retro bakery

bakealicious

Hello all,

I am currently in the very early stages of setting up a home bakery and want to pick people's brains for a few ideas I have.

I was hoping that my home bakery theme would retro bakes. I want to provide baked goods that provide people with nostalgia. I'm thinking marble cake, medeira cake, traditional sponge, carrot cake, coffee and walnut cake all made with real Irish butter etc...flavour and quality not compensated and just like mammy used to make.

I would appreciate any ideas people may have?

Thanks

vic20

Play nice with your local EHO. If you don't have them on your side you're doomed before you start.
(Admittedly I'm from a full scale catering background rather than a home bakery but, AFAIAA, they still call the shots)

Good luck with it.

bakealicious wrote: »

Hello all,
I am currently in the very early stages of setting up a home bakery and want to pick people's brains for a few ideas I have.
<snip>
I would appreciate any ideas people may have?
Thanks

The Hill Billy

To be honest - you should take a read through this forum as there have been many preferences shared & discussed lready. Check out the 'I Like Cake' thread for example.

There is a touch of 'market research' to your post, which we do not allow. However, feel free to use the Search function to get an idea of what other posters think...

tHB

MissFlitworth

If you're in Dublin 'The Bakehouse' on the Quays near the ha'penny bridge do this really well, would be worth popping in for a look. Gur cake, turnovers, coffee slices, sponge cake covered with coconut & jam, all very simple but beautifully made

Cerulean Chicken

All of the things you've mentioned are readily available in many bakeries and markets all over the country, they're not retro, they're very much alive and well, so you might want to look at what your USP is. Customers these days are looking for the new options, Chocolate Biscuit Cake, Red Velvet, Macaroons etc.

vic20

(Slightly off topic so my apologies)

Does anyone else think that chocolate biscuit cake is new?

Cerulean Chicken wrote: »

All of the things you've mentioned are readily available in many bakeries and markets all over the country, they're not retro, they're very much alive and well, so you might want to look at what your USP is. Customers these days are looking for the new options, Chocolate Biscuit Cake, Red Velvet, Macaroons etc.

Faith

bakealicious wrote: »

Hello all,

I am currently in the very early stages of setting up a home bakery and want to pick people's brains for a few ideas I have.

I was hoping that my home bakery theme would retro bakes. I want to provide baked goods that provide people with nostalgia. I'm thinking marble cake, medeira cake, traditional sponge, carrot cake, coffee and walnut cake all made with real Irish butter etc...flavour and quality not compensated and just like mammy used to make.

I would appreciate any ideas people may have?

Thanks

Not to sound rude, but there's nothing special there. It sounds like any bakery or cafe I've been in. What would make your cakes any better than someone else's? Most bakers only use the best ingredients anyway.

Cerulean Chicken

vic20 wrote: »

(Slightly off topic so my apologies)

Does anyone else think that chocolate biscuit cake is new?

CBC isn't "new" but is new to Ireland, relatively new anyway. Same as cupcakes, I hear people going on all the time about how cupcakes are becoming really "big" now, they've been around for years, but are still in the fad stage here, same as CBC. It's a recent alternative to fruit cake and bakery sponges here, but has been eaten for ages in the US and would never be eaten in the UK at a birthday or wedding.

vic20

OK. Just wondering as I was making (Rum) CBC 20 years ago.

Cerulean Chicken wrote: »

CBC isn't "new" but is new to Ireland, relatively new anyway. Same as cupcakes, I hear people going on all the time about how cupcakes are becoming really "big" now, they've been around for years, but are still in the fad stage here, same as CBC. It's a recent alternative to fruit cake and bakery sponges here, but has been eaten for ages in the US and would never be eaten in the UK at a birthday or wedding.

CuriousPete

Upload a video of what you do onto a site call retrodays.tv. It will be free advertisement. I know the guy who started the site so it could do you no harm. Good Luck

Jellybaby1

bakealicious wrote: »

Hello all,

I am currently in the very early stages of setting up a home bakery and want to pick people's brains for a few ideas I have.

