Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

One of the great things about owning your own business is collaborating with other small indy businesses…everyone loves a good collab and ‘collab-ing’ we will be doing lots over the course of July and beyond. We’ve teamed up with some lovely talented Didsbury-based businesses, Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe and Laura Coleman Flowers to hold a schedule of fab classes in our tea room over the coming months.

Take a little looksy below at what we’ve got in store and then get booking (we suggest you don’t hang around as these things tend to sell out sharpish!)

Vintage Fascinator Classes – 5^th & 12^th July 2011

A fantastic course run by Nicola Wellard of Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe, bespoke bridal accessories designer

You will craft your own beautiful headpieces just in time for all those summer events over the joys of tea and cake. The double session workshop takes place on Tuesday 5^th July and Tuesday 12^th July from 9.30-11.30am. and costs £40.00 – this includes all tea, cake and materials .

For more info, or to book, please:
email nicolawellard@hotmail.co.uk
visit www.silver-sixpence-in-her-shoe.co.uk

Classes for the Florally Curious

We have teamed up with Laura of Laura Coleman flowers fame to hold a series of classes for the florally curious – perfect for flower lovers across the land.

The first class entitled ‘Vintage blooms inspired by baking’ takes place on 14^th July 2011 at 6.30pm (although there will be many more classes taking place for the rest of the year)

The class costs £35 for two hours starting at 6.30pm including tea or coffee, cakes and blooms.

We provide:

• Tea and cake on arrival, naturally
• All the things you’ll need
• Blooms, right posh ones, like the ones you see at nice weddings
• Pinnies and scissors for you to borrow so you look the part

You leave with:

• Your floral creation
• Secrets from the floral world (and you can’t put a price on that quite frankly!)
• Newly found skills and knowledge
• A little surprise from the Flower Lady and The Baker

To book the class which satisfies your floral curiosity: you can book below call Laura on 07941 888654

email on laura@lauracolemanflowers.co.uk

online at http://www.lauracolemanflowers.co.uk/courses

Some of you may remember we had our first foray into Afternoon Tea earlier in the year when we marked Wills & Kate’s nuptials with a Royal version of this quintessentially English treat.

Well, it went down a storm with the good people of Didsbury, with lots of our lovely customers asking us when it would
become a permanent feature on our menu. So we listened and we’re pleased to announce that from Saturday 18^th June we will be serving afternoon tea every weekend from 1pm.

The menu speaks for itself and all our little delicacies will be served on hand-made china cake tiers which are lovingly assembled by Helen Mather a local craftsperson.

You can also indulge in our fab tea range to wash down all those sweet treats. From our trusty fair-trade tea everyday brew to beautiful loose leaf black tea scented with rose, from the Leaf Company.

There aren’t that many options for afternoon tea in Manchester outside of the large hotels so we’re hoping we can provide a top-notch serving of cakey delights but in a slightly more relaxed and fun environment! Come down and sample for yourself!

You may remember back in February, Topshop opened their arms to us cake-baking folk and invited us to do a pop-up stall inside their Arndale store. Well, turns out they love cake so much that they’ve invited us back again, and how could we not jump at the chance to join Britain’s leading retailer?! Dedicating some of their precious floor space to us little’uns is a real compliment, and we’re so pleased that Topshop share our passion for encouraging local businesses. Our special Dish and Spoon counter can be found there until 28^th May, serving up all our usual delectations from cupcakes to brownies, with something for every kind of sweet tooth! So, as if you needed any more reason to get to Topshop – now you can support your local, independent cakery too!

Besides our Topshop goings-on, we’ve still got plenty on offer over in West Didsbury. If our even wider selection of cake doesn’t do it for you (if this is the case, then we might have been spoiling you for too long!), then hopefully our ever-expanding tea collection will. Newly arrived in the shop are our loose leaf teas, in three delicious flavours, Chamomile, Rose-Scented Black Tea, and Chamomile Flower Infusion – all served up in rather snazzy glass teapots (oooh!). All are available to buy, beautifully packaged, in the shop, snuggled in next to our range of vintage cake stands. Afternoon tea at home anyone?

Hope all you cake-loving-bods are well!

