Who is little Black Hen?

The business started off making celebration cakes after I’d rediscovered my love of baking, using eggs from our own garden reared chickens.  I couldn’t find jams I felt were nice enough to put in my cakes, so started making my own and then started making chutneys soon after that.  It all happened by accident really. As soon as I started getting requests to make cakes for people I didn’t know, I got the kitchen registered and set the business up properly. The local produce and other markets happened soon after and now I balance making cakes and the production of jams, vinegars, chutneys and curds. The business is called Little Black Hen as she was the first chicken we had.

The vinegars came about after reading an article in a magazine and storing the information in my mind. We’d gone away on holiday and just before we’d left our window cleaner unbeknownst to us had unplugged a small freezer in the garage. We had a frantic phone call from my mother in law to say the fruit in it had defrosted but was still usable. Being in Scotland we couldn’t rush home to make jam but I suddenly remembered the fruit vinegar recipes stored in my mind and set my mother in law the task of setting these off using large kilner jars I had in the house. It was an experiment but thankfully one which worked in my favour and it ensured we didn’t waste the defrosted fruit. I absolutely loved the resulting product and then did more research in to flavour combinations and expanded the range.

To find out more, visit www.littleblackhen.com