I was hoping that my home bakery theme would retro bakes. I want to provide baked goods that provide people with nostalgia. I'm thinking marble cake, medeira cake, traditional sponge, carrot cake, coffee and walnut cake all made with real Irish butter etc...flavour and quality not compensated and just like mammy used to make.

I would appreciate any ideas people may have?

Thanks

Hi bakealicious, I think you are marvellous to start your own bakery. However as others have said here, its not really retro as its all still around. For the record chocolate biscuit cake has been a firm favourite of my hubby for over 40 years so it definitely is not new to Ireland as I and my friends still make it. I also make a great coffee cake. I know its great 'cos I'm always asked for it by my friends, also my tea brack. People who don't remember something the first time round generally call it 'retro'. I suggest you talk to older ladies/gents who have always baked for their family and although some don't bake any more because the family have left home, quite a few still do. So, yes, its all still around. On another thread here I talked about the over pricing of bakes. I don't buy them because I (and all my middle aged friends) can also bake them just as well and in fact better in a lot of cases. When you know the simple ingredients that go into cakes you can generally work out how much it really costs to make. The over pricing comes to pay the baker for baking it, for the power to run the oven, rent, etc. I and my friends won't pay for that. You need to target folk who have the money but not the time or inclination to bake. They will pay anything for the 'best product'. Hope you don't take this as rude, its not meant to be. Good luck.

the beer revolu

vic20 wrote: »

(Slightly off topic so my apologies)

Does anyone else think that chocolate biscuit cake is new?

Cerulean Chicken wrote: »

CBC isn't "new" but is new to Ireland, relatively new anyway.

Nope, not even new to Ireland.
I actually think of it as a retro thing - we always had it in the 80's. Then it disappeared, then it came back ten years ago or there abouts.
Funny, I still see it as a children's thing - I would never serve it to adults - but I'm pretty much on my own there.

Jellybaby1

the beer revolu wrote: »

Nope, not even new to Ireland.
I actually think of it as a retro thing - we always had it in the 80's. Then it disappeared, then it came back ten years ago or there abouts.
Funny, I still see it as a children's thing - I would never serve it to adults - but I'm pretty much on my own there.

I also look on CBC as a children's treat but some men never grow up!

MissFlitworth

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I also look on CBC as a children's treat but some men never grow up!

Ladies too. My taste for chocolate biscuit cake has stayed strong with me from first taste at a cake sale in school in the mid 80s till now. One of my favourite school memories is that chocolate biscuit cake turning up at the cake sale & it being such a novelty that it had a bouncer (the teacher) and everyone was rationed to only one slice.

maryk123

there was a place in limerick that if you bought an apple/rhubarb tart he would give you whipped cream in a container. Simple idea but very effective especially if you were buying something for work or visiting someone and you brought the whipped cream as well.

janmaree

I have my grandmother's recipe for CBC and she was born in the late 1800's. Admittedly, it's made with cocoa powder but it's very rich and dark, just like a gorgeous no-bake brownie. I still make it, ringing the changes sometimes with spicy biscuits and finely chopped crystallised ginger but no matter what goes into it, they all enjoy it, young and not so young. So I guess the recipe I have must be getting on for a century old by now. (Oh gawd, what does that make me?!!!) :eek:

Stench Blossoms

Would you mind posting it janmaree?

janmaree

I'm happy to post it for you, I hope you enjoy it. I'm giving it to you exactly as is from our old recipe book.

Nana's Chocolate Biscuit Cake

1 egg
half a pound of broken biscuits
2 tablespoons of cocoa
2 to 3 ounces of butter
3 tablespoons of sugar

Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan, adding a spoon of boiling water to help.
Remove from heat and quickly beat in egg. Add cocoa and beat well. Break up the biscuits into pieces no bigger than a sixpence. Add to mixture and blend well. Pour out into a greased tin, press down and leave overnight to set.

Note: Take your time melting the sugar to avoid grittiness.

This quantity should fit 1 x 8" cake tin.

I really hope it works for you.