If you’ve opened TikTok in the UK anytime this year, you’ve probably seen them: soft-lit videos of a 40-something man in a linen shirt whipping meringue while a Gen Z girlfriend films him from across a £2 million kitchen island. Caption always reads something like “when he pays your tuition AND bakes you lemon drizzle ♡”.
Welcome to the era of the Sugar Daddy Baker.
These guys are Canary Wharf by day, GBBO finalist by night. They own more Le Creuset than pairs of shoes, post their sourdough scores on Instagram Stories, and transfer you money with notes that say “Buy the good vanilla pods from Borough Market, darling”.They are basically the final form of wealthy British man who finally read the group chat and realised women want emotional labour with their Louis Vuitton.
What makes a true Sugar Daddy Baker?
- Has a £9,000 Smeg oven and actually uses it (not just for storing protein powder)
- Weeknight dinner is homemade tagliatelle, not Nobu takeaway
- First date venue: his flat in Notting Hill where he casually bakes you a tarte tatin while you drink natural wine
- Transfers you £800 with the memo “Ottolenghi cookbooks + therapy co-pay”
- Instagram is 70% pastries, 20% Cotswolds walks, 10% subtle flexing of his Richard Mille
Why are they suddenly everywhere?
- Young women got standards
A 24-year-old I know in London said it best: “I’d rather be softly spoiled by a 48-year-old who can nail a choux swan than hard-launched by a 28-year-old finance bro who thinks ‘cooking’ is adding truffle oil to Deliveroo fries.” - Social media turned gentleness into currency
Search #bakerboyfriend or #gentlesugardaddy on TikTok right now. You’ll drown in videos of men folding butter into croissants while their 15-years-younger girlfriends voice-over “POV: your SD is hotter than your ex and can laminate dough”. The algorithm ate it up, the girls ate it up, and suddenly every divorced tech partner in Chelsea enrolled in Bread Ahead classes. - British men finally discovered “vibes”
Old-school UK sugar daddies were allergic to personality. Dinner at The Ivy, sex at the Rosewood, goodbye.
The new ones understand that today’s 20-somethings want to be courted with browned butter and inside jokes, not just black-card swipes.
How to spot a real one vs a fakerReal ones:
- Can talk you through lamination theory while laminating you with affection
- Remember you said you loved yuzu two months ago and casually present a three-tier yuzu cheesecake on your birthday
- Never make you ask for money; they just send it when they notice your trainers are looking tired
- Relationship feels like “hot older boyfriend who happens to be loaded”, not a transaction
Fakers:
- Buy Waitrose brownies, microwave them for 15 seconds, and call it “homemade”
- Own one (1) stand mixer they’ve used twice for the aesthetic
- Still think “babes, how much do you need?” is seductive
Closing hot take
The Sugar Daddy Baker phenomenon is just Gen Z and Millennials doing what we do best: monetising therapy-speak and aesthetic comfort.
If straight dating isn’t going to give us kind, emotionally intelligent men our age, fine. We’ll outsource the fantasy to someone who can pay the bills and still give us warm madeleines straight from the oven.Honestly? I get it. Wake me up when the croissant’s ready.