Lynn Hill was signing copies of her cookbook at Cook to Perfection in King's Lynn. Picture: Ian Burt

It started off in secret locations, known only to the trusted few. Yet a club where women met to share cakes and make friends has grown into a 6,000-strong movement dedicated to the love of baking.

Yesterday Lynn Hill, founder of the Clandestine Cake Club (CCC), chose King’s Lynn to launch its first cookery book.

Retired bank worker Mrs Hill, 62, arranged the club’s first meeting in 2010 because she couldn’t find a cake club near her home in Leeds.

“The way it’s taken off, I’m just absolutely amazed,” she said. “It’s so popular, people love it.

“It gives them the chance to carry on baking if all their children have left home, they can come to a meeting, share a cake and make new friends.”

By last summer, the CCC had spread to West Norfolk. Melanie Done, proprietor of King’s Lynn’s Cook to Perfection cookshop, which hosted the book signing, organised a trial meeting in May.

“At the first one, we had about 16, it’s normally in the teens,” she said. “It’s about cakes rather than cup cakes.

“If you think about it, if you go to a café, the typical offerings are sponge cake, carrot cake, chocolate cake.

“At cake club we’ve had cakes made with soup and parsnips. Here we’ve got five cakes, they’re all heart-shaped but they’re all different.”

Members of Lynn CCC brought along cakes for people to try at the signing.

Teacher Katy Dutton, who began attending meetings after she saw a TV programme about the club, had flavoured her heart-shaped sponge, topped with raspberries, with passion fruit.

“I love baking, I love cooking and I like eating cake,” said Miss Dutton, 30, from King’s Lynn.

“Unlike most clubs, you don’t have to pay to join. You just need to bake a cake.”

Fellow member Carole Ralston, also from Lynn, said: “Some people are extremely good at decorating cakes but there’s no pressure on you.”

Mrs Ralston admitted her first meeting didn’t go entirely to plan, after she’d lovingly baked a cake for it.

“It fell over in the back of the car on the way there,” she said. “But it still tasted good.”

To find out more about the CCC, go to www.clandestinecakeclub.co.uk