House of Cake. I don’t know what these words make you think of, but to me they conjure up images of a delicious edible abode—like the gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel, or a home in the Land of Goodies at the top of the Faraway Tree. While the building where Heather’s House of Cake is isn’t edible, the contents certainly are—and they are just as yummy and magical as you might imagine.

Some of you may know Heather and her wares from the Old Bus Depot Markets in Kingston. What you may not have realised is that in September last year Heather opened a permanent House of Cake in the lovely Gold Creek Village – which means you can now get your cake fix every day of the week!

I was one of those people who hadn’t stumbled across ‘the House’, so it was with great excitement I made my way to ‘the little pink shop behind George Harcourt Inn’, as Heather describes it. My first impression, upon walking in, was that it’s a shop that makes you feel happy. The bright colours, decorations (including drawings by Heather’s son), shelves of cake paraphernalia, and, of course, the cupcakes themselves all combine to create an atmosphere of whimsical treats.

Meeting Heather, it became apparent that the shop is a reflection of her personality: cheerful, bright, and bubbly, with a love for fun and cake. She first began making cakes when she was 16, after deciding that she could do better than her mum’s efforts from that Australian classic, the Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book.

Birthday cakes led to wedding cakes and cupcakes, and eventually Heather took the leap from being a full-time office worker making cakes on the side to a being full-time cake maker with her very own shop. “I always knew this was what I was working towards,” she told me. “It made sitting at the desk job not so bad. While the shop can be a lot of work, it doesn’t feel that way because I love what I do.”

Heather loves her work so much that she confessed to me that she “sees the world as cupcakes”, which means that she gets ideas for flavours from all over the place. For example, the idea for her chocolate peanut cupcake came about when she was eating a Snickers bar, and wondered if she could make a cupcake version. Another example is her rainbow cupcake, which looks (and tastes) pretty amazing! (see picture below)

While all the cupcakes I’ve now tried from Heather’s shop have been delicious, I have to say that my favourites are the ones with fillings—or, as another of Heather’s customers calls them, ‘the ones with a surprise in them’ (the Neapolitan is an example). That said, there are still many, many flavours that I haven’t tried, so I guess I’ll have to keep making my way through them! For those of you who are gluten intolerant or have coeliac disease, you will be very pleased to hear that you don’t miss out—you get to pick from gluten free cupcakes or jar cakes (which I thought looked like they’d be fun to eat). I also love that the packaging the cupcakes come in are as colourful as the shop, rather than your standard white.

A lot of you probably know that I’m a big fan of Gold Creek (check out my posts on Tendance etc. and Stripey Sundae). So I asked Heather what made her choose it as a location. This is what she had to say: “I wanted to have a space that was kid friendly with easy parking, and not in a mall—I didn’t want people to have to drag their kids around a mall and look for parking to come to the shop. I also wanted somewhere that was big enough for me to be able to run cupcake decorating classes and parties.

“When I saw this spot I knew this was it, with the lovely green open space, heaps of parking, and a great community—the businesses work together and support each other. For example, I provide the mini cupcakes for parties at Stripey Sundae, and I’ve had a few wedding cake referrals from The Abbey, which has been really nice.” (Some photos of some of Heather’s cake creations are below)

The shop has proven to be ideal for the classes and parties Heather wanted to run, with a big table set up at the back. It was easy to imagine a group of excited children (or adults, I really liked the sound of a party!) learning how to decorate their own cupcakes and then taking their creations home to share.

“Each child gets to wear a chef’s hat and apron,” Heather said, “and they get to make their own cupcake bouquet, which sits in a pot and they get to take home. If the weather’s nice, we can also set up the party outside. We also run classes during the school holidays, which are good fun.”

While I was in the shop, a little girl came in with her mother to organise her birthday party, which happened to fall on the Easter weekend. It was really sweet to see her face light up when the staff suggested that she might also be able to have an Easter egg hunt as well. I was also impressed to see that invitations were also provided—one other less thing for parents to worry about!

Heather also explained that she and her staff could take the party to you, a concept they’ve called ‘Pimp Your Cupcake’ (aimed at the older crowd). “We take along plain cupcakes to a function or event, like an engagement or birthday, along with different flavoured icing and toppings. Guests get to pick their cupcake, which we ice for them, and they then get to decorate. We’ve done a few of these now and they’ve been a real hit” (one of the recent events they’ve done was the opening of the Makers Hub in Macquarie).

Speaking of Heather’s staff, while I was at the shop I got to meet Wil, Chelsea, and Taylah (Heather’s daughter). It was clear that they really enjoyed being there, and Wil echoed Heather’s statement that working there didn’t really feel like work because it was so much fun. In my experience, if staff love where they work and what they do, it’s a positivity that can’t be hidden, and it’s infectious. I left Heather’s House of Cake feeling happy, excited, content, and full—just as if I’d been to the Land of Goodies.

The essentials

What: Heather’s House of Cake by the Lake
Where: 9/114 Emu Bank, Belconnen
When: Monday-Sunday, 7am-5.30pm
Food: Cupcakes, brownies, tarts, gluten free jar cakes, gelato, breakfast, large cakes made to order
Drinks: Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, frappes
Call: 02 6251 4533
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HeathersHouseofCake