Folie á Deux

I stand in the shadows as others pass by, watching cakepops and cookies marching in line.

The mallows and brownies have all had their turn, still cheering those meringues and that buttercream swirl.

The bundts have returned like a long lost relation, to amaze and excite a new generation.

'Les Macarons' glide past, they've nothing to fear, their style imitated their presence revered.

Out in the crowd many faces are familiar, there's Peggy and Mitch and Nigel and Delia.
Mary and Paul are enjoying the show, with Nigella and Eric seated in the front row.

Their books have delighted, shown many the way, a feast of experience, a lyrical Piece Montée.

Pavlova has danced, she's a sweet inspiration, their shouting encore, there's a standing ovation.

The show's nearly over, the popcorn's been eaten, the chocolate has melted the hearts of the heathens.

The curtain will drop, soon time to go home, forgotten again, passed over, forlorn.

But wait, a commotion, a mutiny, a furore, the cronuts and duffins are invading the floor.

Careme intervenes, rushing out to the stage, 'your sort are a parody, your provenance a shame'.

He turns and he smiles 'ma cherie Antoinette, today is your turn, now let them eat cake'.

The fondant has set on this soft iced creation, the audience await, there's great expectation.

As I lift from the box my unique decoration, a 'Folie a Deux', an obsessive vocation.

A lifetime of memories, many moments of pleasure, have gone into the making of this little treasure.

On top of your cake the stage at last mine, in front of your candles I finally shine.

The audience are up, they're shouting 'hooray', for the star of this show's from the Salon Glacé!

                                                                     Rococo Rose



Antoinette Satchell copyright 2014

14 Great Off The Shelf Packaging Websites

Hi all,

Sorry it's been a while, this latest post is something that I have been wanting to write about for some time-packaging!

In the baking/cake decorating/chocolate making world it is generally accepted that cakes/chocolates are created in a recognised range of standard sizes. In turn manufacturers produce packaging and ancillary products to accommodate those sizes, for example: an 8" cake requires a 10" cake board or drum and a 10" box to transport or package it in. Chocolates are commonly produced from moulds which are specially sized so that 2/4/6/8/12/24 chocolates will fit in a standard box appropriate for the required number of chocolates and so on. With handmade cake decorations there is no such standard. The well known brands within the market such as Culpitt and Anniversary House produce cake decorations in their thousands so can afford to have bespoke packaging especially made to suit their products. For small producers such as myself this has really never been an option. My cake decorations and handmade to order in such a variety of styles and sizes that bespoke packaging for each design would not be viable as I would have to buy in large quantities; I don't sell anywhere near enough to warrant this.

As a result of this situation and in search of those elusive 'off the shelf' food safe packaging items that  might somehow miraculously fit my cake decorations like the proverbial glove, I have become something of an expert, not only in my own area of interest, but packaging in general. I have dedicated years of my life to researching packaging and presentation products for small producers, to the point where it has now become something of an obsession; I am sure I am not alone, am I?

The following is a list of some of some of my favourite packaging websites that specialise in 'off the shelf products' which cater for the needs of the small producer; some I have bought from, others I have yet to try. There is something for everyone, whether you make jam or jewellery, brew beer or bake bread, sell sweets, soaps, savoury products, clothes, chocolate or indeed cake. What I will just add, if you're only looking to buy a couple of items then I would suggest Ebay or Etsy first.or the specialist supplier sites which cater for your chosen trade.


1) www.ampulla.co.uk 
Hundreds of glass products; jars, beers bottles, essential oils, Plastic food packaging.
Packaging for cosmetics, soap, aluminium products plus lots more.

2) www.boxmart.co.uk
Great range of boxes, gift boxes, clear lid boxes, bottle boxes, floral supplies, ribbon.

2) www.buyrite.co.uk
Chocolate packaging, tissue paper,cellophane bags, greaseproof bags, transparent pvc cartons.

