That Little Cake Shop

Words by Grace Odlum

About six years ago Alisha Lewis accidentally started her cake making business when friends fell in love with her baking.

Alisha has no prior hospitality experience, but when her kids were diagnosed with celiac disease, she started baking cakes for them.

Her friends quickly discovered how good the baking was and wanted her to bake for them too, and thus That Little Cake Shop was born.

She created a Facebook page for her friends to order through, but it quickly grew in popularity around the district.

Alisha said it became a bit of a side hustle for her, and she worked online for about four years before opening her store last September.

She said when a store became vacant on Maclean St, she had to take it.

“I had always really wanted a shop in Paraparaumu Beach.”

At first, the store mainly made large cakes, but with Covid affecting party sizes, Alisha said they now specialise in mainly mini cakes.

They also have a variety of other goodies, like gelato ice cream, coffee, macarons, cupcakes and more.

A new thing for That Little Cake Shop is its Dessert Nights, which happen every Friday.

It started in January, and Alisha said “Kāpiti really supports us with this”.

With their Dessert Nights being such a new thing, Alisha said Fridays are what she’s really excited about.

That Little Cake Shop caters for a number of different dietary requirements, including vegan, keto, celiac, and allergies.

“If you’ve got allergies, you shouldn’t miss out on delicious cake.”