Lots of Love, Dish & Spoon HQ xx

Outgoing, fun, cake-loving individuals wanted part-time and casual sales assistant roles with ‘And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon’, a small independent bakery & teashop based in Manchester. The role will be based at our tearoom on Burton Rd in West Didsbury

If you share our passion for great cake and all things baking related, have lots of experience of dealing with the public and a sunny disposition then we would love to hear from you.

Ideally you will:

• Have experience of dealing with joe public and can demonstrate great customer service skills
• Be able to bake and be comfortable following baking recipes when required
• Be passionate about baking and good food in general
• Be flexible about your wrok hours (some shifts will be at weekends)
• Be able to work on your own initiative

In return we will offer:

• Good rates of pay
• Nice working environment
• Free cake

Email Anna [hello@dishandspoonfood.co.uk] telling her why you’d be great for the job and attach your CV. References will be required for the successful applicant

Visit www.dishandspoonfood.co.uk for more information on who we are and what we do.

OK so when we first heard about the Royal Wedding, our first reaction was …“no way we’ll be jumping on that bandwagon!” anyway as time has gone on we’ve come to appreciate the event for all its cheesy and kitsch potential and so… we’ve done a complete U-turn and we’ll be donning our union jack bunting etc. with the best of them.

In order to celebrate Wills & Kate (sorry Catherine)’s nuptials, we’ll be serving a ‘Royal Afternoon Tea’ on the Day of the Royal Wedding. Served on commemorative Charles & Diana and Kate & Wills cake plates, the afternoon tea will consist of a selection of yummy cakes, mini sandwiches and chocolate dipped strawberries. All washed down with pitchers of our delightful summer drinks range including homemade lemonade, strawberry mint cooler. We will also be selling our usual cake selection from the cake counter including some ‘royal’d-up’ cakes and cupcakes.

Aside from this, expect framed pics of Liz & Philip, more union jacks than you can shake a stick at (and if we manage to rig it up properly) the whole event televised right here (ha ha!)

Sooo, its nearly time for the first bank holiday … woop de woop! Quite frankly easter for a cake shop is a dream come true! We’ve got a whole load of stuff for you to to stuff your faces with over the holiday period. Naturally, we’ve got the obligatory chocolate action (think bespoke easter cupcakes, homemade chocolate swirled meringues and our very popular peppermint creams) but we’ve also got some lovely treats for those who will want some respite from all the chocolate overload. We’ll be serving up hot-cross scones (our twist on the Easter favourite) every day throughout the Easter holidays and easter biscuits that simply melt in your mouth (they taste seriously good with a brew!)

What’s more.. we will be serving up our Easter mini cupcakes in lovely giftwrapped eggboxes – perfect gifts for your nearest and dearest!

We will also be selling all our Easter wares at the West Didsbury Farmers Market at Withington Hospital on 23^rd April … looking forward to seeing you there!

When we were looking for a place to set-up shop, and ultimately call ‘home’ for And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon, if we’re completely honest ‘community’ probably wasn’t no.1 on the shopping list. Footfall, good rent, right target market were all things that we frantically ticked (or not) of our list when we viewed each property (we viewed many…we were searching for 2 years!). However, since opening our doors 6 months ago, we’ve come to realise just how important a local and independent business community is to the survival of a business and what a fab thing it is to be part of.

Nowhere is independent spirit more prevalent than on Burton Road in West Didsbury … you will struggle to find a more diverse, interesting and unique set of businesses crammed into such a small cross-section of roads in Manchester. Westfest (organised by the fab Didbsury Life) is the much-loved yearly festival knees up that takes place on the road and it epitomises all that is best about places like West Didsbury and why residents and businesses alike choose to live and work here.

When we heard about a threat to all of the above in the form of a proposed residents parking scheme, naturally we were worried. The implications of the council’s proposed scheme are wide-reaching and go far beyond the simple goal of residents being able to park easily outside their own homes.

The ultimate consequence of such a scheme could be a serious reduction in visitors to the area, closure of businesses, empty retail units and the loss of vitality and spirit that makes West Didsbury what it is.

Please read more about this scheme at www.savewestdidsbury.com and fill in the consultation form online. Alternatively pop in and see Helen & Pete at Didsbury Life for more info. Your opinion and voice will make a difference.

Thanks!