4) www.cakeboxesdirect.com
Large range of cake boxes, cupcake boxes, window cake boxes, doughnut boxes, disposable loaf moulds, corrugated boxes including some nice pink ones.

5) www.carnmeal.com
This one is more about presentation, fantastic range of ribbons; I am a huge fan of their organza ribbon, great value.Cellophane rolls, tiara boxes, lots of  lovely bridal products, mirror plates.

6) www.delistore.co.uk
Food packaging, deli portion pots, ice cream cups, baguette bags, custom printed greaseproof sheets

7) www.foldabox.co.uk
Elegant and stylish magnetic gift boxes in a variety of sizes and gorgeous colours.
If you're looking for luxury packaging for your products then this is it.

8) www.gadsby.co.uk
Fabulous range of products, wickers baskets and hampers;Wimbledon! wooden crates, bamboo boards,
cardboard trays and gift boxes.

9) www.jamjarshop.com.
Jam jars, lids, labels and equipment.

10) www.mashers.co.uk
Plastic food presentation containers, lidded dessert containers, gold cardboard/plastic trays; great for patisserie or present cakes at fairs and festivals.

11) www.meridiansp.co.uk
What can I say, if chocolate making is your thing then this one's for you. Amazing range of chocolate boxes in fabulous colours, clear acetate packaging, Easter egg boxes, gold/silvers cake cards in small sizes; great for little individual cakes, transparent bags. Really good prices, apart from the delivery charge which pushes things up a bit, but if you buy enough still works out at quite a good deal!

12) www.midpac.co.uk
I love this place, I have recently bought my white rope handles bags from here.
Gift boxes; again the same magnetic ones so don't forget to check the final price (vat & Delivery) to get the best deal, wedding packaging, favour boxes, laminated carrier bags, ribbon.

13) www.thewrappingranch.co.uk
Fabulous range of presentation products: gift basket, tins and trays, cello bags, premium tissue paper, frosty gift bags and patterned wash tape in a gorgeous range of designs; great for tarting up plain boxes.

14) www.widdup.co.uk
 Lots of great florist supplies that can easily be used for packaging and presentation of other products.
Personalised and stock printed paper and cellophane rolls. Currently (8/6/2014) great offer on 17cm small cube florists bag in white £0.35p each (100 min) plus vat, free delivery.

A Sweet Rebellion- Part 2

In early September 1992 I found myself standing in a queue at my local college about to enrol on a course known then as City & Guilds 706/1 or by it's title: Cookery For The Catering Industry- Part 1;  at 31 I had decided that I wanted to become a chef.

Given my previous history this might have seemed like an irrational choice. I'd all but stopped attending school,  presenting my form teacher with the same forged note whenever I returned following an absence; no one ever said anything. 
In my final year when I should have been studying for my CSEs/O'Levels I would spend my days either in Hyde Park ( on one occasion joined by my sisters who were not such regular truants) or visiting Soho. Drawn to the excitement and atmosphere in this part of London, the smell of cigars and coffee that wafted out of the Italian cafés, I would use my school dinner money to buy myself a cake from one of the Patisseries and then wander the streets until it was time to go home. On Mondays I would sneak into a neighbour's house a couple of doors along from my own; Anna was a hairdresser and Monday was always her day off. Her father was the head chef at a hotel in Victoria,  he taught her how to make the most fabulous 'Chocolate Eclairs' from Choux Paste,  she in turn taught me.

The years went by,  subsequent careers as a hairdresser and ten years as an invoice typist helped to tame my impetuous ways. I married, bought a flat, had two children and spent five years at home looking after them. Now that my eldest was about to start school it was time to stop procrastinating, it was time to get out there and learn about the one thing that I had always been passionate about, I just hadn't realised it; food.

