Cake pop panic.

So what's been keeping my fingers so busy that I have neglected my little bloggy?

Well, baking of course. Never Ending Baking.

After the most amazing weekend at the Kirkcudbright Food Festival I feel like I have been flying ever since. The organisers must have waved a magic wand over the event it was truly amazing and such a privilege to be a part of.

Waking up on the first day I head off to the market with best pal and sisterling in tow (they were paid in cake for their services, rest assured) who were to man the stall while I set off to run two children's cake pop making workshops. 

Trialing tonnes of new flavours - white chocolate and lemon, malteaser, the jammy dodger pop to name but a view I was petrified that no one would buy my cakes and left my helpers with "I want to be sold out and in an almighty panic by lunchtime!" knowing full well that would never happen.

The workshops were a blast. Give children icing and it will only be an adventure. With sponge in my hair, buttercream on my skirt and laughter tears on my cheeks - my sister ran in after the workshop hollering "Jade, get back in the kitchen, we've sold out!". Oh, ha-bloody-ha sister. This is not something to joke about, I am far too sensitive and figured this meant they had not sold a bean. 

"Don't joke Sister" I huffed. 

"No Jade, seriously, get back in the kitchen, the cake pops have nearly all gone".

Holy. Moly.

I spent the rest of the day in a frenzy sending batch after batch back out of the kitchen down to the food festival.

People like my pops. They liked my pops!!!! The rest of the weekend past in an exhausting and exhilarating blur. Culminating in the omelette challenge (the less said about that the better. Do you know how hard it is to break eggs under pressure?!) 

No rest for the wicked and I now head in to what looks like two crazy busy months with tonnes of Christmas cake pop ideas up my sleeve. Treats, Darling? will be coming to a Christmas Fayre near you  soon.

Chocolate fumes and cosmos.

Apologies Darlings for being a little bit quiet - I can assure you the quietness was strictly restricted to the cyber world. The Treats, Darling? kitchen has been craaaaazy busy!

Last week saw the order of 100 cake pops, 30 packaged portions of Rocky Road, 10 tray bakes and three pastry platters. All in one order! What a mixture of emotions for little old me. To be trusted with such a big order was amazing being a new business, it was both daunting and thrilling. Thrilling, mostly once they were safely delivered. I think at one point I was a little high on the chocolate fumes.

To anyone ever crazy enough to make that many cakes in one go - write yourself a plan. I had checklists, timings and instructions coming out of my ears. Without them I would have quite possible had a small breakdown under the kitchen counter.

Oh and have someone on stand by to do all of the fiddly jobs which take much longer than you would expect. Cue casual labour in the form of my 15 year old sister - who after 130 attempts is now a cake packaging whizz,

To top the week off, I made my first visit back to Essex - to throw another of my sisters a baby shower. Perfect excuse for little baby blue cake pops don't you think? I surprised myself how quickly I have got used to some of the aspects of life in Kirkcudbright. Sitting in traffic near the god forsaken QE2 Bridge I realised the last time I had even a modicum of road rage was being trapped behind a tractor, short lived and forgotten quickly, unlike the boiling wrath I feel now, days later just thinking about the absolute ridiculous pressure that goes with everything associated with living in the South East.

Having not quite got used to the not having cocktails and Primark readily available however, I sunk the cosmos and stock piled the tights until my next trip. I miss my pals and family and the more spontaneous social life I had. But I wouldn't swap making cakes every day for that. Essex, London you'll just have to give me what I need every few months..

The little things add up

After a chocolatey day in the kitchen, two hefty trays of Salted Caramel Millionaire's Shortbread and Rocky Road have been delivered to one of the local cafes who was kind enough to give me a shot and try my cakes.
What a feeling! For a local business to have a moment of faith in you and your baking. Keeping my chocolatey fingers and toes (my toes aren't chocolatey for the record) crossed that they love them, the customers fall over themselves for second helpings, they sell out by tomorrow and it becomes a regular thing.

A red velvet cake delivered to a lady who wanted it for her family this weekend but ended up tucking in by lunchtime.

A batch of cake pops given as a raffle prize and some bonus facebook advertising.

One of the local business mentors asking to book her in for some cake pops in November.

A return customer asking for a lemon drizzle next Friday.

Chipping away at it a bit at a time and keeping the dream going that the little things add up to big things.

Have a lovely sunny weekend Darlings. xxx

Full (cake-baking) steam ahead!

What a week it has been! After being given the go ahead from Environmental Health it has truly been full steam ahead in trying to get the business off the ground. 

Jumping from task to task - it was all too exciting and my head is just bubbling over with ideas that I just couldn't stick to one thing for more than an hour - I'm left with lots of things shaping up nicely and plenty of tasks that I am avoiding.

'Treats, Darling?' is now booked on to Farmers Markets across the county of Dumfries and Galloway - Yes, Dumfriesians there's a cake pop winging its way to you. 
Alas, it wasn't that simple and one thing I learned this week is that I am not on London time anymore. I am not, I repeat, I am NOT in a hurry. Apparently. 

