I always used to be a chocolate cake kinda girl. That was until I discovered Violet Cakes’ ginger and molasses cake on Claire Ptak’s Broadway Market stall several years ago. These days I’m lucky enough to live just around the corner from her teeny-tiny East London café.

With a glass counter filled with rows of sticky lemon slices, mini cupcakes, whoopie pies and glorious icing topped cakes, decisions here are tough. You’ll find flavours like rosewater, salted caramel, coconut, nectarine and red velvet. And there’s often a vegan cupcake option too.

If you can drag your eyes away, you’ll notice bunches of flowers, wooden benches, jars of jam and old madeline baking trays adorning the walls. There are a few small tables in a courtyard and food is served on vintage Wood’s Ware utility china. For savoury types, there are sourdough sandwiches, quiches and salads, all made in the small open kitchen dotted with great sacks of flour and giant mixing bowls.

But it’s the ginger and molasses cake that’s stolen my heart. And not much beats a Sunday morning spent sitting outside Violet with a giant slice of it, accompanied by a coffee and newspaper.

Images courtesy of Violet