Going public

Last weekend I took the plunge and decided to let the good people of Strathblanefield know about Hels' Bakehouse. A quick post on the community Facebook page and the word was out. I took a stroll up to our fabulous local deli, Pestle & Mortar, to reveal my secret identity 48 hours later and sure enough the jungle drums had already done the work for me!

Yesterday was therefore the first day of Hels' Bakehouse proper, with three local ladies taking the plunge and giving Real Bread a chance. On the menu was oat, apricot and walnut bread and it felt great to get baking and start delivering to people in the community.

Taking this community spirit further I've taken inspiration from the local area and been developing some Glengoyne whisky based Rye bread as a signature loaf. The first attempt, christened Pain de Glengoyne, made great tasting, good looking bread but didn't carry the flavour of the whisky particularly well, so taking advice from my product development team (my Dad) the second attempt featured raisins soaked in Glengoyne. The result was still subtle but delicious, and I drove up to the distillery to pick up more supplies and leave a loaf with the brand heritage team to sample.

I've also been selling granola to my growing band of addicts and sorting out all the boring bits of admin that I'd been putting off and it now seems I have a real business to develop all of my very own. Such a great feeling.

Finally, for the romantic amongst you, I leave you with a picture of the valentines biscuits baked by my husband and I as surprise treats for each other. Proof if ever it were needed that great minds (and gluttons) think alike.