‘My Hot Cross Fudge is a winner!’
‘At the age of 30, I found myself back home with my mum’
Donna Bradley, 34, from Dumfries, Scotland, started creating her own sweets to help her through illness. Now she’s making a living with her home-made delights.
‘The pot is bubbling on the stove and my kitchen is filled with the spicy, fruity aromas of Easter as I set to work on the latest batch of my ever-popular Hot Cross Fudge. It takes around six hours from start to finish to make just 15 bags of fudge, but it’s so rewarding when customers tell me they love my sweets.
I’ve always had a sweet tooth. I had a Saturday job working in a sweet shop and I’d spend most of my wages on the pick ’n’ mix. When I was 14, I developed the inflammatory bowel disease Crohn’s, which severely limits my diet. Sugar is one of the few foods that doesn’t make the symptoms worse, so I always carried sweets with me.
I loved my work as a psychiatric nurse, but the Crohn’s and a back injury meant I had to give it up, and at the age of 30, I found myself back home with my mum.
I always complained about the e-numbers and synthetic flavourings in sweets, so my sister bought me a recipe book. “Now you can make your own,” she said.
I got to work, tweaking recipes and adding my own flavours. My favourite was a coffee fudge, and I always made sure I had a tray on the go. Friends tried it and said it was so good I should try selling it.
I looked at potential competitors and sent out samples via a friend’s business, along with a questionnaire, which found that an amazing 90% would buy my sweets. It gave me the confidence to go for it. I decided to launch in April 2014 to tie in with the tax year, making it easier for me to do the accounts. I spent £100 on sugar thermometers, baking trays, recyclable packaging and all-natural ingredients.
To celebrate Easter, I developed my Hot Cross Fudge, flavoured with spices and real fruit. I started a Twitter account under the name
I’d chosen, Wee Sweetie – I’m small and Scottish, so it seemed right. I tweeted, ‘This is what I’m making today’ and added a picture. The response was amazing. I sold 150 bags at £3.50 each to customers all over the world, especially when an influential blogger gave it rave reviews. I could hardly believe it.
Each batch only stays fresh for a few weeks, so I’d be up cooking in the middle of the night in the small kitchen at my mum’s house to meet demand. Cutting, weighing and packing all take time, then I’d be back and forth to the post office to send off the orders.
I posted a full menu on my Twitter account, including fudges, boiled sweets, brittles and lollipops, and added seasonal limitededition sweets, such as gingerbread fudge.
To get out of the house and receive instant reactions, I started going to fairs and farmers’ markets, too. I loved seeing someone’s face when they tried my treacle toffee, which reminded them of their childhood… and the change from scepticism to pleasure when they tried my bacon brittle!
On my second Easter, I sold 1,200 bags of my Hot Cross Fudge, and I carried on experimenting with new flavour combinations. This year, I have real gin boiled sweets for adults and meringue fudge for the kids! I also offer personalised products, where customers can choose the colour, flavour and name of their sweets. I’m expecting to turn over £30,000 this year.’