So far so good...

Crikey time really does fly when you're having fun - or when you're extremely busy! Since my last post I have started to receive some great feedback on the cake pops. The 'tasting session' I mentioned in my last post went really well with an overwhelming positive reaction to my cake pops. My first postal trail has gone well with a full batch arriving at its destination and in one piece just this afternoon (posted yesterday afternoon) and with this great response:


'Hi Helen..just to let you know that my cake pop samples have JUST arrived safe and sound and I was so thrilled when I opened the box to see the little bears that I had to write and tell you about it before I have even had a bite!!! They are absolutely WONDERFUL!!! I've never seen anything like it before..think I may have a sneaky one before I get the boys from school. Can't wait to show everyone. xxx'


The little bears Cat mentions also marks me making good progress in starting to extend the designs of cake pops available. The next big step is for me to start getting these designs, with relevant price and ordering information finalised and online ready for trading to (hopefully) commence at the beginning of December. I am hoping to have the Christmas range online early next week (some really cute Christmas trees, Santa hats and Christmas pudding cake pops coming up!) and am working on some 'corporate' samples too. I anticipate that cake pop prices will start at £1.25 a pop for the standard range, up to £2.00/ £2.50 a pop for intricate or complicated designs. (This is just an indication and is subject to change!!)


I have thoroughly taste tested 3 flavours now and will begin by offering Vanilla Sponge and Buttercream, Red Velvet Sponge and Buttercream and Chocolate Sponge and Buttercream - all thoroughly delicious!


So lots more to do and lots of exciting things happening, and obviously, I will keep you posted as they do :)

Oh and I forgot to mention...

You can come and join me over on Facebook now > www.facebook.com/mankirabbit and if you're mad enough to want to hear my inane ramblings you can follow me on Twitter too > @HelenMc76 (I tweet a lot about wine..!)

:)

Labels, labels, labels...

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a meeting with the Food Standards officer from Warrington Council at the end of  last week - and it was great. She was so helpful and full of good advice for me and went through all the guidelines I need to meet in terms of my labelling and ingredients lists.

Because I want to sell over the internet, I have to make sure that my pops are labelled with absolutely every ingredient that goes into them - that is the full ingredients list for the sponge cake in the middle down to the full ingredients of the hundreds and thousands on top of them! And although I am going to end up with a list that's bigger than the product itself, I think it is good that you will know exactly what you're buying - and eating! We also went through all the ingredients I was using and found that most of the coating products aimed at cake pop making contain the E numbers that are known to cause hyperactivity in some children. I have already found alternatives to ensure that there are plenty of designs and colours available that don't contain the problem E numbers - and I think they taste even nicer!

I am working hard at making sure that the vast majority of the pops are suitable for vegetarians, and that they will all be labelled so clearly that all my customers can be confident in what they are buying.

I am currently getting a batch of cake pops ready for a sampling session on Thursday night. They are going with a friend to a house party she is attending and will be the first time I try out my new labels. (Because I am giving them face to face to someone, I don't need the full ingredients list on them (which is good because I am still working on that essay!!) but the picture below shows the beginnings of my scheme which clearly shows the flavour of the pop and more importantly has clear allergy advice attached to it.

The last few days have been busy in getting more new pops ready and in developing a labelling system that looks good but that will give you guys all the information you need to know.

What the labels don't say - but what will become more than evident - is that they taste bloomin' delicious :)

Some of today's pops...

Well I had a lovely peaceful morning - a day off from my usual Wednesday teaching and the girls in nursery. I got a good playlist going on my iPod and had a great couple of hours in the kitchen whipping up a batch of lovely cake pops - some of the results of which can be seen below. These will be being dished out to various friends and family for official tasting - funnily enough I am not short of volunteers for this job :)

I also received an email which led to a phone call which in turn leads to a very important stage in the development of Manki Rabbit (are you keeping up?) - I now have a confirmed visit from the Food Standards Officer tomorrow afternoon!

Wish me luck...

Cake balls - and lots of them!

Had a busy few hours today getting lots of cake balls ready to turn into new cake pops tomorrow. Cake pops begin life as a normal sponge cake (the varieties below show a traditional vanilla sponge and a rich red velvet cake). This sponge is then broken up into a fine crumb before being mixed with buttercream or frosting until it forms a truffle like consistency. This can then be chilled slightly and then rolled into balls (or moulded into other shapes) ready for coating and decorating.

I usually teach on a Wednesday morning but it's half term this week so tomorrow I have a few hours when the girls are at nursery when I am going to cake pop like a demon :) There will hopefully be pics to follow to show you the next step of the process and to show you just a few of the infinite designs you can have on your cake pops.

A new adventure...

Well here we are. At the beginning of my latest adventure - you join me at the beginning of my journey to set up Manki Rabbit, a small home based business making and selling cake pops. Cake pops are small chocolate candy coated cake truffles on sticks. They look fantastic and taste divine. If you have never had one, you really don't know what you're missing. They are great for parties, wedding favours, baby showers and even corporate occasions. And believe me, you will be seeing and hearing much more about them very soon...

So where am I up to?
Well you join me at the beginning of setting up Manki Rabbit and I will share with you the adventure I go through to get up and running properly. To come is my advisory visit by the council and my kitchen inspection, discussions with Trading Standards to cover all the labelling requirements I need to meet and the fun bit - trying out new designs and serving new customers.

And why cake pops?
I have been making cakes for 15 years and it is always the sugarcraft and the modelling that really excites me. And cake pops give me the chance to make something that not only tastes fantastic but also gives me the chance to keep developing my modelling skills and using a whole range of tools and techniques. It keeps both my cake making and my artist heads very happy indeed :)

And why now?
Manki Rabbit represents for me the chance to keep running my own small business (which I have done in some guise for over 10 years) whilst balancing my want to keep precious time with my family. I also work as a part-time lecturer teaching Art and Design and have for the last few years run Small Details Photography where I fulfill my passion for family photography.

I have spent the last few months balancing a busy workload with the commitments of a young family (I have 2 gorgeous girls, Maisie who is 3 and Isobel who is 2, as well as an amazing husband who I really don't see enough of) and as my photography diary got fuller, it became apparent that is was weekends which were the busy times. I am now less than 12 months away from my little girl starting school and weekends will become so precious that I made a rather hard decision to cut back on my photography commitments and put my energy into something home-based that doesn't have to take me away from home all the time. I will still continue to work as a photographer but on a much more restricted diary, and with the extra time and energy this will give me and I am diving head first into the delicious world of cake pops :)

And why on earth Manki Rabbit??
Yes I know 'manky' isn't a word with particularly positive connotations (and depending on where you hail from you may not even understand it!) but let me explain where the name of the business comes from. This is Manky Rabbit...

He is a toy that Isobel has had since she was born, and a toy that still rarely leaves her side. He is part of the family - and as you can see, he is indeed manky (this is what he looks like after a good wash!!). So he is known to everyone, including Isobel, as 'Manky Rabbit' and he is manky through love, devotion, commitment and true friendship.

He represents everything Manki Rabbit is about - family, loyalty and love.

I have obviously changed the spelling to give me two cake pop 'i's' and to maybe remove a little of the 'manky-ness' of the original - but you have to admit, it's an unusual name that you will probably remember, and one which I hope you now fully understand.


So, here we go - let's see where Manki Rabbit takes us...