We often say ‘there’s always room for pudding’, and the idea that we have a second stomach when it comes to dessert is never truer than at Christmas time. For Simply Better producers, Hassetts Bakery and Simply Inish, who specialise in designing and baking first class desserts, this time of year presents an opportunity to create a sweet course which excites people. And for us…well, we enjoy eating them.

The success of Hassetts Bakery is 40 years in the making – or, in the baking. Michael Hassett established his artisan bakery in 1984, and four decades later, Hassetts has grown into a household name in both wholesale and retail baking. The business now operates from a production facility in Carrigaline, Co Cork. They also have their retail shop in Douglas Court Shopping Centre.

Business development manager, Noreen Foley, who is with Hassetts for 16 years, says that she has witnessed a seismic shift in cake production at the bakery. “It has been a huge transition from us producing small volumes to producing in volume.

We had to change from artisan to semi-automated, but we keep the tradition, and we are maintaining the artisan feel and look of the product, and the taste and the flavours. All the desserts are handmade.”

There are two sides to Hassetts Bakery, explains Noreen. The ambient side involving the production of luxury biscuits, cookies and crackers; and then they also specialise in chilled desserts and seasonal baking. It is this side of the business, that “offers something different and new” and that led to a partnership with Simply Better, explains Noreen.

Something unique

Hassetts Bakery is a new supplier with Simply Better this year. The brands connected in January 2024 and decided to work on a Black Forest gâteau in time for this Christmas. “I think we did a lot of the groundwork in 2024 and it was really about building the cake in the right way for Christmas 2025,” Noreen remarks.

“In 2024, we hadn’t quite got the Black Forest gâteau to where we wanted it to be. When you’re making something by hand, you can overthink it. Together with the Simply Better team, we stripped the building of it back a little bit, but produced what is a very unique Black Forest gâteau,” says Noreen,

“The Simply Better team put the work in to get what they want. Their brief is precise. They know what they want. They’re clear with where they’re going and what their journey is. I have to take my hat off to them. This is just a brilliant result.”

This is a rich Black Forest gâteau with a black cherry compote and white chocolate cream mousse. And the ethos – if you do something, do it well – very much applies to this decadent dessert. It’s a classic recipe with a couple of twists that make it stand out.

“The twist is that we’ve created the Black Forest gâteau with a white chocolate cream mousse, rather than it actually just being a fresh cream,” Noreen explains. “The white chocolate cream mousse has extended the shelf life and it’s delicious.

“Some people may not purchase a Black Forest gâteau because they think of fresh cream and a shelf life and how long it’s going to last. This one has a two or three-day shelf life.

“The chocolate sponge has a very thin layer of chocolate wrapped around it, which is quite unique and just holds in all the flavour.”

Simply Inish

Like Hassetts Bakery, Simply Inish is a new supplier to Simply Better. In September of this year, the family business based in Malin, Co Donegal launched their twin Simply Better Handmade Strawberry & Vanilla Cheesecakes and twin Simply Better Handmade Lemon Curd & Vanilla Cheesecakes on the shelves.

Owner Joseph Doherty explains that the business not only worked with Simply Better on perfecting their new twin cheesecakes but also on designing their new factory where the luxury desserts are produced.

“Simply Inish started out as a farm diversification project around 1994,” says Joseph, who bought the company from the previous owners when they retired in 2009. “In 2021, we got a new facility.”

It was around this time that Simply Inish met with the Simply Better team. “They had ideas where they would want to go with desserts,” Joseph continues.

“We had a new facility coming along, and we put all the expertise together, and they helped us with some of the requirements that were needed in the design input.”

In 2024, Simply Inish moved into their new state-of-the-art dedicated food production facility, located just a few miles from Malin Head. A larger facility meant that they could grow their operations and also deliver to “a much higher standard”, according to Joseph. It’s been four long years of hard work, but the result is “restaurant quality desserts”.

“These are two ready-to-serve cheesecakes,” explains Joseph. “You have two nice, delicious cheesecakes, and all you have to do is lift the lid off them.

“We spent a lot of time working on the design of the cheesecake to get it as clean and as natural as possible. We didn’t want generic ingredients. We wanted it bespoke.

“Cheesecake generally combines a biscuit base, a cheesecake centre and a topping. In our case, the biscuit base is a crumbly one made by O’Donnells Bakery in Donegal, exclusively for this product. The crumbly biscuit is mixed with Irish creamery butter.”

For the cheesecake centre, Simply Inish use a Dunnes Stores double cream and a natural cream cheese made in Donegal. All the flavourings are completed “from scratch” using “raw ingredients”, adds Joseph.

One key objective with the cheesecakes was to ensure they were “an easy eat,” as Joseph puts it.

“Often after you’ve eaten a large meal, the dessert can be can be too heavy, especially at Christmas. We’ve engineered out that problem and this is a very silky cheesecake that are very light to eat. That’s was how they’re made, and we’ve had a huge amount of positive feedback.

“It’s good to have options too,” he adds, “because within the family, everyone around the table has different requirements and different palates.”

For a family-run business like Simply Inish, it was a “very proud moment to see our product tasting and looking so well” on shelf.

“Simply Better will go over and beyond to help you. They worked with us in the actual design and layout of the new food facility, in conjunction with running with the product as well.

“They offered that help and expertise to us, which was great from a large retailer, to get the facility right while also getting the product right.”