Stephanie Horsley, a bakery and patisserie technology student at Birmingham City University and one of Dawn Foods’ 2023 student ambassadors, looks at the seasonal opportunities offered with Mother’s Day and Easter.
Prep your posies, bear your trays of bountiful breakfasts, and let’s get ready to shower one of the most important people in our lives with love! From breakfast pastries and pancakes laden with fruit toppings to beautiful buttercream bakes, be sure to sprinkle this Mothering Sunday with sweetness and build sales to help welcome spring 2023.
Bakery Beginnings
Easter eggs seem to hatch onto supermarket shelves as soon as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, and, as Mothering Sunday consistently falls three weeks prior to Easter Sunday, we are already seeing Mother’s Day gifts displayed alongside.
For bakers and caterers many sweet bakery items created for Mother’s Day will also work well for Easter which is good news because it means there’s no doubling up with ingredients. Think florals, family, and fun colours all celebrating the start of spring, lighter evenings and the end of the dark winter nights.
Breakfast Opportunities
Nothing beats breakfast in bed or out with the family for a hard-working mum. Bakers can add authentic American pancakes to their retail offering while caterers can bake them fresh to order for a sumptuous breakfast. Dawn’s Waffle Mix gives operators the flexibility to offer both pancakes or waffles from the same mix – no need to buy in additional ingredients!. Mini waffles or pancakes with chocolate or caramel dipping sauce make a great take away dessert too.
Try these ideas for divinely fruity pancakes or waffles fit for the queen of any family:
o Traditional pancakes with fruit - top with a generous dollop of natural yoghurt and a swirl of Dawn® Delifruit Classic Very Berry Fruit Filling.
o All American Blueberry - combine Dawn® Blueberry Delifruit Filling with a drizzle of lemon, for springtime zest.
o Cocktail Inspiration – offer a glass of fizz with Passionfruit waffles for breakfast.
o Savoury Twist - Add crispy chicken or bacon to pancakes along with a drizzle of Dawn’s Maple Topping Sauce for the classic American flavour combination.
A Bouquet of Bakes
Floristry sales flourish in the spring and summer months, and as bakers we can use that to our advantage. Posies of pastels and bright bouquets are quintessential Mother’s Day gifts and can also be achieved in cake form. Cupcakes decorated to resemble elegant flowers are prominent products oin social media. This can easily be achieved by piping a variety of buttercream and then combining complimentary cupcakes to create a larger, ethereal edible bouquet. Designs like these also create the perfect opportunity to reflect floral flavours for maximum impact such as Japanese cherry blossom, or lavender and lemon (another great opportunity to utilise your tub of Dawn® Delifruit Classic Lemon).
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Carry this concept through many more of the year’s milestones:
o Valentines: Buttercream frosting rose shaped cupcake designs with notes of raspberry or rose.
o Easter: White chocolate coated cake with daffodil designs.
o Summer: Passionfruit flavoured cake with Passiflore (passionflowers).
o Halloween: Frost blackberry flavoured cupcakes with black buttercream roses, or try frosting a black chrysanthemum to resemble a spider.
o Christmas: Red velvet cake with an iced poinsettia flower to finish.
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