The day for our launch at the first market - Brightleigh Farm - is approaching rapidly. The dreams about scone riots are beginning to recede and I've practised my curtsey for Dame Judi Dench if she shows up at the market tomorrow. We have prepared as much as we possibly can and the van is being pampered today to help her confidence when she makes her debut!
I have a tonne of scones in my kitchen from practising all week and my children have been delighted to be greeted with scones as an after-school snack. Everyone has been so supportive and I have been grateful for the reviews on Facebook of our test scones:
"much better than shop-bought"
"delicious"
"The taste is superb and the texture perfect"
My biggest challenge this week has been converting from an electric fan oven to a gas oven. Luckily, there is a lot of brilliant advice on the internet about how to adjust. The scones have steadily improved and I'm starting to get into my groove baking in a small space. Some of the best advice has been to keep rotating the scone trays and use lighter colour baking trays. As a gas oven heats up quite quickly, you also need to be super-vigilant as one minute you have an unbaked scone and then the next minute they have turned a deathly shade of black. I'm confident though that me and my new oven will soon make friends and understand each other perfectly.
In fact, it has been quite a meditative experience cocooned in the warm van with BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs on in the background. As it has been so cold outside, I've really enjoyed the warmth. The weather forecast for tomorrow, however, is 21 degrees so I'm hoping I won't get too hot. It's fortunate that I love the heat and all the windows will be open!
I'm looking forward to baking for people tomorrow. Look out for my photos and don't forget to follow us at mel_and_her_marvellous_cakes on Instagram.