To market, to market, to sell some loaves of bread, I hope!

After becoming somewhat addicted to baking sourdough bread, I realised I'd finally hit upon a way to make my lifelong dream of setting up my own business in the hills a reality.

I'd been taking each week's sourdough attempts into work for sampling. They're a bunch of real foodies so I knew they'd be a tough audience. I thought some people's noses would turn up at the mention of rye, but adding spices such as cumin and cinnamon seemed to do the trick, with  everyone lining up for a try. After the first couple of weeks I got my first customer and then another, and I started putting a jar out for donations to cover the costs. It was great getting feedback from everyone and a real confidence booster, everyone was so interested in how it was made, it was great to be able to answer everyone's questions and realise just how much I'd learned in the short space of time I'd been baking bread. Even been asked if I can teach them how to make it themselves. Couldn't have asked for a better start!

And so it was I decided to take the next step and book onto Virtuous Bread's Bread Angels Course. This is a course for all those looking to set up their very own home baking business. It was a fantastic two days with the wonderful Rosie Clark and Lisa Wilson up in Kensal Rise. I was so inspired to see how far they'd come in the time since they themselves had taken the Bread Angels course. It was also really interesting to meet the other attendees and find out their stories and where they were on their own bread baking journeys.

During the course Rosie mentioned that a new start-up market had been in touch and had a vacancy on a stall if any of us would like to take the offer up. I couldn't get my hand in the air fast enough. And sure enough a week later I was put in touch with Hannah Whelan of Kilburn to Kensal Winter Market. A few emails and a phone call later it was agreed - I was to have my own section on a stall at the market for the next two Saturdays! There wasn't much time for shock and amazement, the first stall was just two days away.

My bread making experience was pretty limited to the breads baked on the courses, so I decided to keep it simple for the first week as time was tight: 12 rye sourdough loaves, and a big batch of milk and honey buns, along with some homemade strawberry jam.

I was confident on the rye loaves, but it would be my first time making the milk and honey buns.

So the night before, I made my biggest batch of rye sourdough starter and set it to refresh overnight. The result the next morning was unbelievable, the bubbles were huge. I lost most of them in moving the bowl, but you can get an idea from the below pic.

After a morning trip to get some string and labels and a few more loaf tins I had everything I needed. A day of baking lay ahead - I couldn't wait.

Turns out making 12 rye sourdoughs takes quite a bit of time, particularly in a small, alley style kitchen. But 12 I made and left them in their tins to rise. 

Here's the first batch five or so hours later...

I then set about work on the milk and honey buns. But then had my first real hiccup - my kitchen scales broke! I couldn't believe it, I'd managed to get some water in the workings and a horrible error message sat staring back at me every time I tried to turn it on (the major drawback of digital scales). What to do now? Well at least I could crack on with the jam as the amount of sugar needed was the full bag's weight, same for the strawberries. I made my first jam from my latest purchase salt sugar smoke by the great Diana Henry. The smell was just incredible and it was so quick and easy I couldn't believe I hadn't made jam before.

But now to find a solution to my kitchen scales dilemma. I tried knocking on a few neighbour's doors but to no avail - doesn't anyone do home baking anymore?

Then I set off to a local shop and hit gold. I got home, set up to go and would you believe, they didn't work! Agh, set off again to head to a big supermarket, surely they would have some, but alas, they'd just run out of stock. Clearly this was not meant to be, but I would not be beaten. My original scales were sort of coming back to life, although they kept creeping up in weight with a life of their own so I decided just to go for it.

I put some milk on to boil, keeping a close eye on it, and then left it to cool down ready to make the buns. The recipe was from Jane Mason's All You Knead is Bread, with a bit of added honey to the dough to make them even more special. I was so happy with the result, they looked and smelled fantastic coming out of the oven - even at 1am!

Then it was off to bed, but clearly sleep was not to be had as my mind raced round and round with ideas, thoughts, and the excitement of the next day ahead.

An early start the next morning, saw my friend Lily kindly couriering me, my loaves, buns, and jars of jam, from Stoke Newington to Queens Park. I couldn't have asked for a better day for my first ever market stall experience. It was the perfect winter's day: chilly, but with a clear blue sky and the sun shining brightly to ward off the chill.

And then for the taste test... thumbs up all round thankfully.

The first day went really well. Making my first sale was such a great experience. It was a milk and honey bun to a mum for her little boy, who I then happily watched eat it all up in a matter of seconds. I sold a bit of everything and it was great fun talking to all the other traders and hearing their stories of how they'd got to be there. There was a real mix of first-timers like me, and then a few more established stalls, such as Flour Station - talk about competition!

But I left with a big smile on my face and lots of ideas for the following week...