You really have to see a Petals Bakehouse cupcake up close to see how bloom-like they really all - no surprise then that customers come back again and again.

But that popularity has meant that this Frome entrepreneur has taken a leap and moved out of her kitchen and into big new premises to keep up with demand.

Thirty six year old Alice Ward has always loved baking and when friends of her children and then friends of those friends started asking her to make her special cakes, she knew other people liked them too.

But once she was making over a hundred of her specially decorated cup cakes every day, often sold as' bunches' with their intricate colours and designs, she knew she had outgrown her home-based business.

So Alice Ward, took the plunge and is now renting space on an industrial estate on Manor Road in Frome to make more of her special cakes, run workshops showing (some) of her decorating secrets and looking to expand beyond the flower cup cakes which have made her name.

Frome Nub News went to find out more about Petals Bakehouse

" I know that there are other bakers out there who do lovely cakes, but none of them are like me," says Alice carefully. " I have very high standards and I work hard on the finish of each piece of icing, matching the exact colours to what each customer wants, for instance to a bride's bouquet. A lot of time and love goes into each and every one. "

She began baking commercially in 2016, following huge demand from friends who would beg her to make a specially designed birthday cake after seeing her work. "The demands just kept coming and coming. everyone kept saying to me why don't you look for somewhere bigger than your home kitchen. It was a big step to take, and so finally I just took it."

She is now based out of the former Manor Road café on the Frome industrial estate, after that business closed in September 2022.

" I always loved baking and I still do, but I knew I had outgrown my kitchen so I took a chance - took out a loan and I am here now making it a business. I am really excited about what comes next. I am excited every day I come into Petals Bakehouse - it is a dream of mine. "

Saying it not with flowers - but with cake

A box of blooms - cakes which look good enough to wear ; A recent sale from Petals Bakehouse Facebook page

The up close finish on the cupcakes is amazing

Alice told Nub News : " I had so many customers over the years who told me what I was doing was wonderful, so I am happy and I love what I do, I just want it to be a success."

Frome-born, Alice studied home economics at school but then worked in all kinds of other jobs before realising that what she loved most, and was brilliant at, was creating specially designed and coloured cakes.

She uses a special recipe for her buttercream so that the petals hold their shape and texture and has taught herself a technique to make each cake replicate a flower, down to how it lies and unfurls. The cakes are remarkable - and much in demand - oh and yes taste as good as they look.

" I found my niche," said Alice who makes it look easy to ice, but warns that her recipe has been adapted and revised many many times to get just the right constituency. " Any on line recipe will not work like mine.. it will be bubbly, I have a mix that has a smooth special texture, which can then be created into petals."

Petals Bakehouse can colour match exactly

It is also about the technique - she is a master class in icing and can produce a stunning rose in five minutes, a tulip in two minutes, dahlias are one of the longest to grow from her magic piping bag taking seven minutes.

" It is already growing every day as a business, I am just hoping it is going to grow bigger and bigger. I will put my everything into this. But even when I am not working on the days I do not have any orders, which is rare, I am still in the kitchen baking. with my daughter because baking is what I love."

Petals Bakehouse is currently open for collection of pre-orders on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. Manor Road Trading Estate Frome BA 114BG

Order from the Facebook page HERE