Forget the traditional bouquet or box of chocs this Mother’s Day, a Manchester bakery has a novel way of saying it with flowers

Great British Life: Sarah Wilson and Rebekka O'Grady in a Cupcake Bouquet class at Hey Little CupcakeSarah Wilson and Rebekka O'Grady in a Cupcake Bouquet class at Hey Little Cupcake (Image: Archant)

The perfect combination of sugar, spice and all things nice, Hey Little Cupcake! has the ideal solution for a Mother’s Day gift this year. Forget about flowers and chocolates, instead craft a delicious cupcake bouquet.

Great British Life: Sarah Wilson of Hey Little CupcakeSarah Wilson of Hey Little Cupcake (Image: Archant)

I visited owner Sarah Wilson, 31, at her shop on Hardman Street in Spinningfields to find out more about this unusual cake gift idea.

Sarah, who lives in Prestbury with her partner, worked as an Art Director at McCann Erikson and freelanced for a number of years before setting up Hey Little Cupcake!

‘I wanted to build a brand for myself. I’ve always been interested in sweet things, and the next best thing I was good at was baking. The idea for Hey Little Cupcake! was then born.’

As a child, Sarah’s parents were chefs so she has been brought up holding a wooden spoon from an early age. Her mother is Jewish, and taught her how to bake a variety of different recipes.

‘Both of my parents still work within the food and drink industry, so there has always been that interest in food within the family. They almost have an ethos of everything baked looking like an art form, so I’ve adopted both of their creative influences into Hey Little Cupcake!’

The cupcake bouquet certainly is an art form in itself. A relatively new concept within the baking world, it attracts people due to its unusual, pretty appearance. Hey Little Cupcake! holds a variety of classes, including a cupcake bouquet crafting class (£35). I spent an afternoon at the shop with Sarah having a go at making my own. It’s definitely fun, and the skilful piping work is deceptively harder than it looks. The bouquet makes a unique gift for Mother’s Day, a combination of the two most popular treats – cake and flowers. If you’re having the family round for a lunch, it doubles as an eyecatching centrepiece and dessert.

Hey Little Cupcake! began as a pop-up shop in August 2010. Sarah recalled: ‘The first day of the pop-up was crazy. We had people queuing up to come in. That’s when I realised that I definitely hadn’t baked enough cupcakes in my parents’ kitchen!’

The demand was still prominent four months on, so Sarah and her team set up a permanent shop in Spinningfields. When the deal fell through for a lease on their original unit, they moved two doors down to their home today.

Some may think it’s unusual for a shop like Hey Little Cupcake! to be based in the Spinningfields area, and perhaps would have suited the quirkier Northern Quarter. With its fuchsia pink exterior and sugary-sweet delights displayed in the window, it’s certainly noticeable as you walk by this business district. Sarah tells me this is intentional: ‘Hey Little Cupcake! was such a good fit for the Northern Quarter that it put me off. I wanted my business to stand out, and I don’t think there’s another pink restaurant around here! With my corporate background we fit in and I wanted to have a good run with the business. It’s so hard to see stores on the high street closing, so it wasn’t worth the risk.’

Sarah’s business has blossomed in Spinningfields, and as well as selling cupcakes and afternoon tea, the artwork adorning the walls is also for sale. All the team at Hey Little Cupcake! are self-taught bakers, so they enjoy hosting the cupcake classes to pass on tips and tricks. Each session is popular and sells out quickly. As each class involves only seven or eight ‘students’ you get one-to-one help to create the best goods to take home.

Hey Little Cupcake is sure to be shining bright in Spinningfields for many years to come with Sarah’s tantalising range of ever changing cupcakes enticing people inside. All that’s left is for you to try one yourself...

Mother’s day is on March 30th this year.