No Cupcakes, Muffins, Brownies, Pies or Tarts!
It has to be a whole cake - The first rule of Cake Club
“Interaction and conversation begin when you cut the first slice” - Lynn Hill CCC.
When I moved over to Substack a few months ago to get away from conventional recipe blogging, I never planned to write about the Clandestine Cake Club—not after all these years.
But it wasn’t until I subscribed to
and began reading her posts, viewing her workshops, and chatting with Sarah and the Writers at Work Community, I started to think about what I really wanted to write about. And so here I am, changing my substack name from Culinary Bakes to Clandestine Cake Club.Were You Ever a Member?
In the summer of 2010, as I stood watching my Secret Tea Room guests, many of them strangers to me and each other, get to know their fellow guests around my dining table, I noticed one thing. Everyone was relaxed after two hours of eating freshly made sandwiches and delicious home-baked cakes.
I vaguely remember one guest saying they didn't want to leave, so I said I’d pop the kettle on so they could have more tea and continue their conversation. It was a joy to watch.
At this point, I thought, how can I bring more people together through baking, allowing each member to bring a non baking guest to enjoy the fun and delights of other people’s cakes.
Each event would have a theme often built around the location of the venue. eg Cakes with a Musical Theme - Leeds Corn Exchange 2012. See the image above.
The concept of meeting in secret locations, not knowing where the event was held until you booked a place, was critical to the mystery. And, of course, people had to bring a whole cake—no cupcakes, muffins, brownies, pies or tarts. There’s something quite solitary about eating a singular cupcake.
For me, with a whole cake, there is Interaction and Conversation when you cut the first slice.
And So The Clandestine Cake Club Was Born.
After some research, I found my first venue in the centre of Leeds. The date was set for December 2010. The only identification of such an occasion was an inflatable parrot balloon tied to the door at the entrance to indicate the venue.
It was the beginning of a long, fascinating journey that culminated in over 20,000 members worldwide, with a Clandestine Cake Club on almost every continent.
Getting together in real life as a community of like minded people was the most fun in the world.
Why The Whole Cake Rule?
Whenever I was asked about the whole cake rule, I would say.
Take two large tables and fill one with singular cakes such as cupcakes, muffins, and brownies. And fill the other table with unsliced whole cakes.
Then, ask one group of people to go to the singular table and pick as many cupcakes, muffins, etc., as they wish, then go and sit down to eat them. Ask a separate group of people to do the same with the whole cake table. Only this time, they will need to cut their own slices of cake.
I am pretty confident that the people at the whole cake table will still be there chatting with each other, discussing the variety of cakes on offer and speculating what each cake is like inside, passing each other a knife to cut into it to find out before offering a slice to new friends. And so begins the conversation with strangers, soon turning into friends.
I imagine that most, if not all, of the people at the other singular cake table, would have long since sat down back at their tables with their little cakes, possibly never having spoken to each other, because there is no reason to interact while choosing which muffin or cupcake you want other than to pick it up and place it on to your plate then sit down.
One of the Best Bits About CCC
At the end of every CCC event, all attendees, including the member’s guest who didn’t need to bring cake, would gather up their cake tins and divvy up what was left of the remaining cakes. That way, everyone got to take cake home.
It is these stories I will be writing about, such as the cake disaster that almost prevented one member from making it to our inaugural gathering. Or the young couple Alan and Josh (not their real names) who attended one event on their very first date together and how the website crashed after being featured on The One Show with Matt Allwright in 2012. See the image above.
While I don’t plan on restarting these cake club events again, I would love to know where all the members are now. Get in touch or leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.
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Thank you so much.
Lynn
Love the new name! And the idea!
This sounds amazing - if we had one here in Central Florida (close enough to where I am) I’d love it!