'We begin making in May and start packing and despatching in November — it’s carnage': How the Cotswolds' favourite cake-makers get ready for Christmas
Jessica White of the Meg Rivers Artisan Bakery makes it on to our list of our heroes of Christmas.
This Christmas, Country Life is raising a glass to the unsung heroes who work all year round to make our seasonal celebrations special. All their stories will be collected together on our Christmas section.
Today, it's Jessica White, one of the bakers who creates wonderful cakes at Meg Rivers Artisan Bakery.
The late Meg Rivers was a legend in our part of the north Cotswolds, curing her sumptuous Christmas cakes in a cool larder and baking them in the big oven range at her Parsonage kitchen. When she started in the late 1980s, she would deliver the cakes by hand — that’s when you knew Christmas was coming.
‘We still do deliver the odd one,’ says Jessica White, creative director of Meg Rivers Artisan Bakery.
‘Meg was one of the first bakers to offer cakes by mail order. The recipes haven’t changed in 30 years and nor have many of our customers, but everything is online now, although we still get the odd cheque and a note saying “please send same as last year”.’
The classic Christmas cake is a perennial best-seller — it's come a long way from Meg Rivers's Cotswold kitchen in the 1980s.
As a child, Jessica worked for Meg after school and in the holidays. ‘At first, it was Christmas cakes and puddings, then she did the St Clements cake with oranges and lemons. She started the cake club, which is still going strong: it’s a popular gift — a cake delivered for every month of the year.’
When Meg became ill with cancer, she asked Jessica’s father to help out and, after her death in 2001, he ran the business. ‘Our whole family has worked here over the years, so when Dad retired I took over with my sisters.’
We are talking in a tiny office on an industrial unit near Shipston-on-Stour, Warwick-shire, almost every inch of space given over to the bakery, packing materials and towering racks of cakes and puddings.
‘We begin making in May,’ explains Jessica, ‘and start packing and despatching in November. It’s carnage. We assemble the boxes ourselves, sticking labels on individually. If it’s a present, we put in the gift card with the printed message. People ring up with happy or sad news; they like to talk.’
The company is BCorp certified: ‘It’s about looking after staff, the environment, all sort of things,’ notes Mrs White. ‘We’ve always helped people, such as the Teenage Cancer Trust and our wonderful Katharine House Hospice, but certification is a stamp of approval.’ Meg would be pleased.
Jessica White's Christmas treat: ‘I’m fortunate to live in the Cotswolds and my absolute favourite treat is a luxury hot chocolate, with cream, marshmallows and a sprinkle of edible glitter in front of the fire after a frosty walk through the fields.’
