Roker End Cafe creates red and white 'pink' slice - and they're selling like hot cakes

No one seems to know exactly why the pink slice has become such a popular snack in Sunderland, the only place that sells the sweet treat widely, but it’s become something of a cult food.

Now the Roker End Cafe, within the ALS building in Sheepfolds, has gone one better to create a red and white ‘pink’ slice.

They teamed up with baker, and SAFC season ticket holder, Martyn Stephenson to give the slice a Black Cat twist.

Martyn used to run family bakery James Stephenson in Blackhall before stints training prisoners in the skill of baking at Holme House in Stockton. The retired 58-year-old thought he’d hung up his baking apron for good, but after he got chatting to staff at the Roker End Cafe, they asked him to go back to his pink slice roots.

“We used to make pink slices at the bakery so I already knew how to make them and the cafe was looking for a baker so they could keep up with demand,” explained Martyn who says its recipe makes it a biscuit, not a cake, as some people think.”

He added: “They suggested creating a red and white version, which still tastes the same as the traditional one. You make the shortbread base, spread red jam, then another layer of shortbread before letting it cool and adding the red and white coloured icing.”

Speaking about the biscuit’s origin, he said: “I’ve no idea why they became so specific to Sunderland. Maybe it was something to do with the shipyards, because they were easy to take for your lunch.”

The themed pink slices have only been sold at the cafe for a month priced £1, but Martyn has already had to treble production to meet demand.

Paul Forrest, office manager at the cafe and ALS, said: “We got pink slices in a couple of times, but after the Echo ran a story on where you could get pink slices, which mentioned us, we had lots of people coming in asking for them.

“We wanted to create an SAFC version to fit in with all the other SAFC merchandise and memorabilia we have in the shop and we thought what better way to do that than to ask a lifelong Sunderland fan to make a Sunderland food that’s sold in a Sunderland shop.

“On match days we sell a lot of traditional Mackem foods like panackelty and ham and pease pudding stotties, but the red and white pink slices have become our best-sellers by far. We have a queue out of the door on match days and when we get down to the last 10 we have to warn people they might not get one.”

Speaking about the taste, he said: “I’ve ended up having one every day since we started doing them and I actually prefer them to the store-bought ones. The shortbread is an all butter one, it’s buttery yet sweet, but not like the pure sugar taste of some of the others.”

*For our guide to where you can pick up a traditional pink slice see here.