Finally I bring you Chit Chat Fridays. Each Friday I'll chit chat with someone new so we can get to know them a bit better. I don't know about you but I love knowing what inspires people and how they got to where they are now. It inspires me knowing that each successful person had to start from somewhere.
I had the great pleasure of chatting with Melissa from Local Sugar. What an inspiration she is! Like most of us, she had to make that crucial decision in her life to either keep going down the corporate route or to really follow her dream. And you know what she did???? She followed her dream!!!! Local Sugar provides us with the most scrumptious mini cupcakes ever!!!!
My husband brought some Local Sugar cupcakes home for me one evening. He set the cutest pink egg carton in front of me and told me to open it. Inside were these gorgeous bite size cupcakes. Oh and they were so so tasty!!! I thought to myself what a great idea, bite size cupcakes in an egg carton. They are the perfect gift. There are several favours to choose from or you can have some specially made. They also deliver!!!!
So put your orders in now for Valentine's Day or Easter or just because you want some tasty cupcakes!!!
To order your cupcakes contact Melissa at Local Sugar:
+44 (0)7425 175 594 / melissa@local-sugar.com
Read on to find out more about her amazing mini cupcakes:
1. TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF, HOW DID
YOU START MAKING BESPOKE SWEETS AND INDULGENT TREATS?
I’ve
always seemed to love baking… from the time I was 6 and received an Easy Bake
Oven that allowed you to ‘bake’ a pie and cake by the power of a
lightbulb!!??!!
Fast
forward to 2000, I was bringing cupcakes into work at the BBC, before the
cupcake craze hit. I got a few
commissions from high end London florists, restaurants and fashion
agencies. I thought “Wouldn’t it be
great if I could sell cupcakes full-time?”, then thought “C’mon Melissa, how
many cakes do you think you’d need to sell to cover your London
mortgage!?” So, that idea quickly
fizzled. Five years later, I moved to
Seattle and saw that the emerging cupcake trend in NYC and LA was going
global. I felt like I’d missed my
opportunity, and kicked myself for not taking the plunge in London back in
2000.
People
say, as one door closes, another opens.
In late 2010, the blue chip company I worked for closed down our whole
division and it made me think: do I take
the ‘easy’ path and stay with a large corporate company? Or see this as a second
chance to do what I felt I should have done years ago. I took the plunge. I moved back to London, got engaged and
started Local Sugar!
I
have always had a passion for baking and a love of sharing. Local Sugar is becoming known for its
one-bite, filled mini cupcakes, hand-crafted in small batches, with high
quality ingredients. My mission is to create cakes that both taste and look amazing,
that customers can really indulge in.
2. WHY
MINI CUPSCAKES OPPOSE TO STANDARD SIZED CUPCAKES?
Our one-bite mini cupcakes are just perfect for a cheeky little
indulgence. They’re fabulous for parties
as you can eat them standing up, without the social faux-pas of getting
buttercream on your nose! They’re also
great for children’s parties since they are easy to handle and are just the
right size for little ones.
3. HOW
DO YOU COME UP WITH YOUR FLAVOURS? DO YOU BAKE THE FLAVOURS YOU LOVE; DO YOU
GET SPECIAL/CRAZY FLAVOUR REQUESTS?
I love coming up with new flavour combinations and decorating ideas
based on what’s in season and what holidays are around the corner. Our ‘12 Cakes of Christmas’ special was great
fun in thinking up seasonal cake ideas and decorations! Our most requested cakes tend to be our Berry
filled Vanilla, Chocolate Mint and Nutella-filled Chocolate.
4. YOUR
PACKAGING IS SO GREAT, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA OF THE EGG CARTONS?
Oh, thank you! We think our pink
egg box packaging is pretty darn cute, and makes a very easy, portable way to
carry your mini cupcakes in –without fear of them tipping over. The idea came about a year ago. I was meeting my friend from Preston in
London, with her 2 little girls. I had 6
mini cupcakes for them, and couldn’t find a box that was small enough.. I knew
they’d be a right mess by the time I had 5mins on the tube! My empty egg carton was still on the counter
top, and thought ‘that might make quite a handy little carrying device!’ And voila.
