Why I Settled for Nothing Less than Indulgent free-from Cakes

I love a good sort out. There’s something very therapeutic about clearing surfaces and getting rid of clutter. And not only do you get to enjoy a nice clean space when you’re done, you often find things along the way that you thought you’d lost. 

When sorting out our cake cards we found some Salted Fudge Brownie Cards that we thought we’d run out of, and a spare ink pad for our date stamps. Ok, admittedly, not earth shattering discoveries and at this point you may be thinking why are you wasting my life with a run down of how you’ve tidied up the bakery which is a fair point, BUT while sorting out the cake cards, and seeing them laid out in their colourful glory, I remembered the story behind the brand and thought I would share. 

The idea for what would become The Brutally Honest bakery came out of experiencing a VERY REAL gap in the market for indulgent, tasty free-from cakes. 

Back in 2017 the options for VEGAN, GLUTEN and NUT free cakes were limited -you were able to get the odd flapjack or brownie. Often- to my disgust- you’d have to pay more for something that was clearly inferior in both size and taste. And it was this sense of getting a raw deal, that drove my longing for a BIG FAT SLAB of cake that was indulgent, and delicious and…big. 

The other thing that irked me (please remember that at this point I had a young child with severe allergies and chronic eczema and therefore was very sleep deprived and easily angered!) was the misconception that free-from or vegan cake meant healthy cake. What did exist in supermarkets as free-from cakes would often be packaged in drab green and brown packaging and billed as some kind of healthy alternative.

I did not appreciate that one bit.

If I wanted a cake with my coffee, I wanted an actual cake. And no, a skinny little flapjack would not suffice. Ironically, our Big Fat Slab Fruity Flapjack is now one of my favourites and while not trying to be a health food, the fact that we use dark chocolate naturally reduces the sugar content in our cakes. BUT, the intention, nevertheless, was big, bold, delicious indulgence and I wanted this reflected in the look as well as the taste. 

So, that’s us. Bright, bold, and unashamedly indulgent. We aren't here to be your 'diet' option or a 'healthy alternative'—we’re here because everyone deserves a Big Fat Slab of something spectacular, regardless of allergies or lifestyle choices.

And I know I’m not the only one who has suffered through a dry, crumbly, 'birdseed' brownie in the name of free-from eating. I’m clearly still a bit scarred by those drab, green-packaged flapjacks of 2017, so I want to hear from you:

What’s the worst 'free-from' excuse for a cake you’ve ever been served? Or what’s the biggest misconception you’re tired of hearing about vegan or gluten-free baking? Drop your horror stories in the comments—let’s vent together (and then eat some actual cake).