A former New York banker is now banking on cup cakes after opening her own cake shop.

Nazish Omar, 43, owner of Deelicious Nazish's Kitchen, in Tooting Bec Road, opened the shop 10 days ago and sells cupcakes with an American touch.

Visitors can tuck into peanut butter, red velvet or lemon flavoured treats while enjoying a cup of coffee in relaxing surroundings.

All of the cakes are halal as Mrs Omar is Muslim herself, with eggless and gluten free cakes also on sale.

A full launch party is taking place on June 23 with free mini cakes on offer for visitors and 10 per cent of profits to St George's Hospital.

Mrs Omar said she was inspired to give money to the hospital through her former job working as a health care economist in New York.

In the past she worked for Citibank in New York, and holds degrees in management from the University of Cambridge and New York University.

But the entrepreneur said she is at her happiest when making cakes and spotted a gap in the market for a cupcake shop in Tooting.

She said: "Cake baking makes me feel peaceful, it makes me happy.

"My family owned this shop and they asked me whether I wanted to do this.

"I wasn't familiar with the area, but I found there is a lot of professionals - it is up-and-coming. Nobody had anything like this close-by, people said there was a need for this kind of place."

Mrs Omar, who is originally from Pakistan, said the cakes are influenced by her heritage as well as from the time she spent living in American and London.

She said the shop is already proving popular with locals.

Later this month she plans to start cake baking classes and has plans to publish a book of recipes.

Visit deelicious-nk.com