FRANCES Cooley has been creating gorgeous cakes from her home in Clifton for more than seven years but now the secret is out.

Frances and her husband Dave have gone public and opened their first shop on the edge of the city centre as part of an expansion of the business.

And the move has come as the company has spread its wings and started to become ever more immersed in the wonderful world of chocolate.

The public's love affair with all things sweet has, if anything, grown more intense in recent years and there has been an emergence of a new kind of cake and confectionery shop.

Along with the emergence of posh patisseries on the high street, the British are at last catching up with the Continent's love affair with the chocolatier.

The UK has long been one of the biggest markets in Europe for chocolate but the mass-produced brands have always dominated the market.

The process for turning cocoa into chocolate was first invented in Bristol by Joseph Fry and the Brits have loved the stuff ever since.

But there is an emerging taste for the kind of chocolate that until recent years could only be found in countries such as France and Italy.

And Frances has tapped into this trend with her handmade chocolate products which are already proving a huge hit in some of the country's top department stores.

Frances originally trained as a graphic illustrator and designer but has always had a love affair with food.

She said: "I come from a big family and food was always a part of life, I can remember cooking my first profiterole when I was about nine years old.

"When the children came along I decided to take a step back from my career but carried on cooking in the home."

About seven or eight years ago Frances started making hand-decorated cakes from home for special occasions and weddings.

She said: "We never really advertised and we got a lot of business by word of mouth and the thing just grew steadily. It went from something I did in my spare time to a full-time job. I eventually had to take someone on and it just grew as a business."

The cakes are all exquisitely decorated and are of the highest quality. Customers at Clifton Cakes have included Aardman Animations and actress Amanda Redman, who got married in Somerset a year ago.

Several years ago Frances branched out into a new area and started making her chocolate handbags and shoes at her home. The new lines proved such a success that a new brand was formed – Choc Chic.

Frances said: "The cake business is very seasonal, we tend to be flat out in the summer and then in the winter things go a lot quieter. We were looking to branch out and find something that would keep us busy all year round. Choc Chic is perfect because people tend to buy the handbags and shoes as gifts.

"They are a special present but not too expensive. The cake business has definitely slowed down during the recession but the chocolate side of the business has not really been affected."

The two companies run side by side and two years ago husband David decided to come on board.

He explained: "I worked as a purchasing director for an engineering company, we were bought by a larger company and it became very corporate.

"I spent a lot of time travelling around the country looking at companies that we were interested in acquiring. To be honest I didn't really enjoy the whole corporate thing and I was looking around for something different."

This month marked the start of a new era for the business, with the opening of a new shop in the College Green area of the city.

There are several strands to the business and as well as making the cakes and the chocolate, visitors can also take part in chocolate classes run by Frances at the new shop.

The couple appear happy and relaxed and there is no great ambition to create a nationwide brand.

Frances said: "I am just happy doing what I do and I get to travel around the country meeting lots of different people and talking about chocolate.

"We have four staff now and we are really pleased with the way things have gone.

David added: "We are not looking to take over the world but we are on a journey and we are looking to create a profitable business.

"We grew out of the house several years ago and the opportunity came along to open the shop.

"We have not had to borrow money to expand the business and it is a case of slowly but surely but we are getting there."