For Lauren Eve, doughnuts aren’t just a treat – they’re her job.
Lauren takes her handmade doughnuts seriously, with flavours ranging from fig and caramel to rhubarb and custard. Since opening Eve Kitchen in January 2015, Lauren has been supplying her bakes to Abbeydale Picture House and Upshot Espresso, and now she’s opening up her own shop on Sharrow Vale Road.
Lauren’s doughnut journey began with her grandad on the Scarborough sea front in winter. “We would get wrapped up and go for a walk before getting a bag of piping hot, greasy, sugared doughnuts. The bag would instantly warm your hands up and they’d be the reason you walked in the bitter cold. My grandad would have sugar on his moustache and I’d feel satisfaction until the last one.”
After years of perfecting her recipes and skills whilst working as an activities coordinator, Lauren began selling her doughnuts at the Abbeydale Picture House food market, where a chance sale led to an amazing opportunity.
“Sam Binstead from Upshot Espresso bought a chocolate rose doughnut and came back for another one. We introduced ourselves. I told him I liked his coffee shop, he told me how much he enjoyed his doughnut.”
After Sam uploaded a photo of the doughnut to Instagram, Lauren seized her chance. “I asked him if he fancied collaborating, as I’d wanted to do an espresso doughnut for a while. It couldn’t have come at a better time. UK Coffee Week was just around the corner.”
Soon enough, Upshot was selling her espresso doughnuts, with proceeds going to Project Waterfall, a clean water initiative.
“Even though the shop is open, I’ll still be supplying to Upshot and the markets. The business originally started at street food markets, so I will always have a loyalty to them. It’s amazing to receive constant support from market-goers, some of whom ventured to Sharrow Vale for my pop-ups in the shop.
“People from the hospital and surrounding area come to Upshot especially for a doughnut on Friday, and they’re a great bunch of guys to work alongside.”
Having a doughnut shop has been Lauren’s dream from the beginning, and having it on Sharrow Vale Road is the icing on the cake – or the filling in the doughnut.
“I’ve wanted to be a shop owner since I was a girl. I would draw images of a shop in my sketchbook and call it L.Eve. I’m from a small village up North and the community and atmosphere of Sharrow Vale reminded me of that. When searching for a property for the shop, I was adamant it would be on the quaint street of Sheffield I fell in love with. The shop came up and I swooped in. I couldn’t believe my luck when the landlord chose my business to take on his shop.”
Lauren has been renovating the shop since December, making her childhood dreams a reality.
“I feel extremely lucky and overwhelmed, and nervous. The first doughnut I sold at my stall at the Abbeydale Picture House was nearly flung out of my hand, I was shaking so much. I’ve met some wonderful people and I’ve had love and supportive messages throughout this process. To have a dream and a vision for so many years and to actually fulfil it is so rewarding. I am able to go to work and do what I love every day.”
The Eve Kitchen shop is now open at 380 Sharrow Vale Road.
Words: Heyla Arbabha
Images: Liam Rimmington
