When Siobhan Casey needed money to buy a fridge, there was just one thing for it: “I sold my car,” she says simply. “But if you really want the business, you’ll sacrifice anything.”
Though we should point out that we’re not talking about any run-of-the-mill fridge-freezer here but a retro-style Smeg in baby blue – just one of the details that makes Primrose Cottage Cakes in Gorey such a slice of ’50s’ heaven.
Slip up a staircase off Esmonde Street and you’re back to a by-gone era, where Buddy Holly, bunting and, most importantly, baking, reign supreme – from luscious lemon layer cakes with fluffy butter cream and tang-tastic curd to more nostalgic tea bracks, bakewell tarts, jammy dodgers and even Prince William rocky road, made to the same recipe as the “groom’s cake” served at his 2011 wedding to Kate Middleton.
And it’s clearly a labour of love – Siobhan starts at 6.30am on weekdays and even 4am on Saturdays. She jokes that if she was married, she’d probably be divorced by now.
From Ballygarrett, she originally studied applied biology and worked in the pharmaceutical industry for several years, but always had a passion for baking wedding and celebration cakes for family and friends in her spare time.
However, if not for a shock redundancy in 2010, she may never have followed her dream.
“I would probably never have had the nerve to leave the nine to five if I hadn’t been made redundant,” says Siobhan. “I believe it was fate.”
Availing of the back-to-work enterprise allowance, one of Siobhan’s first decisions was to do a professional cake maker diploma in London with Peggy Porschen, whose creations have featured in A-list events from the weddings of Kate Moss and Stella McCartney to Elton John’s white tie and tiara ball.
“She gave us a good few recipes that we all had to sign contracts for, stating that we wouldn’t re-print them,” adds Siobhan.
(So there goes our hope of getting the secret to her chocolate temptation cake.)
While Siobhan started baking cakes to order at home, her dream was to run her own tea room. Completing a start-your-own-business course, she was granted over €5,000 by Wexford Local Development for a new oven and mixer, with an additional €7,000 borrowed from the bank to buy a professional coffee machine and cover renovation costs after agreeing a five-year lease on an upstairs premises on Esmonde St – the so-called Grafton St of Gorey – in August 2012.
And it was all hands on deck – her father Mattie, a retired store manager with Glanbia in Kilmuckridge, made all her tables and cabinets – to open in November. There are three main elements to Primrose Cottage Cakes: the tea room, bespoke cakes for weddings and celebrations and vintage tea parties, which, at just €20 a head, are especially popular with hen parties.
But as idyllic as it looks, it’s hard work. Siobhan’s average working day is 12 to 13 hours and while she has part-time staff on Saturdays, everything else falls to her.
“But I’d never work for somebody else now,” she states. “I’d rather do 13 hours myself than eight hours for somebody else.”
After two years in business, however, she’s confident about 2015, with plans to expand her kitchen and open a wedding cake showroom, as well as employ a full-time staff member. Not to mention new wheels after trading in the last set for that fridge.
“A van,” she qualifies. “To deliver cakes."
Treat your Valentine
250g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Icing sugar for dusting
Raspberry preserve
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.Place the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a mixing bowl and cream together until smooth and creamy in texture.Beat the egg lightly in another bowl and slowly add to the butter mixture while whisking until well incorporated.Sift in the flour and mix until the dough just comes together. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes or until the dough feels firm and cool.Place the dough on a floured surface and knead briefly.Roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately 3-4mm. Using a large round cookie cutter, cut out 30 round shapes. Using a small heart cookie cutter, cut the centres from 15 of the round shapes and place them onto the prepared baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.Once the biscuits are baked, let them rest for about 30 minutes outside of the oven.To assemble the biscuits: Spread one teaspoon of raspberry preserve evenly over the whole round biscuit. Lightly dust the hollow heart biscuits with icing sugar and place one on top of each of the whole round biscuits spread with preserve.Note: The mini hearts cut out with the cookie cutter can also be baked and used as mini cookies to serve with tea and coffee.
Primrose Cottage Cakes, 14A Lower Esmonde St, Gorey, Co Wexford | Tel: 087- 7784-124 | Web: www.primrosecottagecakes.com
When Siobhan Casey needed money to buy a fridge, there was just one thing for it: “I sold my car,” she says simply. “But if you really want the business, you’ll sacrifice anything.”