Here, you can take your good sweet time and then some. So despite the efforts in technology and the embedded belief that when you send a trusty email you will receive an instantaneous response (I was brought up on MSN Messenger for Crissakes!) - that simply is not the case. Cue sitting on hands to prevent me sending a bunny boileresque impatient "Did you get my email?" email. 
It's just the way it is. I pop to Tesco and give myself an hour knowing full well I will end up speaking to the checkout girl about the weather for a good half an hour ("CAN YOU NOT SEE THE PEOPLE WAITING IN LINE, LADY?!) Dropping the car in for an MOT and talking about Croydon for twenty minutes (don't even ask me how that is a possibility) and buying stamps and discussing my flip flops for god know's how long (OK, that one I will let slide. They are really pretty).

But simply - people have time. They aren't running at a million miles an hour to catch the DLR, they aren't working 12 hour days, they aren't stressed to the max. It's a revelation. 
Yet, getting a business running, coming from a high speed job and city life is conflicting to say the least. Then again maybe this is how I have achieved so much in just a week - I haven't figured out how to slow down yet.

The website will shortly be launched - if I can just work out how the hell you transfer a domain name. Lots of angry and confused email's have been sent I assure you. New recipes have been trialed and stock, tools and very pretty pink business cards are on their way.

Now time to rest, put my feet up for the evening and play with my new puppy. Yes I even squeezed that in. May I introduce you all to Prince Clive the Chihuahua. It's true love. 

swapping shoes for...sinks?

One of the things I searched high and low for before embarking on my cake business shenanigans was information. Simple and clear information. What are the rules? Can anyone do it? Do I need to have certificates and licenses coming out of my ears? And could I find it? Could I buggery.

So I called Environmental Health - when in doubt just call the first scary sounding organisation you come across, who arranged to visit me. Out came the marigolds. I scrubbed the kitchen from top to bottom. After 5 hours and finding myself far too engrossed in the cleanliness of the bottom of the teabag jar, I deemed the place cleaner than clean and in danger of being renamed the bleach room.

Worrying myself silly I reminded myself that actually Environmental Health are there to help people like me to get it right. Not to stand in our way. 

After giving them entirely wrong directions on how to find me (Great start Jade!) we eventually sat down over a cup of coffee and set about talking all things allergy and sink related. 

The biggest concern is being able to sanitise dishes, pots, pans and all my lovely little tools. And to do this you need two sinks. Oh and throw in a third to keep your mitts clean too. Failing that a dish washer. (For the equipment, not your hands. Obviously).

Not to mention making sure you don't hurt anyone by slipping in some accidental peanuts or pesky gluten.

It sounds scary. But it isn't. Scribbling notes furiously and feeling a bit excited about finally being able to do some shopping (albeit not for shoes but for a dishwasher!)the lovely lady from EH promised to send me links to the things I need, guides to record keeping and said I was good to go! That's it. Treat's, Darling? my cake business baby is taking it's first steps.

you'll have to get used to that Jade..

376 miles, 7 hours, 2 boxes of dinky sausage rolls and 1 loo break - the move from Essex to Scotland is complete.

Arriving in Kirkcudbright on the same day the Kelpies welcoming ceremony takes place (note to self: must google what a Kelpie is), I  wandered down to the harbour to check it out. Picnics everywhere, a band playing the Proclaimer's '500 miles' and a man wearing an orange kilt. Seriously.

This morning, in a bid to organising my five suitcases I popped a wash on and thought I would enjoy the novelty of hanging the washing out. After living in a flat for nine years and being able to sling my washing on to the radiators dressed in just my pants and eating biscuits - running a bumble bee gauntlet and swallowing a cobweb took me quite by surprise.

Along with my sister and her pal (holidaying here from Essex) we thought we would whizz to nearby Castle Douglas for some shopping. (Dressed in a Jumpsuit, Uggs and Sunny's - "Jade could you be anymore Esex?!") Sorry Vivienne Westwood, sorry River Island, sorry Primark - I have no choice but to spend my money in the only shop available. Wilkinsons. I feel unfaithful. I feel stunned. I feel like I'm going to discover what it means to have savings.
No new shoes but hey I am excessively excited by my new cake pop stands. Go Wilkos, I never knew you had it in you!

Onwards we march to Tesco. Scottish Tesco can't be different to Essex Tesco, right? WRONG. There were no boodles (you know, the vegetable spaghetti adored by hipsters all over), there was no Philadelphia Lightest, there was no 'Light' anything! Green food is restricted to one teeny tiny aisle and all the sausages are square.
I don't think we are in Kansas anymore, Toto.

With a bag laden with full fat beige-non green products we drive home - and straight through a winding country road full to the brim with the aroma of cow bum. Pinching my nostrils with one hand, changing gear with the other, steering with my knees and screaming my sweet head off, the sister pipes up "you'll have to get used to that Jade..."

come join me for a treat..

Rapidly approaching thirty and I've decided to take the leap from the bright city lights of London, the fast paced career and the tanning appointments in my home town of Essex - throw it all up in the air and watch it land in a beautiful cake shape as I embark on my adventure. I want to be a baker. A cake pop creator. A dessert table designer. So that's exactly what I am going to be.

Notice given to landlord and boss. Super duper scary large van hired. Boxes of bakeware (and lots and lots of shoes) packed - I'm setting off to the beautiful town of Kirkcudbright in Scotland to bring my sweet treats to the locals of Dumfries and beyond.

A little bit nervous. Very excited. A little bit hungry. But mostly thrilled that today I can start to share with you my journey by asking you if you fancy "Treats, Darling?"