A new dessert place selling school cake and custard is coming to Manchester and we’re already a little bit obsessed.
Called Little Blonde Bakes, it opens this Friday in Ancoats with a menu featuring comforting winter warmers including sprinkle-loaded school cakes and cornflake tarts, served with a generous helping of warm custard.
Those after a classic hit of nostalgia won’t be able to refuse a slice of old school cake and custard, whilst the more adventurous among us are sure to be tempted by the chocolate old school cake, served with a bright green minted custard.
Elsewhere on the menu, you’ll find cornflake tarts (again served with a big pot of custard) alongside a long list of made-to-order pancake stacks, crepes, ice cream sundaes and milkshakes loaded with sweet shop favourites like white Kinder Buenos, Biscoff, Nutella and more.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Launched by baker Francesca Harrison, who hails from Ramsbottom, she told The Manc that she’s been baking for six years – first at home, before moving to open a cafe alongside her mum Jayne in Bury.
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The pair first launched their cake business in 2016, selling bespoke cakes, cupcakes and blondies from their kitchen at home, before opening their own site in Bury.
Now, Francesca is branching out on her own with her own cake and dessert business – taking over the former Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria kitchen on Radium Street in Ancoats.
Inside she’s cooking custom American and European-style pancakes on bespoke griddles, before loading them up on every layer with custom sauces and pieces of chocolate, because, she tells us, there’s “nothing worse” than a dry pancake. We couldn’t agree more.
She’s also serving up ultra-indulgent Sundaes stuffed with her homemade, warm fudge brownies and a variety of sauces, with other choices including warm cookies, bubblegum topped with Millions, Nutella Oreo, Kinder, Biscoff and Milkybar.
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Due to open this Friday, her treats are priced from just £4 with Sundaes starting at £4.50, milkshakes at £5.50, crepes at £7 and pancake stacks at £8. All will be available for delivery exclusively via Uber Eats starting 18 November.
A tasty festival celebrating all things tacos is taking place in Manchester next month
Emily Sergeant
Manchester is celebrating the start of May with tacos, tacos, and even more tacos, so make sure you’re hungry.
To coincide with both the early May bank holiday weekend, and of course the annual Mexican celebration Cinco De Mayo, Manchester‘s biggest street food and events space GRUB will be hosting its very-own festival dedicated to all things tacos.
The Green Quarter-based social hub will be bringing hungry Mancs two days of ‘tacos, tacos, and more tacos’ from midday onwards.
Five of the city’s very best street food traders, including El Piloto Tacos and Enchilady, will be cooking for you all weekend long, bringing their own authentic take on the humble taco, plus a feast of other specials to go alongside.
The massively-popular Nina’s Taco Truck, and Pez Tacos will also be pulling up at GRUB across the two days, so there’ll be plenty of choice.
And of course, we all need a sweet treat to finish things off, so GRUB favourite Munchie Mummy’s Kitchen will also be on site serving up a wide range of plant-based bakes to suit all tastes and dietary requirements.
To wash it all down, what would Cinco De Mayo be without a margarita?
A tasty tacos festival is taking place in Manchester next month / Credit: GRUB
For anyone that books a table in advance for GRUB’s Taco Fest, there’ll be buy one get one free on margaritas from the special pop-up margarita bar.
You can also expect craft beer, cocktails, special sodas and oft drinks, and great tunes blasting out across the beer garden, so now all we need to do is hope the Mexican-style sunshine graces Manchester with its presence.
Taco Fest will be taking place from 12-8pm on Sunday 4 May, and 12-6pm on Cinco De Mayo itself, Monday 5 May – which is also bank holiday Monday.
GRUB’s themed food fairs are always busy, so big groups are advised to book in advance here.
Featured Image – GRUB
Food & Drink
Viral influencer ‘Schooner Scorer’ gives Mulligans his highest Guinness score ever
Danny Jones
If you’re chronically online like us, you’ll most likely have at least heard of the ‘Schooner Scorer’, and while everyone’s a critic these days, it does feel noteworthy that he’s just awarded his highest ever score for a Guinness to none other than Mulligans in Manchester.
For anyone not aware of the social media influencer, Alex Hendy, a.k.a. the ‘Schooner Scorer’s whole angle is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: he goes around the world rating the best pints – no, they don’t have to be schooners – and he has quite the penchant for Guinness.
Don’t we all?
Popular on Instagram and TikTok in particular, he’s gone viral on multiple occasions during the search for the best black gold in the UK and beyond, and he’s finally made his way to the legendary Mulligans of Deansgate. It didn’t disappoint…
In addition to the typical comedic intro (now we’re panicking trying to remember what state we were in on Paddy’s Day), Hendy gives the usual mini-tour of the premises before getting stuck into a frothy head.
And, as you can see, not only is he quick to compliment the “smooth” and “creamy” texture of the drink that is regularly dubbed ‘the best Guinness outside of Ireland’ from ‘the best Irish pub in Manchester‘, but he goes on to give it a whopping 9.2: the highest score he has ever given for a Guinness.
He may not have found his perfect 10/10 pint just yet, adding the caption “the hunt goes on”, but we’re glad to hear that his experience of the much-loved city centre spot lived up to the reputation we all know to be true.
Mulligans gathered its biggest crowds ever over the 2025 St Patrick’s Day weekend as it was the first time they were able to welcome those celebrating the into their second floor following a major expansion last year.
Owner Pádraig Brady maintains that the title of the best Guinness in Manchester isn’t a self-proclamation; it’s merely something the punters have bestowed upon them over the years.
We’ll hold our hands up and confess that we’re not religious Schooner Scorer viewers, but we’ll happily accept him giving Mulligans and, therefore, Manchester the best Guinness score to date.
He’s welcome back in the city any time as far as we’re concerned, and he’ll be glad to know that we have plenty of other great places for a pint of the black stuff.
Georgina Pellant -
15th November 2022 
