The Best Cake in London Bakeries for Birthdays, Celebration, and Desserts | Eater London

"Aries Bakehouse on Brixton’s Acre Lane is a community-based bakery founded by Jackie McKinson. Jackie was born to parents of Jamaican heritage and raised in Brixton, and Aries Bakehouse occupies what used to be her mum’s sweet shop in the 80s. Her Jamaican Rum Cake is aged in rum and family history — an adaptation of a recipe written on the back of a postcard from her paternal grandmother, which Jackie’s father brought back from one of his many trips to Jamaica in the late 70s. Her grandmother used to soak pounds of vine fruits for a minimum of 12 months in copious amounts of Wray and Nephew rum, which would be pulverised into a smooth paste lending the cake it’s distinctively moist texture and decadently boozy flavour. Whilst Jackie was tweaked the original recipe, it remains faithful in this respect: a blend of slowly aged booze soaked fruits, nostalgia and longing, contributing equally to what makes this cake so good. It regularly features on the counter at the bakery where it is available by the slice, however Jackie has also made this cake as a bespoke six tier wedding cake." - Emma Louise Pudge