
In East London, steps away from Cambridge Heath Station and close to the Columbia Road Flower Market, is a future legend of the London bakery scene. It’s there, on Hackney Road, that hungry London denizens will find Greedy Cow Bakes which commands down-the-block lines for their viral Korean Milk Doughnuts and other decadent baked goods.
What started as a lockdown project for founder Nazia Yasmin evolved into a bakery that she ran out of her kitchen, before opening a brick-and-mortar location just last year. The small family-run bakery makes every single one of their doughnuts fresh each day – at numbers that rise constantly with each sell-out day of operation.
People queue for hours to try out the wares from Greedy Cow Bakes – which in turn sell by the thousands. It’s no wonder, then, that they’re now being touted across the internet and through the streets of London as selling the best doughnuts in London.
What do they sell?
Greedy Cow Bakes is a sweet-lovers dream. The doughnut flavours range from Black Forest, to Kinder Bueno, Tiramisu, Victoria Sponge, Pistachio Baklava, and beyond. Each one is then given careful thought for their individual construction, based on the flavour. The Victoria Sponge doughnut, for example, resembles a scone with a layer of cream and jam in the middle of two halves of a doughnut. Meanwhile, their S’mores doughnuts come with a whole torched marshmallow perched on top, and their Sticky Toffee Pudding doughnuts come crowned with a chunk of moist sticky toffee pudding. Yeah, there’s a reason why so many suggest their doughnuts are the best in the city!
But the star of the show, constantly popping up on Instagram and TikTok feeds, is the Korean Milk Doughnut. Filled with light-as-air whipped cream that comes in a variety of flavours, the dough-y behemoths have taken the internet by storm. And Greedy Cow Bakes is one of the only bakeries to sell them in London. They come studded with cubes of fruit, or with flavours mixed into the cream itself. You’ll be telling all your friends about them!
As well as the doughnuts, you’ll find a variety of other pastries to choose from. These range from cream horns, to cheesecakes, tarts, and cinnamon rolls. And just like their doughnuts, the flavour choices are phenomenal and seasonally considered. In the past they’ve offered such incredible delights as Baklava Cheesecake, Toffee Apple Cheesecake, Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls, and more.
Additionally, every single thing at Greedy Cow Bakes is halal – making for an easy pastry-shopping experience for everyone. Except the lactose intolerant, I guess… But, with the demand for these doughnuts, that’s just a plus for us!
The Greedy Cow Bakes story
Lockdown found a lot of us taking up hobbies we’d long dreamed of learning. Some people started creating art, or learning instruments. And some took up baking – working their way from brownies to cakes to freshly-made sourdough bread. Nazia Yasmin did something similar, vowing to bake something new and different every day. As she posted her bakes on Instagram, she grew a dedicated following that simply had to try out the food.
She slowly started taking orders, selling food out of her flat’s kitchen, and eventually leasing out a production space to keep up with the demand. That production space evolved into the bakery as it stands today, having previously only been used to fulfil existing orders. And now, despite only opening in December, Nazia Yasmin has already had to arrange the opening of a second kitchen.
While many a sourdough starter now lays dormant in fridges and freezers across the country Nazia Yasmin’s passion for baking has blossomed into a firm favourite of Londoners. And she remains passionate about serving the best quality, and the best tasting, bakes she can provide.
If you want to grab some treats from Greedy Cow Bakes, make sure to head down early. They sell out every single day!
Throughout Ramadan, to honour the month-long holiday’s commitment to self-reflection, Greedy Cow Bakes will operate reduced hours – only opening on Saturday and Sunday. After Ramadan they will once again open from Friday-Sunday.