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.
Salford industrial estate bakery with incredible cinnamon rolls to open new site
Daisy Jackson
Mayya Bakery, a local ‘hidden gem’ with incredible cinnamon rolls, is set to open a brand-new bakery that will make it significantly less hidden.
Until now, Mayya has been quietly trading from an industrial estate in Salford, where it’s built a great reputation for its bakes despite an off-the-beaten-track-location and relatively little social media fanfare.
It opened its doors in 2024, operated by former primary school teacher Meli and her husband, dentist Oguz.
This is an artisan bakery with a real Turkish flare, with plenty of comfort food like freshly made gözleme (or gozzies for short) and bigger dishes if you fancy sitting in.
Their counters are stuffed with sweet bakes, like their perfect cinnamon rolls, plus loaves, babka, cookies, and homemade cheesecake.
For bigger dishes, you’ll find breakfast dishes like Turkish eggs, Simit (a traditional sesame bagel) breakfasts, and menemen.
The counters at Mayya Bakery’s current locationIncredible cheesecake at Mayya BakerySigns on Chapel Street Salford for the new Mayya Bakery
And now Mayya Bakery has revealed plans to open a new location in a much more prominent spot in town, with signs appearing in the windows of a unit on Chapel Street.
The sign reads: “Everything is homemade – including this picture.”
It also quips: “They called us hidden gem… not hidden anymore.”
Mayya will open on Chapel Street soon – keep an eye on our food and drink Instagram page The Manc Eats for the latest.
Sacha Lord set to back local hospitality again with money behind the bar of one Greater Manchester pub
Danny Jones
Local figure Sacha Lord is once again looking to help support Greater Manchester’s food and drink scene once again this spring by putting a total of £2.5k behind the bar of one lucky pub.
Well, let’s be honest, we’re about to be the real lucky ones.
It’s far from the first time that the Night Time Economy Advisor has done this, having previously put sizeable sums towards shared tabs on a few ocassions over the last few years.
Lining up his next handout for this coming early May bank holiday (perfect timing), it’s going to be a super and potentially very sloppy Sunday…
Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester.
Bank Holiday Sunday 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.
Sharing the video above online earlier this week, the 54-year-old simply wrote, “Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester. Bank Holiday Sunday, 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.”
The message is as straightforward as ever: “Support your local pub.”
Now obviously, the fact that people can reply with their go-to boozers and help influence the decision is one thing – something that has certainly always created an attraction each time he’s done this – but it’s also just a good way of marketing these watering holes to begin with.
Whether or not someone’s favourite public house tucked away in one of the 10 boroughs, or their bar of choice here in Manchester city centre, ends up being selected or not, it’s obviously great publicity having their names plastered on a notable social media account.
This is especially so when you see how much the post itself ends up being reshared and the overall exposure Lord ultimately lends them via creating such a big crowd discussion.
Here’s hoping we get proper beer garden weather over that long weekend.
It’s also worth noting that the further support stunts like this have helped garner support for other regional businesses – in particular, indies that are battling the cost of living crisis and so many other challenges within the sector – has proved crucial for some places to stay open to begin with.
A good example is the Thirsty Korean, who teamed up with the Altrincham-born entrepreneur to cover hundreds of bills back in 2023, and has now been able to expand into a larger venue down the road from their original Chorlton location.
The obstacles facing the hospitality industry remain varied and numerous, but gestures like this can go a long way to helping prop up those who need it.
Georgina Pellant -
15th November 2022 
