A WOMAN who has loved baking since she was a child took the leap and turned her lifelong passion into a business when she faced the prospect of redundancy.

Sarah Harper is running Sarah’s Sweet Dreams cake making business from her home in Hexham, baking and decorating specialist creations to order.

She said: “I have been baking cakes since I was really young and then three years ago, after watching Ace of Cakes – a programme on Sky TV about a cake business, I was hugely inspired by the fantastic creations they were making and that was it, I was hooked.

“I taught myself for a while, making cakes for all my friends and for family events. I then started a sugar craft course at QE High School in Hexham, I found that was really useful and allowed me to learn more.

“I have many favourite cakes, it is difficult to pick one out. But something that has been really fun has been a recent commission from a new local business, Bates and Westlake.

“As they specialise in leather goods, I made them a cake based on a leather briefcase for their business launch in Hexham, and it was a huge success.”