Cake fridges, Sunday teas, and how they're baked into Shetland life

It was an episode of the detective series Shetland which unexpectedly brought cake fridges into the national imagination.

The episode showed the characters visiting a cake fridge for a sweet treat, and when it aired #cakefridge began to circulate around social media. The main question being asked was, "are cake fridges real?"

The good news is they are not only real, but they are also part of wider networks of connection built on Shetland's traditions of baking.

Honesty boxes are a lovely part of life here. Over time I have learned the location of many and will often stop at them for eggs, bread, mussels, or vegetables. But the cakes are always special.

When I moved to Shetland I was amazed by the quality of baking. Often when visiting friends and neighbours I was offered homemade bannocks or fruit loaf and despite my best efforts to learn, my own baking attempts fall well short of the quality that is standard here.

So, I was delighted when a few years ago a cake fridge opened just a few miles from my house. Located very close to Minn, one of Shetland’s most beautiful beaches, it is the perfect place to stop for a treat after a walk or swim.

Marina, the woman behind this venture, hadn’t intended to start a cake fridge. She had been making jam to raise money for the cancer charity Macmillan.

She put a few jars of jam and bannocks for sale outside her house to cover the cost of all the jars she had bought. They sold out. The next weekend, people were asking if she would do it again and so she put more out, with a little millionaire’s shortbread this time, and it grew from there.

As it became more popular, her family helped her set up a shed (with a fridge) to put her baking in, and the variety of cakes on offer grew. Marina updates the fridge’s Facebook page to let folk know what she is making and the time it will be put out for sale.

I have timed many a walk to coincide with when lemon and lime cheesecake is available!

As it became more popular, her family helped her set up a shed (with a fridge) to put her baking in, and the variety of cakes on offer grew. Marina updates the fridge’s Facebook page to let folk know what she is making and the time it will be put out for sale.

I have timed many a walk to coincide with when lemon and lime cheesecake is available!

She said that people have started to know what she makes and that many have favourites that they request.

“I have regulars that come looking for the same thing every week like bannocks, and also lots of visitors who discover it by accident.” She said that one of the really nice things about Shetland’s cake fridges is that they are another attraction for visitors in an area, describing how she often likes to, “speak to folk who come for cakes and tell them about Burra and some of the interesting things we have, like the beach, the Outpost, Burra Bears and the Shetland Pony Experience.”

Sunday teas are a special Shetland institution, and something I had never seen before living here. I’d been in places where there were occasional coffee morning fundraisers, but they tended to be relatively small with only a few folk attending at a time.

Shetland Sunday teas in contrast are incredible!

If all this talk of delicious cakes and wonderful produce has whet your appetite, why not try some of these fantastic recipes at home? Each of the recipes below are for items you're likely to find in cake fridges or served at Sunday teas. Enjoy!