The secret cake club attracting thousands of members across the world

The Clandestine Cake Club was set up in Leeds but has expanded far and wide to North America, Japan and New Zealand

Lynn Hill, pictured, wants the secret baking society to become the 'biggest cake club in the world' (Joan Ransley)

A ‘secret’ society of creative bakers is attracting thousands of members all around the world with its non-judgemental approach to cake sharing.

The Clandestine Cake Club (CCC) was set up five years ago by “home baker” Lynn Hill in her hometown of Leeds, since which time it has grown into a network of 200 clubs across four continents.

An extension of Mrs Hill’s original Secret Team Room club – in which she invited strangers into her home for afternoon tea and conversation with like-minded people, CCC now has nearly 17,000 members and offshoots in Australia, Japan, New Zealand and North America.

No one wishing to attend any of the club’s branches knows its location until a week before it is due to meet, having first been required to sign up online.

Mrs Hill said the club’s ‘clandestine’ nature adds intrigue and excitement and attracts members, who bake their own cake at home and bring it along to the club to share.

The 65-year-old said there is no official inspection of the cakes or judging and that members merely share advice and recipes, as well as enjoy the company of people with a common interest.

Lynn Hill, pictured, founded the Clandestine Cake Club in 2010 (Joan Ransley)

“They can bake and share their baking with like-minded people,” she said.

“People say they come because they have just moved to the area and they don’t know anyone, or that they don’t have anyone to bake for.

“Some suffer from depression and being able to bake a cake at home and bring it in and for someone to say ‘that’s delicious’, for a few hours it takes them away from their troubles.

“There is camaraderie in the club. There’s no shame if your cake sinks in the middle. You can bring in a sunken middle and we can help you judge where you went wrong.

“It doesn’t matter what the cake looks like, it doesn’t have to be picture perfect.”

Mrs Hill said members can bake whichever type of cake they want, but themes help members to get their creative juices flowing.

She said the club’s bakers have recently been experimenting much more with vegetables.

“Chocolate and beetroot, parsnip and ginger. People are going beyond the traditional Victoria Sponge and are being more creative – both in their recipes and decoration,” Mrs Hill added.

She started the club in 2010 following in the first footsteps of the Great British Bake Off, at a time when there were “no clubs to showcase what people were baking at home”.

In September, the club’s second book was published, A Year of Cake, containing 100 recipes from the club’s members, each celebrating a significant date.

And Mrs Hill was also the brains behind National Cake Week, which she set up a year after CCC.

Anyone is welcome to attend a CCC branch, with previous attendees ranging from five-year-olds to those in their 90s.

“I want it to be the biggest cake club in the world,” Mrs Hill said.

“I just hope for it to grow and the whole world to share in a whole cake.”

Details on how to join a CCC branch can be found on its website: www.clandestinecakeclub.co.uk.