From the Fat Duck to doughnuts
Learning from Heston Blumenthal
Iain Baillie and his wife, Annika, are the duo behind Tantrum Doughnuts in Glasgow. Annika comes from a large Maltese family where food is at the heart of the family.
She fell into waitressing and then a career in front of house, but always had a keen interest in food. While Iain comes from Perth originally, he inherited his passion for cooking from his parents, who met working in a hotel together. He said: "They used to tell me stories, which made it sound nice.
“Food growing up was everyday things, normal stuff, but all cooked from scratch." His father now works in Scottish Enterprise and his mother runs her own biscuit and cake company. When Iain was younger, he worked alongside his mum at Gloagburn Farm shop, and then at Ballathie House hotel. After school he attended Perth college. "The head lecturer there, Ian Gibb, was really supportive of my career," he said. Next he went to Gleneagles and worked with Paul Devonshire in The Strathearn restaurant. He said: "It was fantastic, I absolutely loved it." He had first visited the hotel on a 'take your kids to work day.' He explained: "My dad didn't have the most exciting office, so he arranged for me to go and spend time there instead." It gave him a glimpse into hospitality and from that day forward, he was determined to work there.
Years later, David Cochrane, who gave him that tour, employed him at Gleneagles. He worked there for three years before successfully applying for a scholarship, funded by HIT Scotland charity, where, coincidentally, David Cochrane is now the chief executive .
Iain then went to Heston Blumenthal's Michelin three-starred The Fat Duck restaurant in Bray. He said: "A totally different world, with insane standards.” He spent time in the lab, and the chocolate room, kitchen and on the prep side. He said: "The first thing I had to do was place very thinly sliced parsnips soaked in sugar syrup on dehydrator trays, nice and neatly, but it took hours."
Initially, he went there for a month, but they offered him a once-in-alifetime job. He explained that Heston was often away building the brand, but his head pastry chef was a fellow Scot, Jocky Petrie.
Jocky was in charge of pastry and went on to become the head of development in the experimental kitchen. He said: "Everything is so precise, weight is down to a point of a gram. It was amazing, I learned so much from being exposed to that world." Howevre, it was extremely pressured, and by the end of a few years Iain was “burnt out with the pressure."
Iain and Annika, his girlfriend at this time, decided they should move to Malta, where she is from. Iain then worked at the pastry department of Hilton Malta, but, after a year or so, they moved to Glasgow. "We both felt we wanted to settle here, we love Scotland and I was missing Irn Bru."
He had done some work experience whilst at college with Darin Campbell, who was the head chef of One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow's west end.
"I asked him if he had any jobs and
I was just lucky he was looking for a pastry chef. It was nice to have my own section and it was certainly the most freedom to express myself through cooking I had ever had," he said. Annika also worked there and the couple got married at the hotel. It was at that point they started to think about owning their own company, but the couple had no formal business training.they went out for dinner at a local restaurant, Ox and Finch, and were impressed. Iain met the owner, Jonathan Macdonald, and he explained that they wanted to open their own business eventually but that they would like to learn from him and asked if he could work there. Luckily for the pair, he agreed, so they started to look at business options.
They didn't have any start-up capital, so knew they would need to start small scale, which is why they chose doughnuts. It was a core product they could become well known for, as well as being able to change the fillings and toppings. He said: "No one else was really doing it. There were definitely ones in London but nothing like it in Glasgow." They started experimenting with a popup stall in the urban market at Drygate brewery, while still working at Ox and Finch.
He said: "I had to work the day before, so Annika did the prep and we would cook throughout the night and pack them into my mini cooper and sell them before crashing out. There was quite a buzz about it." They finalised their business plan and Jonathan Macdonald even invested, taking a risk on their enterprise. They started with a small shop unit on Old Dumbarton Road which they renovated around working full-time.
They opened in 2015. Iain said: "It was exciting but absolutely exhausting because we had underestimated how much work had to go into the product to make it to our high standards. But if we were willing
to put the hours into other peoples' businesses, then why wouldn't we put them into my own enterprise to make it a success?" Luckily they went into profit quite quickly. He said: "Annika and I would work six days but on the other day we would still have to do all the preparation and the accounts. It was stressful, back to Heston hours starting at two in the morning."
They needed to work hard to be able to afford to hire more people. They outgrew the first shop and took a second one nearby, which gave them a lot more space and meant they could turn the old one into the bakery. Next they opened a shop on Gordon Street, and the cast from Still Game are known to pop in for a doughnut or two.
Tantrum Doughnuts are mixed and proved overnight, fried and decorated before being driven to the shops. Iain said: "Halloween, Christmas and Easter are massive for us and we do other special days like Starwars day."
Their best-selling doughnut is Crème Brûlée, a vanilla custard doughnut topped with sugar syrup and then blow torched like the dessert. Chocolate Millionaire and Pistachio & Hibiscus are also favourites.
They also took time to develop a vegan range of flavours, Vegan Blueberry Jam Glaze and a Peanut Butter Ring. He said: "We took it back to basics and made a vegan version of a brioche. "We get non vegans who buy it just because they are nice. I think that is the best testament." Three years ago the couple took a trip the Big Apple to visit doughnut
shops and bakeries to get inspiration. He said: "Doughnut culture over there is fascinating. It is just interesting to see how ingrained in the culture doughnuts are. We were both huge by the time we got back." Annika has been in charge of front of house but she is currently on maternity leave.
The couple welcomed baby Rory at the end of November - Annika discovered she was pregnant on the second day of lockdown. Iain said: "It was something we put on hold for a while because we had to focus on the business." D
During lockdown Tantrum closed for three months before reopening for takeaways. On the first day they closed they donated all the stock to the local food bank.
What is next for the doughnut empire? "We were planning for a big expansion before lockdown, and we are both very positive for the future, because we have a great team." More shops may be on the cards, but the nature of the product means it is too fragile a product to ship out.
He said: "Everything we make is for that day. Annika is really involved, and at the very heart of it. A lot of the original design, flavours and even the production wouldn't have happened without her." The couple are rightly very proud of the doughnut empire they have both built.
Iain said: "It has definitely been worth all the long hours."
Tantrumdoughnuts Olddumbarton Road, Yorkhill, Glasgow orders@ tantrumdoughnuts.com