Brownies by post a sweet idea for Ailsa

TREAT: Kirriemuir woman bakes more than a thousand brownies a week for customers all over Britain

An Angus woman has cooked up a recipe for business success with her mail order brownie company.

Ailsa Hayward chose to pursue her passion for cooking after being made redundant from her job in the Middle East.

She learned classic patisserie skills at the Cordon Blue school in London before setting up Artisana, a mobile patisserie run from a beautifully restored Citroen van.

The popularity of her homemade brownies at functions led to another business opportunity.

“Brownies had always been a small part of the mobile tea room but we were always being asked to send them to people,” Ailsa said.

“I realised I needed to stop saying no to people and work out a way to do it.

“It’s led me to set up the online store and now we send brownies up and down the UK.”

As well as the online business, Ailsa sells brownies at farmer’s markets. Until recently she also sold twice a week from Forfar Loch.

Earlier this year she moved her cooking operation from her home to a production kitchen in Northmuir, just outside Kirriemuir.

“I moved to the production kitchen at the start of the year, which has allowed me to cook six trays of brownies at a time,” Ailsa continued.

“I’m baking every day. “We do a lot of local markets and supply a few shops and cafes which complement the online sales.

“We sell an average of 400 brownies at a market – it astonishes me every time.

“We have a very loyal following who have spread word of mouth.

“If we come up with something wacky then they’re keen to try it.”

The most popular flavour of brownie is sea salted caramel, which recently won a Great Taste award along with two other flavours — Belgian chocolate and liquorice and blackcurrant.

Picture: Kim Cessford Ailsa with some of her artisan brownies.