Though we should point out that we’re not talking about any run-of-the-mill fridge-freezer here but a retro-style Smeg in baby blue – just one of the details that makes Primrose Cottage Cakes in Gorey such a slice of ’50s’ heaven.
Slip up a staircase off Esmonde Street and you’re back to a by-gone era, where Buddy Holly, bunting and, most importantly, baking, reign supreme – from luscious lemon layer cakes with fluffy butter cream and tang-tastic curd to more nostalgic tea bracks, bakewell tarts, jammy dodgers and even Prince William rocky road, made to the same recipe as the “groom’s cake” served at his 2011 wedding to Kate Middleton.
And it’s clearly a labour of love – Siobhan starts at 6.30am on weekdays and even 4am on Saturdays. She jokes that if she was married, she’d probably be divorced by now.
From Ballygarrett, she originally studied applied biology and worked in the pharmaceutical industry for several years, but always had a passion for baking wedding and celebration cakes for family and friends in her spare time.
However, if not for a shock redundancy in 2010, she may never have followed her dream.
“I would probably never have had the nerve to leave the nine to five if I hadn’t been made redundant,” says Siobhan. “I believe it was fate.”
Availing of the back-to-work enterprise allowance, one of Siobhan’s first decisions was to do a professional cake maker diploma in London with Peggy Porschen, whose creations have featured in A-list events from the weddings of Kate Moss and Stella McCartney to Elton John’s white tie and tiara ball.
“She gave us a good few recipes that we all had to sign contracts for, stating that we wouldn’t re-print them,” adds Siobhan.
(So there goes our hope of getting the secret to her chocolate temptation cake.)
While Siobhan started baking cakes to order at home, her dream was to run her own tea room. Completing a start-your-own-business course, she was granted over €5,000 by Wexford Local Development for a new oven and mixer, with an additional €7,000 borrowed from the bank to buy a professional coffee machine and cover renovation costs after agreeing a five-year lease on an upstairs premises on Esmonde St – the so-called Grafton St of Gorey – in August 2012.
And it was all hands on deck – her father Mattie, a retired store manager with Glanbia in Kilmuckridge, made all her tables and cabinets – to open in November. There are three main elements to Primrose Cottage Cakes: the tea room, bespoke cakes for weddings and celebrations and vintage tea parties, which, at just €20 a head, are especially popular with hen parties.
But as idyllic as it looks, it’s hard work. Siobhan’s average working day is 12 to 13 hours and while she has part-time staff on Saturdays, everything else falls to her.
“But I’d never work for somebody else now,” she states. “I’d rather do 13 hours myself than eight hours for somebody else.”
After two years in business, however, she’s confident about 2015, with plans to expand her kitchen and open a wedding cake showroom, as well as employ a full-time staff member. Not to mention new wheels after trading in the last set for that fridge.
“A van,” she qualifies. “To deliver cakes."
Treat your Valentine
250g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Icing sugar for dusting
Raspberry preserve
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.Place the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a mixing bowl and cream together until smooth and creamy in texture.Beat the egg lightly in another bowl and slowly add to the butter mixture while whisking until well incorporated.Sift in the flour and mix until the dough just comes together. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes or until the dough feels firm and cool.Place the dough on a floured surface and knead briefly.Roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately 3-4mm. Using a large round cookie cutter, cut out 30 round shapes. Using a small heart cookie cutter, cut the centres from 15 of the round shapes and place them onto the prepared baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.Once the biscuits are baked, let them rest for about 30 minutes outside of the oven.To assemble the biscuits: Spread one teaspoon of raspberry preserve evenly over the whole round biscuit. Lightly dust the hollow heart biscuits with icing sugar and place one on top of each of the whole round biscuits spread with preserve.Note: The mini hearts cut out with the cookie cutter can also be baked and used as mini cookies to serve with tea and coffee.
Primrose Cottage Cakes, 14A Lower Esmonde St, Gorey, Co Wexford | Tel: 087- 7784-124 | Web: www.primrosecottagecakes.com
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