So 2010 is drawing to a close, and here at The Angel Bakery we’ve taken a bit of a Christmas breather. We’ve eaten lots of turkey, drunk a little champagne, and reflected on what’s been our busiest year yet.
The past twelve months really have been a bit of a whirlwind. We’ve baked thousands of cupcakes, met hundreds of wonderful new customers, and had enormous fun to boot. Here are some of the highlights of the year.
SPRING
As we entered 2010 and another year of cupcake creating, we had a lot of fun events lined up as well as our fortnightly stint at Cirencester Farmers Market. And with a full order book for weddings and corporate events, we were off to a flying start.
In March we had a little taste of celebrity when we were asked to provide cupcakes for a Hello! photoshoot with Jackie Lewellyn-Bowen. Imagine our excitement when our creations featured in the glamorous ‘Oscars’ edition of the magazine’s glossy pages. They looked lovely – and Jackie and her daughters pretty amazing too!
We were also delighted to support the Cotswold Cupcakes, a lovely group of energetic women who power walked their way to the finishing line in the Playtex Moonwalk in London. We created a special ‘Moonwalk’ cupcake and the proceeds from the sale of this cake raised £198 for the Breast Cancer Awareness appeal. Thank you to everyone who bought the cupcakes and to the Cotswold Cupcakes – you rock!
SUMMER
For The Angel Bakery, summer equals weddings, and 2010 was no exception. We had our creativity tested to the hilt, baking cupcakes in a multitude of different flavours and designs. From ‘Tiffany Blue’ to ‘Hollywood Glamour’ themed weddings, we invented beautiful cupcakes for lots of lovely couples, all of whom seemed to approve of our wares! Our wedding cupcakes were provided with some fantastic backdrops by a series of beautiful Cotswold venues including The Great Tythe Barn in Tetbury, Kingscote Barn, Cripps Barn and Berkley Castle.
In June we were at the Cheltenham Food Festival – our return visit to this fab foodie event. Lots of Angel Bakery fans returned to get their cupcake fix, and our new seasonal flavours range proved a huge hit. The French Apricot, Raspberry and Chocolate Mint cupcakes went down a treat, and we were soon sold out – a sure sign of customer approval!
We ran a stall at the Painswick Wearable Art Parade in August, with no idea what we were letting ourselves in for! It featured some of the craziest get-ups we’d ever encountered in the Cotswolds, and made us feel distinctly under-dressed. We’ll know to make more of a sartorial effort next year! Luckily our cupcakes went down a storm, and it was all great fun. If you didn’t get to go this year, make sure you attend in 2011. It truly is a spectacle, and promises to be even bigger and better than before.
AUTUMN
It’s always thrilling to gain recognition from people within the industry, so imagine our delight when we were shortlisted for the finals of the National Cupcake Awards. Our cupcakes rubbed shoulders with the very best from around the UK, and whilst we just missed out on this occasion, we’re all fired up to give it another go in 2011!
One of our favourite annual occasions is the Tetbury Food Festival – it’s always great to support an event that promotes good quality, local food. We consider ourselves very lucky to have this brilliant festival on our home turf, which started in 2007 with a handful of stalls. Since then it’s mushroomed in size, with more and more producers clamouring to attend. Luckily we managed to snaffle a spot in 2008, and have had a stall there every year since – each time being bigger and better than the last. And it’s always useful that our kitchen is just down the road – perfect for when frantic calls for yet more cupcakes come in from those manning the stall!
WINTER
We went distinctly upmarket with one of our winter orders, when world-renowned interior designer Nina Campbell asked us to supply cupcakes to the team working on her latest project. The Ellenborough Park Hotel and Spa will be Cheltenham’s first 5 star hotel, and with a multi-million pound renovation nearing completion, will welcome its first customers in February 2011. Reservations are already open, and we’ll be hoping for plenty more cupcake sales so we can afford a night of luxury at the hotel!
Our ovens carried on working at full capacity during December, with several winter weddings to supply. And for those who struggled through the snow to get to the final Cirencester Farmer’s Market of the year, our Chocolate Hazelnut, Spiced Carrot, Amaretto and Chocolate Ginger cupcakes provided a tasty boost during freezing conditions!
Luckily, use of a four wheel drive helped us fulfil all our Christmas orders. The country’s entire transport network may grind to a halt in bad weather, but it takes more than a few inches of snow to stop The Angel Bakery in its tracks!
Our order books for 2011 are already filling up, so it looks as though we’ll have plenty to occupy us in the New Year. And as we look forward to our 4th year of cupcake ‘busy-ness’, we’d like to thank all our wonderful customers for their support.
Here’s to a cupcake-filled 2011!
Click here to find out where we will be next..
