You may have seen over on our social media channels this month, we joined forces with our friends over at Cutter and Squidge to offer the ultimate Valentine's buddle full of sweet treats and CB jewellery.
Cutter and Squidge are a sister-run bakery crafting the most amazing gifts. Much like us, they focus on the feelings gift giving evokes and say they're in the 'business of joy!'
Half of Cutter and Squidge - the lovely Annabel, was able to answer a few questions we're all dying to know the answers to:
Tell us about the origins of Cutter and Squidge?
Growing up, we were always into food and baking as our parents owned a restaurant. After university, we both went into our respective corporate jobs, but after a while we realised that baking was our real passion and it was time to chase our dreams. We started small in Chelsea Food Market, baking late at night after busy working weeks to get our signature biskies ready for market. After a few years we were ready to take the leap and quit our city jobs - we’ve never looked back. 10 years on, we’ve just won Best Online Bakery of the year by The Baker are working with John Lewis on an exclusive collection and have more big plans for 2025 and beyond.
2. What makes Cutter and Squidge products the perfect gift ?
We’re passionate about the art of gifting, and how to create those special moments when someone receives something from a loved one. Whether it’s a new and exciting flavour combo, a beautiful hand illustrated gifting sleeve or a personalised note to open, each step of the gifting journey is important to us. We have a team of bakers based in London who bake everything by hand, using only the best natural ingredients - it’s the attention to detail, the hand finishes to our bakes that really makes our gifts special.
3. What makes Cutter and Squidge different to other baked good brands ?
There are so many great baked good brands out there and we think the great thing is that each brand has its own signature style. Our focus has always been about classics reimagined, new exciting flavours that our customers might not have tried anywhere else. For example our best selling cake is the Passionfruit and Pistachio, and always has been! We also make sure to use natural ingredients, and that really sings in the quality of our bakes.
4. What are your most popular gifting products ?
Brownies are always a hit! We have an in-house illustrator who created gifting sleeves for our brownies, an ever growing collection. These are very popular and we’ll be adding in some new designs this year which we’re really excited about.
5. What are your thoughts on the importance of 'feelings' certain gifts offer and the special life moments they create ?
For us, the joy of opening a gift and being able to be part of that moment is really special. But it’s not just the gift, is the thought that goes behind them and how it makes the recipient feel. It can be something small, but well thought out, you can transform someone’s day in a few moments in the best possible way. That for us, is why we do what we do (aside from being baking obsessed!)
6. What are some special life moments you know Cutter and Squidge has been part of?
Particularly at our Soho store, we’ve been very lucky to be part of some special moments. Most recently we helped put together a graduation celebration and we had some really sweet feedback - we also help celebrate lots of birthdays too! Even though we mainly trade online, having our Soho store allows us to create those in-person events for our customers which really means a lot to us.
7. What is the most unusual occasion Cutter and Squidge has been part of ?
Probably a dog’s birthday! Most of our team have their own dogs so we were all very excited about it.
8. How do you feel Claudia Bradby jewellery is different to other jewellery brands?
There’s an ageless sophistication with Claudia Bradby jewellery, as well as it just being super wearable both by day but also for those special occasions. Similarly to us (and we love), quality is of the upmost importance.
9. What occasions do you feel are perfect for jewellery giving and why ?
So many! Firstly, self-care is important; being able to gift yourself something you know you’ll wear day in and day out is a great idea and means every time you look at it you’ll be reminded of that. Gifting to a friend or family for a milestone birthday or a partner as a gesture of love is really powerful; the association with pearls, love and longevity probably comes from age old family traditions, and I don’t think that will ever change.