This weeks LDNER is a cupcake connoisseur who started her own business back in 2006 selling…that’s right cupcakes. As a star of Jamie’s Food Tube and having recently opened, Crumbs and Doilies in Kingly Court selling all kinds of cakey creations it’s fair to say she knows a thing or two about sweet treats. Putting the cool back into cupcakes it’s Jemma Wilson…
Where do you live in London and why?
I have lived in Kings Cross for the last 2 and a half years and I absolutely love it. As a born and bred South Londoner I never thought I’d be so seduced by the North but it’s happened. KX is such an exciting place right now. It mushrooms every day. I live 30 seconds from the Regents Canal and I walk along it every day. Even at 3am, I’d choose a dark stroll home along the canal over the main road any day of the week. I can get home from anywhere and I can walk home from central London in 45 minutes. I have a dog and while large open spaces are lacking, between my place and Highbury Fields there are loads of small public gardens where we can chuck a ball around.
You recently opened your own your own shop and you’re a YouTube sensation. What advice would you give to others wanting to open their own store?
Be patient and do it when it feels right. I am naturally impulsive and blindly optimistic and if it wasn’t for my level headed partner, Sam, I might have jumped in to the shop thing years ago with no preparation, no brand identity, so solid team and no chance of making a success of it. We weren’t looking for the shop but when it came up we thought hard and realised that we were ready. That we had built something really solid that people seemed to love and that we were ready to share it with as many people as possible. On a practical level though, don’t do anything until you have a really strong brand identity and don’t fall into clichéd design traps. Do something new.
You have some pretty crazy cakes. Where does your inspiration come from?
Mainly from the kind of treats I like eating or enjoyed as a child or on my travels. If I can imagine it as a cupcake, I’ll give it a go. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t (not very often though!). I have a really great team at Crumbs & Doilies and everyone plays a part in developing flavours.
Best cakes in London outside of C&D?
I LOVE nipping in to Patisserie des Reves if I am in Marylebone. It’s expensive but utterly worth it. I can never decide what to have so I end up eating too much! Their Grand Cru Vanille is the kind of thing I wish would never end. Also the Saint Honore is chin-dribblingly good. Also, in winter, the Artisan Foods stall opposite us at the Real Food market in Covent Garden does the most ridiculous German custard cake. It’s sponge with custard and cream and it undoes me every time I eat it. You get a massive slab of it and you just try not to eat the whole thing!
Finally what would you perfect day in London entail?
It would begin nice and early, by putting my wellies on and taking my dog, my boyfriend and his dog to Hampstead Heath for a good long walk. Then I would leave them to it and I would spend far too much money in Dover Street Market and Liberty, my two favourite shops in London. I’d blag a free pizza for lunch from my boys at Pizza Pilgrims in Kingly Court by plying the staff with lots of cupcakes. For pud I’d stop off at Gelupo for some gelato regardless of the weather. Then I’d head North to Hornsey Road where I’d meet up with my boyf and best friends at Ajani. We would eat ribs, listen to jazz and receive some of the most charmingly inefficient service from the epic and legendary owner Patrick. Then, to round off the evening we would pile in to Rowan‘s in Finsbury Park, play air hockey, bowl, drink Slush Puppies and hog the karaoke room.
A girl after our own heart! Want to check out Jemma’s creations and eat a few too, head to her store and DO NOT MISS the Rolo ones…