We don’t know whether to eat it or get our picture taken with it.
No matter what the question is, the answer is always cake. There’s simply nothing a big slab of cake can’t fix in this world and that’s why we love it so much. As veganism grows, so does a whole host of people doing some pretty incredible things. Like Niall Kennedy, a local Liverpool lad who recently returned from the big smoke to let Liverpool and beyond know cake can be incredible and guilt-free.
Although the taste is everything cake should be; both luxurious and moan out loud worthy, people have fallen in love with Niall’s unusual but rather beautiful style. You’ll never see such aesthetically pleasing circles of happiness that you feel ever so slightly guilty eating, but not because of the calories, because they’re works of art. As much as this journey has been great for the people eating his cake, it’s also been pretty significant for Niall as the cakes are a creative outlet to help cope with the perils of depression. The designs are the feelings we all sometimes, through life, find hard to say.
We caught up to talk all things cake.
TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF, HOW DID ALL THIS HAPPEN?
So my name is Niall, I am a Liverpool local who grew up in Chinatown and spent almost 10 years in London. I was mainly doing fashion photography but after coming home almost 2 years ago, after a string of different jobs, mainly being back on the building site I decided I wanted to follow my passion for veganism and, of course, cake. After living in London and seeing the emerging scene there I wanted to bring a bit of that to home.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
My Dad is the biggest inspiration for this, my mum and dad bought us up vegetarian but after living with my dad in London I decided to become Vegan. He was always my biggest champion and inspired me to add that creative element to the cakes. It’s a creative outlet that’s not only my passion but that’s become my work and this has helped so many aspects of my life, including giving me a focus to help with depression I have suffered with. I also do a lot of sport and wanted a solution to my sweet tooth, guilt free, and as there were no other option, I had to learn myself.
YOUR CAKES ARE LIKE PIECES OF ART, DOES IT TAKE A LOT OF TIME?
I have always been into art and again that’s via my Dad, who was always drawing, painting or up to something around the house, so I wanted to apply that aesthetic to cakes and show that vegan food has moved on from the days of what people imagine.
WHAT’S THE FAVOURITE THING YOU MAKE?
I love making Raw desserts as it’s always a challenge as nothing is cooked, it’s all free from refined sugar, dairy, wheat, soy and gluten and is fully vegan. The raw cheese cakes are always fun and lovely to see people’s reaction as to how creamy they can be… simply from nuts.
FINALLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, HOW CAN WE FACE DIVE INTO ONE OF YOUR CAKES?
Currently people can order from me direct, and our up and coming collaboration with the guys at ItalFresh for a supper club is coming soon on the 10th December. I will be stocking in various places around town, such as Rainbow City, Love Thy Neighbour, District House, Cow & Co, Brew Dog and many more coming soon.
Drool at his work here.