She dreamed of making the world a sweeter place, and now she’s doing it one cake at a time. Meet 26-year-old Erin Manley, the owner of Erin’s Sweet Treats, the new cake shop taking Tiverton by storm.
The Bampton Street eatery offers eat-in or take-away. She decided to open the business, having always made cakes from home, part-time and wanted to expand while giving young people a new place to enjoy.
“I find that the town’s cafes appeal more to an older generation,” she said. “I wanted somewhere colourful to sell my cakes while offering young people a space.”
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The shop, which opened just over a month ago, has been busy since, attracting customers of all ages with its varied menu, which has everything from crepes, waffles, toasties and high teas.
The most popular item, according to Erin, is the cookie pie, which she said, “isn’t sold anywhere else.”
Erin was inspired to start baking after scrolling on Instagram and seeing pictures of beautiful cakes that others had made.
“I wanted to make cakes like those I had seen, so I practised and practised. At the start, they were literally terrible, so I kept going to reach the high standard that all the cakes are now at.”
She is planning to launch the shop on Uber shortly, with the help of her partner Yossi who is an Uber driver.
She said: “We found that Uber mainly consists of fast-food options, so we thought it would be good to offer something sweet as well.”
She also hopes to use the upstairs space above the shop, which she intends to rent out for kids’ parties or cupcake decorating sessions.
Erin admitted that she was initially apprehensive about opening the shop in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, but said: “We thought if we don’t bite the bullet and just try it, we don’t know. So, we’ll see. And to be honest, it’s been fine. I think people are still spending money.”
Erin spends the majority of her time baking for the shop, but she also spends time with her four-year-old daughter- so she says that life is currently a bit “crazy” but rewarding. Her daughter enjoys telling everyone that her mum bakes cake and is “living the dream”.
The response to the shop has been positive, and Erin said that the Tiverton business community has been “really supportive” of her venture. She also said that her cakes are “reasonably priced compared to the high street” and that she uses fresh and quality ingredients.
Erin invited everyone to come along and said: “Come up and try our cakes. Even though it’s up out of the way of town, we want people to be able to come up further and see what we have to offer.”
You can find the café on Facebook: Erin’s Sweet Treats, Instagram: @erinssweettreats_.