So here I was waiting in line, little did I know that I would find myself in this very same place every September for the next five years.
Learning had become addictive, I also loved the language that was an integral part the Classical French kitchen and restaurant and by chance the one and only qualification (O'Level) gained at school. I went on to study the second part of the original course (2 years), Food and Wine Service (2 years), Patisserie (one year) and finally Larder and Cold Preparations (1 Year). Along the way I also won 'Food and Wine Service Student Of The Year', but to be honest I don't think there was much by way of competition. I was in a class with a bunch of 16 year olds that had left school that summer. Many didn't really want to be there, they weren't interested. They would turn up late or not at all, they were rude and were incapable of concentrating; what I was seeing was in fact the old me. During my time at college and for many years afterwards I worked both front and back of house in a number of areas within the hospitality industry, I absolutely loved it.

Although my business now (Salon Glacé) focuses on cake decorations made from 
sugar, I never actually studied Sugarcraft in any detail apart from a couple of lessons within the Patisserie course. During these classes I discovered that I had a talent for manipulating sugar but knew that the traditional tried and tested methods of 90s cake decorating just weren't for me. I would do things my own way, which through a range of unconventional techniques and use of edible gold lustres and other metallic colours evolved into the unique, distinctive and instantly recognisable style of cake decorating associated with Salon Glacé today.

A Sweet Rebellion- Part 1

I've always been a bit of a bad girl I'm not going to lie. Of mum and dad's seven children I'm probably the one that gave them the most grief growing up. The fact that I ended up working in the Hospitality Industry would have seemed completely unlikely some 30 years earlier given my dislike of school and in particular the cookery lessons or 'Housecraft' as it was known then.

It all came to a head one day when our cookery teacher, Miss Ballinger asked us to bring in ingredients to make something of our own choosing.
Up until then our repertoire had consisted mainly of dishes such as Vegetable Soup, Sausage Plait, Jacket Potato and a variety of Steamed Puddings, all terribly English and a little bland for my Mediterranean palate.

This was the 70s, mum was Spanish, so every other summer we would go over to visit our grandparents in Spain. We would return from the six weeks holiday with our suitcases laden with Chorizo, Jamon Serrano, Turron, Saffron and various other Spanish delicacies; it would take another three decades before some of these ingredients would be making regular appearances at British dinning tables.
The most important thing of all was of course the Olive Oil, at the time only available in the odd Soho delicatessen or in tiny bottles from some chemists. Mum always bought back a massive metal drum of the stuff, it was too precious to go in the plane's hold so she would always carry it on as hand luggage.

Anyway, mum suggested I make Empanadas de Atun, a type of pasty popular all over Spain. Like all pasties, fillings and methods of cooking vary depending on region; some people like to bake them in the oven, while others prefer to shallow fry them in the aforementioned olive oil.
My version would consist of tuna, red peppers, tomatoes, onions and a few peas. Mum prepared the filling for me the night before and put it all in a washed out Nescafé jar with a screw top lid. She gave me another jar with olive oil which when combined with flour would make a simple dough, with enough oil over to shallow fry the pasties.

Arriving at my cookery lesson, happy that I was going to make something that I would actually enjoy taking home afterwards I set about preparing the dough, 
just as mum had shown me.
Within minutes Miss Ballinger was standing next to me asking for an account of what I was planning to make. The method of making the dough, the shallow frying in olive oil, in fact the whole thing proved just a little too Avant Garde for her delicate sensibilities, she declared in her loudest voice, "that is not a proper recipe". 
Thoroughly offended I returned the insult by enquiring whether a salad consisting of "half a tomato balancing on half a hard boiled egg, masquerading as a toadstool" was?. This was something we had prepared in class a few weeks earlier, the tomato had been dotted with salad cream to resemble a toadstool which sat amongst a couple of lettuce leaves presumably like some kind of enchanted forest. By the time I got it home after an hour and a half's bus ride on the number 16 from Maida Vale to Victoria Bus Terminus  it looked anything but enchanting. Naturally we parted company, her happy never to see me again and convinced that I was "beyond help" and me happy that I would never again have to step foot inside a training kitchen... to be continued.