SHOWSTOPPERS FROM THE FINCH BAKERY

Their cakes cause queues down the street and their bakery has put Great Harwood on the map. Twins Lauren and Rachel Finch share their secrets to sweet success

We first started our bakery from our parents’ kitchen just before our 21st birthday, making a three-tiered, wobbly, wonky mess of a cake that reignited our childhood love for baking. Over the years, as our skills grew, baking for family and friends became more than a hobby and we opened our first shop on Queen Street in Great Harwood, Lancashire, in 2016.

From there, Finch Bakery has grown from a small front counter offering a few dozen treats each day to selling hundreds of cookies, brownies, cupcakes, rocky roads and – everyone’s favourite – cake jars, both in store and online.

Our customers travel from all over and queue down the street of our small Lancastrian town to get their fix of Finch goodies, but while being closed for over a year through the pandemic, we shifted our focus to online delivery so that no one would have to go without their favourite brownies, cookies and cakes. We also started selling our own range of equipment, so that Finch treats can be created at home; we are proud to be able to inspire others to start baking and hope that by sharing some of our most sought-after tips, tricks and techniques, we can help you to knock up your own wonderful bakes.

Many of our recipes are really versatile, so we encourage you to experiment with flavours and decorating techniques to suit your own style – you might not always get it perfect the first time (we don’t either!), but we hope you have fun as your skills and confidence grow.

Double trouble: Lauren and Rachel Finch are famous for their bakes