Sustainability at Cakes by Marie-Clare - Organic and Locally Sourced Ingredients

Sustainability and treating the planet in a kind thoughtful way is very important to me. I want to instil this way of thinking into my kids' mindsets and to play a part, however small, in helping to rebuild our corner of the world. My working practises and baking ethics reflect this and I am always looking for further ways to improve these.

Join me in making a positive impact with every bite. Let's talk about your sustainable cake and cupcake needs today!

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Behind the Bakes - Sourcing Sustainable, Organic Ingredients for My Cakes

I source my ingredients as responsibly and as local as possible, with an emphasis on regeneration, low fuel miles, sustainable packaging, organic practices and of course great tasting quality ingredients. I look to buy fairtrade products and support small and local businesses.

I feel that it is important that every part of my cake is edible, I strive to avoid food waste and unnecessary non consumables. I use cake strips to minimize off cuts when levelling my cakes and ensure that nothing is thrown away finding alternative uses for any leftovers.

Sourcing my ingredients is very important to me, here are some of the amazing producers I use.

Unsalted Organic Butter

Berkely Farm

Located near Swindon, the dairy produces butter made from their Guernsey cows and their neighboring Friesian herd who graze on wildflower meadows. Guernsey cows are a traditional breed and producing milk which is high in butterfat and rich and creamy texture, giving my cakes a lovely moist quality. .....Plus an additional advantage is that most Guernsey cows are 'A2 cows' and do not produce the A1 protein in their milk which most dairy cows do. The A1 protein is the most common cause of discomfort felt by people with digestion problems after drinking milk, so, what’s not to love!

Chunks of chocolate surrounded by grated chocolate

Organic Chocolate

Montezuma Chocolate

Ethically sourced and sustainably made whilst providing a delicious high quality chocolate, this aligns with everything I am striving to achieve with my cakes. All the suppliers to Montezuma have to meet stringent ethical standards and certifications including Rainforest Alliance, Soil Association and Cocoa Horizons. Packaging is recyclable, biodegradable, or compostable, all of their chocolate is made in the UK in Chichester and all the power they use is from 100% renewable sources. On top of that, their chocolate tastes amazing and is fabulous for creating chocolate ganache.

A ginger chicken walking around in the grass

Free Range Eggs

Sunnyside Rural Trust

Sunnyside is a small, horticultural project for young people and adults with learning disabilities, the Northchurch site, just down the road from me includes 350 chickens! I would love to say I use my own Bantam eggs but unfortunately my kids enjoy their dippy eggs too much to give them up for cakes! Depending on availability, I use a range of locally sourced free-range eggs from Sunnyside Rural Trust Farm Shop less than a mile down the road from me. They take in ex-commercial layers and give them free range to an orchard for the rest of their time - they look like very happy chickens. If these are not available, another little-known fact - many chickens stop laying through the winter months, I use organically produced eggs from Duchy organic.

Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil

Chiltern

Grown and produced only 6 miles from me, this natural oil gives my cakes a lovely golden colour and produces a delicious moist texture. By choosing to use a ratio of butter and oil in my cakes, this reduces my carbon footprint by reducing the amount of dairy I use. Rapeseed oil is a also a great source of omega oils and vitamin E as well as being low in saturated fat and 100% natural. The farm uses the traditional technique of gently squeezing the oil from the seeds which ensures the full flavour and characteristic of the oil is preserved. The oil is filtered and bottled on the family farm with nothing added during the process. The waste seed after pressing is fed to the farms herd of Aberdeen Angs. There are wildlife schemes across the whole farm, the most recent being the establishment of a wild flower meadow. With the farm being only 6 miles from me this ingredient is a winner all round – local, sustainable and delicious!

Organic Self Raising Flour

Matthews Cotswold Flour

I love the farms approach to looking after the wider environment. The flour is all UK produced and by following organic practices this supports diversity and soil health. It goes without saying that this is better for the wider environment. Being only 60 miles from me delivery miles are also limited.

pressed flowers of calendula, geranium and sage.

Edible Flowers

Westlands UK

Westlands have a strong focus on sustainability, using recycled & recyclable packaging, harvesting rain water and using recycled fabric offcuts as a growing medium. However with my love of gardening, my goal for 2025 is to setup a edible flower plot in my garden that complies with health & safety food regulations so that I can source as many of my edible flowers from my garden. I already grow calendulas, violas, lavender, strawflowers, geraniums and love-in-a-mist along with various salvias, sage and other edible herbs. I don’t use any chemicals on our garden, so everything I grow is 100% organic and seasonal and by pressing my flowers I can also use them outside the growing season - so watch this space!

Non-consumables

Packaging, cake boards, cleaning products and everything in between

It is not just the ingredients in my cakes that are important to me but the non-consumables I use to to make, bake and package my cakes plus everything in between. I place a lot of importance in ensuring that all the non-consumables I use are recyclable or compostable. I avoid cake dowels where possible but when required use bamboo dowels which are sourced from sustainable bamboo and compostable. My cake boards and cake boxes are recyclable and my piping bags are re-usable.

I limit my use of baking paper, opting for greasing the tins thoroughly instead but if required use compostable baking paper. I store my cakes in recyclable tin foil and avoid cling film using reusable freezer bags as an alternative.

For any packaging or items that are not widely recyclable, I have invested in a terracycle recycling box which enables me to recycle the more difficult materials.

Our electricity is supplied by Octopus Energy which provide 100% renewable energy. I use as little water as possible when washing and cleaning. Cleaning mindfully can significantly reduce water waste.

I use eco-friendly products such as Faith refillable washing up liquid, Smol dishwasher tablets and Minimal cleaning product which reduce plastic packaging and don’t pollute the water to the same degree as more stringent cleaning chemicals.