From ballerina to baker: the inspiring story behind Stanningley’s newest cake shop

A new cake shop opened inside an industrial mill unit in Stanningley, Leeds on Sunday, 23rd May.

Called Soph’s Cakes Leeds, it’s the brainchild of ex-professional dancer Sophie O’Connell – who’s had the unit for over a year but has only just been able to open now.

First beginning life in her family’s tiny kitchen in Pudsey, she started baking cakes around nine years ago as a way to relax, and soon started getting requests from friends and family.

A hobby since her teens, it wasn’t until she broke her foot dancing that she started to think about it as a serious career.

Today, Soph’s Cakes Leeds is a full-time operation and its founder is in high demand.

In the past year alone, she’s single-handedly baked around 1,300 bespoke cakes for her customers: that’s an average of 3.5 cakes every day.

Due to skyrocketing demand for her creations, the young ballerina first acquired her unit at Swinnow Grange Mills, Stanningley in early March last year – but her initial opening plans were put on hold when the pandemic hit.

Having already moved in, she started making bread and other essential bits on top of her usual cakes in order to provide essentials for those shielding or isolating.

These were then delivered out to those in need to replace items that weren’t available in the shops, earning Sophie some extra brownie points with the local Pudsey community.

Now, with the return of indoor hospitality, she’s finally been able to open her doors to the public.

Customers can enjoy a good range of sweet treats like cupcakes and full-size creations, alongside coffees and savoury pastries from 2-6pm Monday to Wednesday, and 9.30am-2pm on Saturdays.

Speaking to the YEP, Sophie said: “I can’t wait to open to the public. I love chatting to people and getting to know my local community through the means of cake!”

Find out more about Soph’s Cakes Leeds on her website.