P.S. We’re not serious very often but we thought this warranted a ‘serious voice’ this time. More light-hearted on the next blog … promise!

We can’t quite believe it’s Mothers Day already (its nearly time to be packing away those big old woolly socks and bring out the

‘spring jacket’).  This year we’ve decided to go the whole hog and create a range of cakey products and gifts especially for spoiling your mum rotten.

On the cake front, we’ll be serving lots of yummy cakes from mini Victoria sponges to bespoke mothers day cupcakes, cream teas and a lovely selection of yummy tarts. We will also be debuting our luxury pudding cupcake range in the shop – these bad boys aren’t any old cupcakes … think lemon meringue pie, pecan pie & chocolate brownie – perfect for that decadent gift for mum!

All these wares will be available to eat-in or takeaway on Saturday 2^nd and Sunday 3^rd April from our shop on Burton Road, West Didsbury or via the website.

We’re also really rather giddy about our gift range this year! We’ll be selling some fab locally-made cake stands in beautiful mismatched designs (so beautiful in fact that we all wanted one when they arrived!) and teacup candles (in lavender, sweet pea & rose!)

And finally …we’re running a competition with Didsbury Life to win afternoon tea for you and your mum on Sunday 3^rd April. www.didsburylife.com – keep an eye on their site it will be going live soon!!

We’ve just spent 3 days immersed in all things weddings!

First stop on Friday was Katie’s wedding at the fabulous Didsbury House (we got a little emotional
here as this was wedding night accommodation back in 2009 for a particular master baker round these parts!).

Then we spent an absolutely lovely Saturday in the company of some of West Didsbury’s best wedding suppliers from The wonderful White Closet to Jonny Draper and Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe. The venue (Rhubarb restaurant on Burton Road) was relaxed and intimate and the weather was perfect. The event was a true celebration of lovely independent businesses working together to create something really inspiring and ace to be a part of!

We did it all over again at the fab Great John Street Hotel in Manchester on Sunday and met some truly lovely couples whose appetite for wedding afternoon teas seemed to be well and truly whet! Check out the model in a fab dress taking tea and cake in our lovely tea room!!

Seems people love cake and as such we are getting a little bit rushed off our feet these days. What’s more, the lovely peeps at Topshop have asked to pop-up at their Manchester Arndale store more regularly (in fact every weekend) from now on so all this means we need some more lovely, cake loving individuals to join our team.

We have 2 positions (but possibly more) to fill and we’ve listed all the necessary criteria below. If you think you might our man (or woman!) then please get in touch.

Cupcake Baker

Experienced, enthusiastic cupcake baker wanted for a part-time role at And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon, a small independent bakery & tea shop based in West Didsbury, Manchester.

If you share our love of cake, have experience of baking beautifully presented and creatively produced cupcakes, then we would like to hear from you.

Ideally you will:
Have experience of baking cupcakes on a medium to large scale
Have experience of decorating large numbers of cupcakes and be meticulous and creative in your approach to decoration and recipe development
Have experience of working within a commercial kitchen
Have a passion for baking and good food & drink
Work well under pressure & to a deadline
Be comfortable baking other yummy treats as well as cupcakes!
Have an understanding of the Northwest food & drink scene

In return we will offer:
A competitive salary
Career progression
Free cake!

Topshop Cupcake Concession Staff

Outgoing, fun, cake-loving individual wanted for a part-time sales assistant with ‘And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon’, a small independent bakery & teashop based in Manchester. The role will be based at our new city centre concession in Topshop, Manchester Arndale Centre.

If you share our passion for great cake and all things baking related and have lots of experience of dealing with the public then we would love to hear from you.

Ideally you will:

Have experience of dealing with joe public and can demonstrate great customer service skills
Be passionate about baking and good food in general
Be able to work on Fridays & Saturdays from 10am-6.30pm
Be able to work on your own initiative
Have your own transport & clean driving licence

In return we will offer:
Good rates of pay
Nice working environment (although resisting all those clothes every week might be a challenge!)
Free cake

For both positions, please email Anna [hello@dishandspoonfood.co.uk] stating which position you are applying for & tell us why you’d be great for the job and attach your CV. References will be required for the successful applicant

P.S. Last-time we were a little bit swamped with applications when we recruited, so we will try to respond but apologies in advance if we don’t!!