Exeter café marks National Baking Week with fresh autumn pastries

A Quayside café in Exeter is marking National Baking Week, which runs from 14 to 20 October, by celebrating its commitment to baking everything from scratch and introducing new autumn-inspired pastries.

The Ridge Coffee Shop, run by owner Kat Keherova, says the week highlights the effort that goes into producing freshly made cakes and pastries each day.

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Cafe owner, Kat Keherova, aged 49, says the cafe’s counter has fully embraced the season, telling Exeter Today: “It’s autumn and we’re doing autumnal bakes right now, such as our popular cinnamon buns. We’ve switched from summer to autumn flavours; there’s always something new on the counter.” 

For Kat and her two experienced bakers, Lily and Olivia, variety and freshness is key. 

“Yes, we’re creating something new every week. Every week is different,” she said. 

Explaining their baking preparation, Kat says that her team begins their day at 4am on the weekends and at 6am on weekdays, ensuring that their pastries are as fresh as possible for their customers. 

The process is meticulous and begins well before customers arrive. 

“It can be pretty intense as we do everything in advance,” Kat explains. “We may start the day before with rolling out laminated pastry sheets and shaping the pastries. We make our doughnut dough the day before, and our cinnamon buns rest in the fridge overnight. In the morning, we bake pastries while the doughnuts rise on the side. Once the pastries are ready, we do all the fillings and prepare dough for the next day. It’s a lot of prep work, every day we do the same to make sure everything is fresh.”

The Ridge’s freshness and uniqueness is a point of pride for Kat. Adding to their process, Kat told Exeter Today that: “everything is baked in-house; we don’t bring anything from anywhere. Everything is made from scratch, including our fillings. We don’t get anything from a third party, we make it all ourselves.” 

The most popular items at the Ridge are the pistachio pan au suisse and the cafe’s doughnuts, according to Kat, which are customer favourites all year round. Her personal favourite bakes, however, is the danish pastry as they change the filling and flavour daily. 

While National Baking Week celebrates home bakers and professionals alike, Kat sees it as a reminder of the dedication behind the craft. “We love what we do,” she said. “It’s long hours, but when people come in and enjoy what we’ve made, it’s worth it.” 

The Ridge Coffee Shop will showcase a range of freshly made pastries and seasonal autumn flavours throughout the week.