A FAMILY run bakery basing in Shipley has capitalised on the explosion in popularity of veganism by releasing a new Vegan Cake range.

Just Desserts, based in Station Road, has experienced an increase in demand for dairy-free and egg-free sweet treats, which has inspired the bakery to start a new vegan range.

The new products will be aimed at the independent café, coffee shop and deli markets, and will be based on four core flavours.

The chocolate cake is a dark double-layered chocolate cake with dairy-free frosting, a blueberry double layer cake filled with lemon dairy-free frosting and blueberries, a Bakewell tart cake made up of a double-layered almond cake with dairy-free frosting, raspberry jam and cherries, and a Neapolitan cake, triple layered with chocolate, strawberry and vanilla and dairy-free frosting.

Just Desserts unveiled the new range at the recent Harrogate Fine Food Show, and it has already secured a number of customers including Otley’s Bloomfield Square Coffee Shop and the Northern Tea House in Huddersfield.

James O’Dwyer, managing director at Just Desserts, said: “With an estimated quarter of a million people in the UK following a vegan diet and veganism becoming much more mainstream, we have risen to the challenge to create a Vegan Cake range to allow the independent market to capitalise on this growing trend.

“We were confident that the cakes would cater for people with dairy intolerances as well as those choosing to be vegan as a lifestyle choice and customers’ feedback from tastings at The Harrogate Fine Food Show was fantastic, with people saying they simply couldn’t tell the difference.

“We are now looking at launching a Vegan Traybake range to complement the cake offer.

“We are keen to tap into this market and with the likes of Veganuary continuing to inspire more people to try vegan products, we are confident our new cakes will hit the spot.”

Kevin Chatham, director at the Northern Tea House, added: “Although we do bake a number of our own good desserts on site, including vegan scones, it can be difficult to produce everything in our small kitchen.

“We love the new vegan cake range from Just Desserts and so do our customers.

“Vegan products have come a long way and in some cases it is impossible to differentiate from a traditional recipe when taste testing them.

“We are delighted with the fantastic and consistently high quality range and the great customer service delivered by the Just Desserts team from the bakers and office staff to the drivers, we get the full package.“