Hand-made vs Supermarket

There is nothing better than a hand-made cake. We pride ourselves in the fact that all of our cakes are lovingly hand-made in our bakery in Holt. From our Chocolate cake to our Red Velvet cake, our bakers have worked hard perfecting every recipe by hand, especially our Gluten Free and Vegan options. We think you can definitely taste the love and care that goes in to baking a delicious sponge cake by hand - which can't be replicated by machines or technology.

Of course machines can help and we have to use pretty big mixing bowls and ovens with the amount of cakes we have to make but we would never hand over the delicate process of making cakes completely to technology.

Our Cake Cards cake slices are also handmade with extreme care and dedication. We hand-make these as loaf cake versions of our normal round whole sponges then slice them to create the perfect size slice to fit in our Cake Cards which can pop straight through your letterbox.

Not only are our cakes all hand-made, but we also package out products by hand with upmost care to ensure they are handled safely and with care. We use robust packaging to make sure that your Sponge arrives to you safely via our courier delivery service.

Our cakes are made perfectly imperfectly, as no hand-made cake can ever look completely perfect but that is the charm of them! We do have vigorous standards on taste, look and quality though so you can be assured you will get a top notch hand-made cake delivered.

All ingredients are hand measured to make sure they are as precise as can be and then measured in to tins before going in the ovens. Once out of the ovens and cooled, our delicious handmade buttercream is carefully applied to the centre of the two sponge cakes creating the perfect sponge sandwich. That is the secret to our generous sponges - we bake two separate sponge cake layers rather than baking one and cutting it in half - this gives our cakes a great height and depth and created the perfect sliced wedge.

All the toppings for our cakes are also applied by hand, such as drizzling the chocolate over the Chocolate Orange Sponge and applying chocolate flakes to decorate our Chocolate Cake.

Process of hand-making our Sponges:

1. Firstly, we crack all our eggs very carefully.

2. Measure out the flour, sugar and margarine mix - following exact figures.

3. Measure out ingredients go in a mixing bowl and mixed until perfect consistency.

4. Baking tins are greased ready for the Sponge mix.

5. Mixture is added to tins, all measured accurately ready to go in to the oven.

6. Cake tins are put on rolling baking trays.

7. Cake tins are then rolled in to the oven to bake!

8. Once ready, out of the oven they come! They are cooled before our delicious buttercream is added to the centre and also the top on some flavours.

9. Buttercream for the Sponges is measured by hand and mixed together.

10. Buttercream is sandwiched between the top and bottom which is accurately measured.

11. Toppings for cakes are all different, but they are all added by hand carefully.

12. Once toppings have set; the cakes are packaged up ready to be sent out for delivery to be posted to your house!

To personalise your sponge cake you can upload your own photo to have printed out and added to the top of your sponge, or you can select one of our pre-made Cake Toppers. These are printed, cut out, applied to icing, and put on top all by hand. All ensuring that the cake toppers are applied correctly and look just right.

Even our Baby Sponges are hand-made, making sure they are done to perfection. They are cut in half, filled, and topped all by hand. We think of them as a better, more unique version of cupcakes!

We have loads of flavours to choose from including Chocolate, Carrot, Sticky Toffee, Red Velvet and much more.

Don’t have time to bake for a party or celebration? Then our hand-made cakes will be the perfect solution for this, as they do not look like your typical bought cakes. They will fit right in with any homemade food. Really show someone how much you care about them and make their day with our yummy homely hand-made cake.

The key difference between our hand-made cakes and supermarket cakes is that, because of the number of cakes that are made in supermarket factories, everything is done by machinery, from measuring ingredients, to dispensing batter, filling the cakes with buttercream and decorating them. There is very little human interaction in the process, and on top of that, to increase a cakes shelf life, there are usually a lot of preservatives which go into the cake. While it makes them convenient for supermarkets and shoppers, it does mean the quality is often not there, providing you with a much drier cake. Our cakes are produced in smaller batches so that we can still keep the personal touch in what we do. It also helps us keep the quality of our cakes top notch. So, all in all we always think that hand-made cakes will win the day.

Hand-made Vs Supermarket Brownies

Who doesn’t love a brownie? You can eat them on their own cold, or warm with ice cream or cream, you can make a lovely chocolate trifle with them. They are actually more versatile than you may think. So, you may be wondering, what are the differences between hand-made brownies and supermarket-bought brownies. Well, we’ll be discussing that more in this blog and we’ll be telling you our preference between the two and why.

Most people have probably wandered around the supermarket and pick up a sweet treat on a whim, they are just there and you feel like you deserve a reward. Although it’s very convenient just to pick up a packet of supermarket brownies, are they actually all they’re cracked up to be?

Usually, supermarket brownies are mass-produced to be able to supply the food chain fast. This means that they are made using factory machinery, which is fine, by all means, it’s a great way to be able to produce a lot of brownies quickly. Because they are producing such a large quantity, they are often bulk buying ingredients and using less manpower because the machines are doing all the work. This means that they can sell their brownies at a very low price, but often you might find that the quality isn’t quite what you wanted. The sizes vary, and you might not always be getting as much as you think.

Another thing about supermarket-bought brownies is that they often lean more towards the cakey side of brownies, which is great if you like that type of brownie, but we’ve not really been able to find a lovely chewy, gooey brownie from the mass-produced options.

Although often more expensive than supermarket bought brownies, the overall brownie experience is much more enjoyable, in our opinion. There’s a lot of love, time and effort that goes into a hand-made brownie. They are often made in smaller batches for several reasons, the cost of ingredients for one, and it’s easier to control the outcome of the quality.

Our brownie expert Bryony has been making hand-made brownies for a long time, she knows how to create the best brownies using techniques that are hard to produce with factory machinery. In order to get a great texture and crackle on top, you need the correct quantities of ingredients and the right method to achieve excellent results.

Another great thing about hand-made brownies is that because you’re making smaller batches, there is time and space to create a range of flavoured brownies too. The classic chocolate brownie is always a hit, but sometimes it’s nice to have something a little bit different. There are many possibilities, from chocolate orange brownies, peanut butter brownies, mint chocolate brownies, and more. The portion sizes are usually much more generous too, especially the depth of the brownies.

There is also more scope to create other variations, such as blondies, vegan brownies, and gluten-free brownies, as you are able to plan the timings of baking each different kind and do a full clean down between each type to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.

There’s a lot that goes into making hand-made brownies, but overall the experience and possibilities are far greater.

In our opinion, you can’t beat a hand-made brownie. The size, range possibilities, and the overall quality you receive justify spending a little bit more for a better experience. Sure, supermarket ones are convenient as an impulse buy when you’re already out shopping. But you simply can’t beat a hand-made brownie as an indulgent treat.

We are pleased to say that our brownies will be hand-made by our expert baker, soon you will be able to buy our delicious range of Brownies online via our website sponge.co.uk and we will be providing brownie deliveries across the UK.