreast of new techniques in the industry


SD: How long have you been back in Nigeria?

Adetola: 6 Months...

SD: Given all the Naija issues do you think you'll stick it out in Naij

Adetola: Hell Yeah! Nigeria is not for chickens but its definitely worth it!!!

A drunken cake..

Welcome to Nigeria, Andy Clark Cakes! Lagos are you ready??? 

PS: Look out for Andy Clark Cakes' take on 'Cakes Nigeria Loves' (March 2012), here on SD.

Andy Clark Cakes can be contacted on:

08075601312

See more gorgeous cakes at: 

http://www.cakebyandyclark.co.uk