When she was baking for special occasions in her kitchen, Renee Hannemann could never have guessed what was around the corner. Now she is on the road with her Wild Flour Bar and Desserts business.
Standing behind the counter in a renovated farm kitchen in Cleve, Renee Hannemann laughs when I ask her if she has baked anything today.
Of course she has.
“I’m used to using my own recipes, a lot of them I mix by hand in a bowl,” she says.
Having a giggle, she wanders over to the fridge in a floral blue dress and makes you feel incredibly comfortable.
Her six-year-old daughter Poppy is eating some peaches at the end of the counter.
Poppy’s legs swing backwards and forwards in her chair as she asks her mum a million little questions, and Renee patiently answers them as she shows me what she has been baking.
The fridge is full to the brim; macaroon shells in different pastel colours, a gorgeous mudcake for an upcoming wedding, creams on top of pastries next to cupcakes with all the frostings.
Growing up in Cowell, it wasn’t too big a change for the Wild Flour founder when she moved to her husband’s family farm in Cleve to raise their family all those years ago.
In the home kitchen, with no training, Renee began to teach herself to bake celebratory cakes for all occasions, including birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers and more – it definitely came in handy when her own children came along.
“I started just doing it for friends and family, and then when I had my own kids I really enjoyed blowing their minds each year,” she smiles.
“Anything from Peppa Pig and princess castles, or for my boy Miles last year it was a tractor, and once a fire truck.”
In September 2024, with their young son and daughter present and surrounded by friends and family, Renee and Nathan were married.
After the ceremony, it was only fitting the wedding cake and desserts everyone shared were made by Renee herself.
“I made all the desserts on our dessert table and the wedding cake, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone because of the pressure,” she laughed.
After a decade of baking, Renee and her husband decided to hold a stall at Eyre Peninsula Field Days in 2022, wanting to branch out from the kitchen and deliveries from her car.
It was a resounding success.
“We had our first stall and it was just trestle tables with boxes of cake on it, but the event went really well so we decided to branch out and we bought the van,” she recalled.
“And when we were wedding planning, I wanted someone to bring the desserts but I couldn’t find anything like that, so it made sense to make our own.
“It just makes sense to move more into the event space, so when we got the van the idea was we’d put a coffee machine in it too, and now we use Boston Bean Coffee.”
The couple had their van custom built for events.
Not only does it have a coffee machine, it is a set up cocktail and dessert bar, it even has a glass front so guests can see their desserts on display.
“We wanted to be able to do cocktails for the evening events, so at night it’s cocktails and desserts and in the daytime it’s coffee, cakes, brownies and cookies,” Renee explained.
In February, Wild Flour Bar and Desserts entertained at its first ever wedding, and for Renee, it felt like all the different moving parts had finally fallen into place.
“I just like going to weddings, to be a part of someone’s big day and the atmosphere is so much fun for us,” she beamed.
“We bring our van, and we’re keeping a minimal style so as to not conflict with the wedding decor – we can set up fairy lights at night time and glassware is ready to go for espresso martinis and margaritas – we actually have a full list of different cocktails but we are also more than happy to tailor the cocktails and drinks to the wants of the bride and groom.
“I’m just so excited to get out and about in the community a bit more for all occasions, previous to this I made everything at home in my kitchen and delivered it and that was it, so I’m just looking forward to talking to people and seeing them experience the products in real life.”
Having started her business from scratch, Wild Flour has continued to evolve and grow with Renee, as do the delicious dessert designs.
