Lily Bakes Cakes
If you have ever wandered down Hyndland Street on a weekend and spotted a queue snaking around the corner, chances are it leads to Lily Bakes Cakes – a wildly popular local bakery serving up the most indulgent treats in the West End. So, what makes folk queue? Anne Marie Hillan popped in to meet Lily and her partner Jonny, the creative duo behind the cake counter to hear how it all began.
Best Bakeries in Glasgow West End? Look no further!
I first saw the Lily Bakes Cakes shop four years ago driving past on Hyndland Street. I do love seeing a new local shop open.
Of course, I then looked for them on Instagram (@lily_bakes_cakes) and oh my! I instantly fell in love with the pink-and-green grid bursting with outrageous brownies, slices, cupcakes, and cookies. The interior of the shop is just as fabulous. I am not exaggerating when I say it looked like actual cake heaven. Of course, I had to go in and try the cakes, which were beyond amazing, but it’s only recently I got to chat to the woman behind it all, Lily McLeod.
Lily moved to the West End when she was three and has lived off Clarence Drive most of her adult life. She is a true Westender. For the past four years, she’s been running her dream bakery locally on Hyndland Street, and it’s become a proper neighbourhood favourite.
Baking from an Early Age
Baking started early for Lily – she was only about three or four, helping her mum in the kitchen. But it wasn’t the plan. She actually studied Sculpture and Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art and had lined up an internship in the BBC’s art department. But when she became unwell and had to put that on hold, she went back to baking for comfort and it all snowballed from there. Lily started posting pictures of her bakes on Instagram, people started asking to order celebration cakes and just like that, Lily Bakes Cakes was born.
During covid when there wasn’t the demand for celebration cakes, she started selling cupcakes and cookies to the public from her then base in Maryhill and that is when the queues started.
So what’s so special about Lily’s cakes? Well their unique selling point is that Lily doesn’t do delicate, dainty bakes. Her cakes are ‘filthy, dirty cakes’ and that’s her words.
They are gloriously over-the-top treats for the weekend – and that’s exactly why people love them. The first one I ever tried was her infamous Slutty Brownie, which is the most indulgent thing you can imagine. Thick, gooey, rich – and huge. It’s a treat and a half.
In the beginning, in Maryhill, it was just Lily doing everything. Often sleeping in the bakery and grabbing naps when she could.
Marvellous Menu
Her then boyfriend Jonny, who had just graduated with a degree in Geology, stepped in to help. Post covid there was no one recruiting so he started by sweeping the floor and washing up. But after a while he got curious. He asked questions, watched what Lily was doing, and started baking too. Fast forward and now Jonny’s the co-head baker, right alongside Lily. Between the two of them, they have built something really special.
The cake menu changes every week, which keeps things fun. Instagram announcements of the weekly cake menu are eagerly awaited. But you can usually expect things like Biscoff Cheesecake Pots, Kinder Rocky Road, and mountains of cupcakes. I asked Lily for her own favourite – turns out, she is more of a cookie girl, and her top pick is the Cinnamon Roll Cookie (a Jonny invention where he rolls the dough up with cinnamon sugar!). Jonny’s favourite? The Mars Bar Cornflake Brownie, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about their baking style.
They now have over 147K followers on Instagram, which is phenomenal, and people travel from all over the country to visit. Lily says instagram has made their business. She tells me folk travel from all over Glasgow for her cakes. Some folk even plan their Glasgow trips around a stop at Hyndland Street on the shop opening days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday – it’s that popular. Lily is messaged from fans all over the world about her cakes and her recipes.
So what is a typical week at Lily Bakes Cakes?
• Well Monday is ingredient day. Jonny orders everything in bulk: flour, eggs, butter, chocolate, sugar, sprinkles… the lot. Thousands of pounds of ingredients are ordered each week.
• Tuesday and Wednesday are big bake days for Jonny and their second baker, Fearghus –that’s when they get through all the brownies, cookies, rocky roads and traybakes.
• Thursday, Lily’s in from 5am, making hundreds of cupcakes, and large sponge cakes for slicing, plus any specialities of the week that need her touch.
• And then Friday to Sunday, it’s go time –slicing, icing, packing, setting up the shop, posting to Instagram and then serving customers till they are sold out for three full days.
They start at 5am to allow the doors to open to queues that often stretch down the street. And sometimes things sell so well on a Friday that Jonny has to do some additional baking over the weekend!
A Home in Hyndland
Alongside Lily and Jonny now is their two-year-old daughter, Olive. So on top of running a busy shop, Lily and Jonny are juggling parenting too. It’s a lot. However, they’re very clear that this is their dream: to have a good life, raise their daughter, and bake together in the community they love.
Lily gets to spend Monday to Wednesday each week looking after Olive and yes they do play at baking!
It’s really important to Lily to keep prices fair, especially with the cost of ingredients constantly rising. As a young mum herself, Lily always tries to price cakes in a way that feels realistic. And she’s genuinely grateful to the local Partick and West End community, who turn up every single week and support them. They also use the shop to give back. Their window displays are always fun (their Pride Week window is always fab), and they recently raised money for medical aid in Palestine by selling Matchas – speciality teas just in case you didn’t know.
What Lily and Jonny have created is more than just a cake shop. It is full of personality, passion, and proper community spirit. They don’t want to expand, open another shop, or franchise, or take over the world Lily tells me. They just want to live well, raise Olive, and keep feeding Glasgow the filthiest, most fabulous cakes they can. Oh and they have set a wedding date for next year too!
So, if you haven’t been yet, treat yourself and pop along to Lily (or maybe it should be renamed Lily and Jonny) Bakes Cakes on Hyndland Street. Trust me – your sweet tooth will most definitely thank you. Inside and out, its a West End joy and definitely not to be missed. I might well see you there.
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