New Recruits

Here in the Cakery, we have some new recruits! Don't worry, we haven't grown so much that we've got a huge new workforce, just 2 new (furry!) product tasters called Hamish and Hettie.

They are both unbelievably cute (if a little naughty) and are providing hours of entertainment for us all. Very importantly, they both LOVE cake so they're pretty happy in their new home.

Christmas is Coming

I know it's only September and I know some of you may not want to think about Christmas yet but I learnt last year (my first Christmas in business) that Christmas prep' starts early in this game! Very early! So, this week I started making first batches of my Sugar Plum Fairy Pudding (which won a Gold Great Taste Award, remember!) 


I've already had pre-orders through for my puds, some from customers who loved them last year and some are for new customers, which is great. I am absolutely loving making the puds again-they have the most gorgeous smell as they cook away in the bottom of the Aga and they're relatively simple to make-all I need is my huge mixing bowl my Gran gave me and a spoon-very retro!


In other news, I've just been on a fabulous trip to York and enjoyed an amazing Afternoon Tea at the wonderful Bettys (see pictures of their lovely shop window below).

Fenwick of Newcastle

I'm very excited to announce that you can now buy a range of our products in the Food Hall at Fenwick of Newcastle! I'll be doing a tasting session to officially launch the products on Saturday 3 September and I'm  really looking forward to it as I absolutely love the Food Hall -it's full of some gorgeous things, including some really great products from other small, local producers. Come along and say hi if you're out and about in Newcastle tomorrow!

Olive Magazine

We're very excited here at the Scarlett and the Spotty Dog Cakery as we're in Olive Magazine this month (October issue)! Attached below is a link to the picture in the article (the Spotty Dog looks exceptionally sweet!). The article is all about people who've 'ditched their day job and turned their passion into a profession' and I was one of the lucky 5 who got to talk to Emily Kerrigan about my business. Excerpts from the article are below but go and grab yourself a copy of the brilliant mag for loads of great recipes, restaurants and food related travel pieces!

The biscuit maker

Armed with a knack for baking and

a mascot in the form of her pet Jack

Russell, Rebecca Scarlett Hedley gave

up life as a lawyer to start Scarlett & the

Spotty Dog Cakery in 2010. Within

months, delis were selling out of the

old-fashioned goodies she’d baked in her

family’s Northumberland farmhouse.

1 Be true to yourself

I was 26 when I started my biscuit

business. It took nerve to concede

that after years spent qualifying, law

wasn’t the creative role I craved. If I’d

listened to doubters telling me the market

was saturated, I would have lost faith. But

I knew my brownies and flapjacks would

stand out because I used free-range eggs

from my hens and best-quality chocolate,

and wrapped my biccies with scarlet

ribbons and spotty-dog stickers.

2 Accept all offers of help

My family was fantastic. My

parents suggested I move home

and run the business from their country

farmhouse – I earned my keep helping

with DIY. My brother, an accountant,

offered gratefully received advice.

3Set achievable targets

I stuck to small goals – the first

was persuading my favourite local

café to sell my biscuits. Bit by bit, word

spread and the Spotty Dog made its way

onto deli shelves across Northumberland.

The ultimate dream is to open my own

shop – in the meantime I’m slowly

working my way further south.

4 Get online

The internet is a tremendous tool.

The biscuits are sold in cafés as a

direct result of contacts made on Twitter,

and two of my biggest stockists – loveyour

larder.com and notonthehighstreet.com

– are online retailers. I only wish I’d had

the confidence to approach them sooner.

5 Get the right kit

I struggled to meet demand with

my little Kenwood mixer but with

support from a brilliant small regional

business fund I’ve been able to invest in

an industrial-sized one. Everything else is

the same – me, my ethics and my dog

– except that these days, the baking sheets

are bigger and the order book a bit fatter

Olive Magazine October 2011

Scarlett and the Spotty Dog in the Journal

We hope you might have spotted us in our local paper, the Journal, very recently! Their Food and Drink Editor did a lovely piece talking about Great Taste Award winners in the area and also wrote a full page spread using several of my very own recipes. Links to the articles are attached below and there are going to be lots more exciting press coming up shortly (I'll keep you all posted!). 





The Stars of the 2011 Great Taste Awards
Summer Cakes and Tray Bakes

A Lovely New Stockist

I just wanted to bring you up to date with a lovely new stockist. We have started supplying the truly brilliant little village shop in Humshaugh, Northumberland. What’s special about this shop is that it’s run by the community for their community. A few years ago, the newsagents and general store was saved from shut down when the previous owners decided to retire following the controversial closure of the in store Post Office. The multi award winning shop is now run by enthusiastic volunteers from the village and sells a great range of products, from the essentials like bread and milk to truly local produce grown by keen gardeners from the village. The shop has such a lovely, bright and welcoming atmosphere-well worth a visit if you’re in the area (just don’t forget to buy one of my cakes....!

Great Taste Awards 2011

Just a quick update to share some very exciting news. I found out this week that we've been awarded 2 Gold Great Taste Awards in the 2011 GTA and we're absolutely delighted! We won the awards for our Proud to be Ginger Nuts and our Sugar Plum Fairy Christmas Pudding (which the judges described as 'excellent'). We are all really chuffed with these results and it feels like a big pat on the back!