Its good to know we all think of cake when times are hard!

The other day I was crawling down the Finchley Road as usual and I noticed with some excitement a sticker on the large dirty white lorry in front of me. It said (I initially thought) Hendon Bake Club. How nice I thought, a lorry driver that cooks.

Closer inspection however revealed that the sticker actually said Hendon Bike Club (the “i” was in the shape of a motor bike which is what confused me). As my thoughts had wandered off into the realms of lorry drivers baking scones, chocolate chip cookies and lemon tarts I was a bit disappointed (I realise I am making a very stereotypical judgement about the minimal baking abilities of lorry drivers here and if there are any out there reading this blog whilst thumbing through How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella or Baking Magic by Kate Shirazi then I apologise right now).

I expect it was the cold weather and grim outlook that turned my mind to cakes. Apparently this is an established trend and IPC are making a mint out of exploiting it with their website Goodtoknow.co.uk. Goodtoknow.co.uk prides itself on a precise SEO strategy and execution. It used to be that the most popular recipe search was for chicken recipes (healthy low priced protein).

Not any more. Since the recession first began to squeeze the mums of Britain there has been a surge in cake and cupcake recipe searches. This intelligence translated itself into a counter intuitive front cover for the launch of the print magazine last winter. January issues are usually savoury and healthy. Goodtoknow launched with blueberry pancakes. And this month’s Christmas issue features a star of their recipes Facebook group who makes an excellent Christmas cupcake. It’s a lovely example of online interaction driving the editorial and creating a niche but profitable dialogue with a highly engaged audience. Those Christmas Cupcake recipes in full are at http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/508630/victoria-threader-s-christmas-rudolph-cranberry-cupcakes.

Anyone want to set up a mediaweek.co.uk Bake Club ?

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