The northern bakery that was behind the bizarre sprinklegate row is preparing to release its own cookbook.
Get Baked, based across the border in Yorkshire, will be releasing a collection of its highly-coveted cakes and bakes ‘in the coming months’.
It means that fans of the Headingley bakery will soon be able to purchase their own step-by-step guide that will help them recreate their favourite desserts at home, The Hoot reports.
Likely to reveal the secrets to creating the one-and-only Bruce cake, as well as other popular Get Baked treats like its various flavoured cheesecakes and brownies, this is one cookbook that we’ll be lining up to pre-order.
Get Baked went viral over Sprinklegate last year. Image: Get Baked
We also expect it’ll be a cracking read if the bakery’s socials are anything to go by (although we don’t envy whoever has to edit out all of the profanity).
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Sharing the news to social media on Monday, Get Baked founder Rich Myers revealed that he had signed a book deal with a publisher to release the Get Baked cookbook and would be documenting the behind the scenes process of creating it online over the coming months.
In a post shared to Instagram last night, Myers wrote:
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“I have some news that I’ve been struggling to keep to myself for quite some time now, and finally the time has come that I’m allowed to share it with you all.
“I’m not allowed to be specific about anything, and I have to be as vague as possible because otherwise I’ll get in trouble.
“However, I’m extremely proud to announce that I have signed a book deal, and I’m currently in the process of writing a Get Baked Cookbook.
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“My publisher suggested it would be a really nice idea to document my progress, and show a behind the scenes of it all as it happens, so I’ll be doing that over the coming months, which is fun.
Aside from that, I’d just like to thank everyone for their support since we opened last July, it’s been truly sensational.”
First launched as a dessert business to cater to those late-night (or mid-afternoon) munchies in 2011, Get Baked was hugely popular in both Leeds and Manchester – especially amongst the student crowd.
Image: Get Baked
Even back then, pre-sprinklegate, its witty social media presence saw it amass a huge number of followers globally before it ultimately closed after an unsucessful venture with The Joint in Leeds city centre.
After receiving backing from the Tokyo Industries group, the business relaunched last summer – six years after it shut down – only to discover the appetite for its desserts had not gone away, far from it.
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Rather, it seems that today Get Baked is more popular than ever – so it’s hardly surprising to learn that there’s an appetite amongst publishers for the Headingley bakery to release a cookbook.
Feature image – Get Baked
Eats
Bangkok Diners Club – Thai barbecue restaurant to take over award-winning Ancoats pub
Daisy Jackson
The kitchens of the award-winning Edinburgh Castle pub are set to be taken over by a brand new offering – the Bangkok Diners Club is moving in.
Taking a step away from the gastropub’s previous menu of elevated British classics (its old head chef Shaun Moffatt recently opened his own restaurant, Winsome, where you can still eat that), this entirely new offering will bring a taste of Thai barbecue to Ancoats.
The exciting new opening will have a meat-focused menu cooked with wood smoke from an in-house smoker.
Chef Ben Humpheys – formerly of the futuristic Thai restaurant District, in the Northern Quarter – will combine his 20-year obsession with Thai cuisine with a ‘new-found love for low-n-slow cooking’.
That’ll mean slow-smoked meats, which Ben fell in love with in Miami, bringing a new take to traditional dishes like ex-dairy beef Nam Tok and BBQ pork jowl with burnt tomato Nam Jim Jaew.
There’ll also be dishes like Gaeng Khua, a southern curry of smoked mutton ribs, and Thai omelette with smoked mushroom and Nam Prik Pao.
Ben has honed the menu with his wife Bo, who was born and raised in the northeastern Isan region, before moving to Bangkok as a teenager.
He said: “Barbecue is huge in Thailand, but it’s usually fast and furious over fire. Last year we spent some time in Miami – we had so much mega BBQ, and I found for me the best dishes had Mexican or Korean heat and citrus which cut through the richness of the meat.
“It got me thinking about how I could do that with Thai flavours and techniques.”
Credit: Shaun PeckhamCredit: The Manc GroupBangkok Diners Club is taking over the kitchens at the Edinburgh Castle pub
Ben added that the menu at Bangkok Diners Club will draw inspiration from right across the country, as is common of the cuisine in Bangkok itself, whether it’s using fresh turmeric common in the south or herbs and dry spices from the mountains in Northern Thailand.
He said: “That exciting approach is what we’re trying to do here – it’s all rooted in a deep respect for the Thai cooking traditions and an obsessive understanding of how Thai dishes are built; how the flavours are layered and the heat builds – but without the constraints of identifying with a single region.”
Partner Danny Collins added: “We’ve spent countless nights cooking and celebrating with Bo’s family in Bangkok, and we want to bring that same energy to Manchester, and to the pub.
“We hope to give people something you can’t really get anywhere else, while offering a dining experience that’s fun, communal, and full of flavour.”
Bangkok Diners Club will open at the Edinburgh Castle in Ancoats on 2 April, with bookings live now HERE.
Manchester’s Cat Cafe issues lengthy response to anti-industry statement
Danny Jones
Manchester’s soon-to-return Cat Cafe has shared a lengthy statement responding to the recent suggestion made by leading animal charities that their particular line of business should become a thing of the past.
Cat Cafe Manchester (CCM) closed its city centre premises back in January 2021 like so many others suffering from the post-pandemic struggle, but there are still several other feline-focused coffee shops and similar set-ups located up and down the country.
With that in mind and after the Manchester location announced a comeback later this year – in a prime location on Deansgate, no less – the discussion surrounding the niche industry has turned to issues regarding animal rights, welfare and overall quality of life.
However, rather than simply firing back at the likes of the RSPCA and Cats Protection over their concerns and belief that these venues should be “phased out”, the company has come out to agree with their overarching point whilst still assuring that their sites “are different”.
As you can see in an extensive reply, the brand begins by writing: “We are in strong agreement that there needs to be more regulation in the industry, as we believe many cafes are operating in manners that are harmful to cats.”
They detail how they don’t support ventures that operate by simply piggybacking on vital animal rescue procedures, citing that around 90% of the UK’s cat cafes simply ship prospective pets in and out, creating a stressful environment for its furry residents.
In contrast, Cat Cafe MCR go on to insist that “cats in our cafes are pedigree, as they are best suited to an indoor-only environment [as opposed to rescues who often benefit from outdoor time], and they are bred for temperament, meaning our cats need a lot of attention from people, and also enjoy the company of other cats.
“Our cafes have windows for natural light and there is plenty of space off the cafe floor for cats to get away from customers. They are provided with enough resources spread out throughout a very large building to reduce any competitive behaviour. Our cats are never ever kept in cages – as is the case in some Cat Cafes.”
CCM also explained how the behaviour of their in-house cats is analysed weekly, adding that “if we feel any cat in our cafe is not happy and is showing signs of stress, we would immediately remove them from the environment.”
Besides the obvious soothing quality of the experience for regular customers, cafes like theirs and the canine equivalent CuppaPug in Salford are extremely helpful in providing animal-assisted therapy for people struggling with mental health conditions and those categorised as neurodiverse.
Cat Cafe drew their response to a close by inviting both of the charities in question to work with them in creating new guidelines and strict rules when it comes to animal welfare in these spaces.
They concluded by declaring that not only are they “incredibly difficult to run responsibly” when done properly but that “Cat Cafes are not all the same, and they should not be opened without serious thought and consideration for the cats’ welfare.”
We are still unclear as to when exactly Cat Cafe Manchester will reopen but all we know is that the team will be as dedicated to providing an enjoyable experience for both the animals and visitors when it does.