My friend and her little ones were my guinea pigs! When I told them I had a present for them,
and handed them a ‘box of eggs’, their little faces lit up when they opened it
and saw 6 pink sugar dusted mini cupcakes inside. And thus, our Local Sugar bespoke packaging
was born!
5. YOU
OFFER A BESPOKED SERVICE AS WELL, HAVE YOU EVER RECEIVED A REQUEST THAT TOUCHED
YOUR HEART?
Yes.. last April I
received a call late one Sunday night.
It was a lady in NJ who found me on Facebook. She asked if I could do an order for her young
niece who was really unwell. I delivered
a dozen mini cupcakes to her family, as
a little surprise from her aunt and uncle.
I received an email some weeks after the delivery to let me know that
the young girl had passed away. The
email said “ We will always be
thankful for you fulfilling my last minute order. Wanted you to know that what
you do - it makes a difference! Keep up the good work! “ It touched my heart and I thought – if that’s
all it takes to bring some joy into the world, then I’m doing the right thing.
6. IF
YOU COULD COLLOBARATE WITH ANYONE, WHO WOULD THAT BE?
Hmmm… I was fortunate enough to meet ‘THE’ Jimmy Choo in my previous
job. He was always so gracious, humble
and generous with his time. When I
started Local Sugar, we had tea and cakes, and he offered me some fabulous advice. Thinking about it now.. maybe we should
collaborate on some Local Sugar minis!
7. DO
YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE YOU ARE BAKING? ANY FAVOURITE TUNES AT THE MOMENT?
YES! Have to have music on whilst
baking…! Here are some of my favs of the
moment:
Lion’s Roar – First Aid Kit
Benediction – Hot Natured and Ali Love
It Gets Dark – Holy Ghost!
There’s Nothing in the Water We Can’t Fight – Cloud Control
And of course..
Sugar Time – Johnny Cash
8. WHERE
DO YOU GAIN INSPIRATION FROM FOR YOUR DELICIOUS CUPCAKES?
I get my inspiration from a number of places… magazines, on-line blogs,
restaurants, markets, seasonal produce, travelling…. I went to Istanbul in
October and tried these little honey pistachio donuts. Delicious.
I came home and immediately made vanilla honey + pistachio mini cupcakes.
9. DO
YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE CAFÉ, SHOP, BOOK STORE, ETC YOU GAIN INSPRIATION FROM OR
JUST LOVE TO GO AND PONDER?
In the winter, I tend to curl up on my sofa and scour food magazines and
international food blogs. It’s wonderful
seeing what other cities and countries are doing food-wise. And I LOVE going through old cook-books. What goes around, comes around as they say..
and it’s so true. Jam Roly Poly is hip
again! So you know I’m going to create a
Local SugarJam Roly Poly mini cupcake!
In the summer, I get inspiration from some of the fabulous markets –
Borough Market and Columbia Road Market are two of my favourites.
10. ANY
ADVICE OR ANYTHING YOU’VE LEARNED LATELY THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
When
I decided to leave my corporate job and take the big leap into
entrepreneurship, I kept a list of quotes that gave me the inspiration to
believe in myself and what I was trying to create… here are three of my
favourites:
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be
continually fearing you will make one.” -Elbert Hubbard
“Some people think it’s holding that makes one
strong—sometimes it’s letting go.” -Unknown
“Life isn’t about finding yourself, Life I about
creating yourself” –Unknown
11. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE
WORLD, WHERE WOULD THAT BE?
I’m
going to visit Thailand in a few weeks – which is a place I’ve always wanted to
visit. I can’t wait to see the beauty of
the land and the people. And of course,
see what fabulous sweet treats I can taste and perhaps integrate into Local
Sugar’s menu!
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