Cafe serves range of vegan options

Dream Bakes owners Carol and Hannah Shekle believe organisation like theirs need to contribute to green issues, and think vegan food options and recyclable packaging is helping.

Co-owner, aged 60, was a teacher in the past but has moved into the cafe world with her daughter after they spent the last three and a half years working out of her kitchen.

They baked cakes for fairs and farmers markets.

“I never thought it would take over like this.

“I love interacting with the customers and the face to face communication that you get in a cafe,” Carol said.

Their cafe, on Priory Walk in the town centre, is easily spotted by their colourful design and caters for many dietary needs.

Carol continued: “We serve a range of food, most of which can easily be made vegan.

“We are a mainstream cafe but we’re flexible and we can tweak the recipes to make them suit any dietary restriction.

“Diets such as dairy free, gluten free and of course vegan.”

The cafe has recently celebrated its one year anniversary and continues to grow its menu and loyal customer base.

Hannah, 30, is in the kitchen most of the day baking the cakes on the display stands of the cafe, as well as special event cakes.

The most popular vegan options on the menu according to Hannah are the Carrot Cake and the Biscoff Cupcakes.

She said: “Not one person has said ‘it’s good but you can tell that it’s vegan’ to us.

“Everyone just says it tastes like regular cake.”

They stock many Yorkshire products in their cafe in aim to support local businesses.

“We choose family run places that focus on quality and promote Yorkshire ingredients,” Hannah said.

Not only is this to help out local businesses but to also cut down on food miles. Many of the cafe’s ingredients come directly from local food vendors.

Their tea comes from two Yorkshire suppliers, BirdHouse in Sheffield and the Tea Experience in Bessacarr.

Whereas the coffee is from Dark Woods, which is roasted in Huddersfield.

All of the products they support are artinsan-made opposed to being from a big production line.

They take steps to be as environmentally conscious as possible. Dream Bakes use biodegradable coffee cups and their food containers are recyclable.

Carol often litter picks around the cafe and their menus are printed on recyclable paper.

She said: “The experience starts before people get to the door.

“So I go out and remove any litter and pull weeds that have accumulated over night.”

Hannah added: “Business have a responsibility to contribute to reducing the impact on the environment.

“We take care with the food we make so it only makes sense to extend that to what we put the food into.”