"Baking has been a really good thing over Lockdown. It has actually been amazing to see how we can all work together during such difficult times."

In the last few months, Teddington's trending Instagram content has notably been featuring more and more eye-catching cake designs from the account @crystals_cake_creations.

Keen to find out more, Nub News had a chat with owner and local pastry chef, Christine Agaren, to hear about how she managed to build a business around her incredible baking skills.

36-year-old Christine Agaren has been running her cake baking and decorating service for around 6 years now. Over lockdown, Crystal's Cake Creations has been busier than ever.

While she has recently taken to social media, the cake designer's success has largely been built up by positive word-of-mouth from customers.

"I'm really happy with what I do. The business has grown slowly and I'm pleased I get such good responses from people when they taste my cakes. That's what keeps me going, really."

Christine's story

Christine has always been passionate about food. She started cooking with her 5 sisters from the age of 7, making cookies, pies, and then eventually meals for the whole family.

By the time she was 15, she was already attending catering college one day a week, as part of a scheme for pupils who excelled in food technology. There, she would learn the basics of being a pastry chef , going on to work in kitchens for the next 4 years.

"I was always really busy all the time," Christine says. This is unsurprising, given that during these years, she was actually training 9-5 to be an accountant, before going to work at restaurants on the weekends.

Unfortunately, aged 17, Christine's life would be forever altered by a severe stroke, which left her needing major surgery as well as several years of physiotherapy .

"It felt like everything was halted at that point. I was housebound for quite a lot of the time, but when I was feeling a bit more recovered, I decided to start baking again."

Back then, Christine was just baking cupcakes and shortbreads for family and friends, but as she started to get more and more positive responses, she began thinking more long-term.

"It really cheered me up, because I wanted to keep myself busy, and it was so nice to do something for people that they obviously enjoyed."

"Once I felt comfortable within my physical limits (I'm still not 100%), I began to slowly build up my workload, because lots of people were asking me for cakes.

"It's been a great way to provide for my kids and to keep myself positive. As time goes on, you're able to push yourself more and think 'well actually, I can do that'."

Christine offers a huge range of around 20 cake flavours, including white chocolate & raspberry, chocolate & oreo, orange & passion fruit and strawberry & vanilla.

She was kind enough to drop off some cupcakes at this reporter's door and I can confirm that they were all absolutely delicious (I'll definitely be ordering the oreo buttercream again!).

Believe it or not, Christine was actually never taught professional cake decorating, instead teaching herself and watching Youtube tutorials from her fellow bakers.

Christine will try her hand at any trendy new technique she comes across and adapt it to her own personal style. Speaking of which, Christine is known by her customers for her incredibly bespoke cake designs, indulging them by taking on some very specific orders.

In the past, she's recreated Harry Potter's golden snitch, the 'Minecraft' video game, the iconic 'Friends' sofa and even several blocks of cheese complete with little mice tucking in.

When asked about her most challenging briefs, Christine reveals that the more personalised they are, the more thought she needs to put in to really help the customer's vision come to life.

"There's a couple of customers who love pushing me to my limits, and their responses do always come back really positive - they'll say 'oh that's exactly what I wanted!'"

Recently, Christine was asked to bake a 50th birthday cake featuring 'Del Boy' Trotter from well-loved British sitcom 'Only Fools and Horses', dressed in a grey tracksuit and orange trainers, throwing money up in the air.

One design that proves incredibly popular with little girls on their birthdays is Christine's signature unicorn cake.

"They're definitely my favourites. It's so magical because you can add little extras to personalise them. It's sweet because a lot of my friends will send videos of their children reacting to their birthday cakes. It does make you well up a bit because the child knows they're getting something really special on their big day - a cake made just for them."

Baking in Lockdown

One of the perks of Christine's job is that she can choose how busy to be, often alternating between quieter and more hectic weeks. On average she bakes and decorates around 8 large, 6-inch cakes a week, although sometimes it's as many as 10-15.

"I bake everything fresh, so the cake will be made and within 24 hours it will be fully decorated. When you times that by 10, it's absolutely nuts."

The pastry chef has definitely noticed an increase in demand for cake over lockdown, as many people have been putting extra effort into events like birthdays to keep spirits high.

"I think baking really helps keep the positivity going. This whole situation has been quite gloomy for everybody, so it's been nice to bake for people to help them with their celebrations."

Christine's even had so many requests, that she sometimes struggles to get them all done, but fortunately she is surrounded by a community of very generous people.

"There have been times where I've been ill and haven't been able to do some orders, but the lovely bakers in this borough are always ready to help and we'll trade favours back and forth. We're very lucky to live around here."

The power of social media

Social media has been a great way for Christine to keep in touch with customers over lockdown.

"It's been an absolute godsend, really. Putting my cakes up on social media and being able to have conversations with people on there has been a big bonus. It's also an easy way for people to find me and recommend my cakes to their friends."

There are some aspects of social media that Christine is still getting to grips with. For example, customers can now contact her at any time, meaning that she'll sometimes get messages about cake at 3am! She is also a little hesitant to put pictures of herself up online.

"I'm quite a quiet person anyway and I don't really have any pictures of myself on there. I don't like to advertise it as me and let the main focus be my cakes."

In just a few months, her account now has over 1000 followers.

"My following started building quite quickly once I started putting more pictures up.

"I'm a bit anxious to put myself out there, but as time goes on I find I do want to get my voice heard. A lot of my friends ask 'why don't you make videos' and I think I probably do just need to bite the bullet. Hopefully you'll see my video tutorials pop up sometime in the future."

What's next for Crystal's Cake Creations?

Unsurprisingly, Christine gets asked whether she'll be entering the 'Great British Bake Off' on a near-weekly basis.

"I would absolutely love to do the show. It's one of my favourite programmes and it would be a dream to go on it - maybe one day, once I'm happier with my health, I will go for it.

Christine is looking towards the future and hopes to eventually pen a cake shop, complete with a tearoom, a range of decorating equipment to sell and even a space to run some tutorials.

A lot of Christine's friends and loyal customers have offered assistance and even sponsorship in order to help get her business off the ground.

"I feel so honoured that people actually support me that way. It's just so overwhelmingly lovely of them and it makes me think, 'You know what? I can do it!'"

To see more of Crystal's Cake Creations, or to send in an order, you can find Christine on Instagram and Facebook.

Christine is very conscious of COVID-19. When organising collections or curb-side pickups, she's always careful to wear her mask and tries to time collection slots with people's regular trips to the shops.