Highland bakery makes coronation cakes fit for a king
Staff at a Highland bakery have been working around the clock to supply special cupcakes marking the coronation of King Charles.
Drumnadrochit-based Cobbs bakery is producing 50,000 coronation cupcakes destined for a range of places including coffee shops, hospitals, nursing homes and a stately house.
Trevor Liddle, head of sales at Cobbs, said the bakery has been extremely busy so far this year with other orders, too, resulting in additional staff being recruited to the 35-strong workforce.
It comes as the company is also exploring the potential to develop a new eco-friendly bakery in the village.
“We have been working night and day,” Mr Liddle said. “It has been amazing.”
The coronation cup cakes have involved a collaboration with Chocolate Manor, based in Castlerock, Northern Ireland, which supplied chocolate decals – or decorations – featuring the crown and wording to mark the occasion.
Mr Liddle said NHS Scotland was one of the key customers for the coronation cakes while Chatsworth House, in Derbyshire, is another customer.
They will also be available in Cobbs’s own coffee shops and cafés.
Mr Liddle said: “Normally we have a quiet start to the year but that has not been the case. It has been full on.”
He explained that part of the reason was a huge gap in the employment market at cafés and garden centres to enable them to make their own cakes.
He also said that with the cost-of-living crisis, Cobbs remained very competitive for its products.
The bakery’s busy order book has resulted in about five extra staff being recruited.
The coronation is not the first time Cobbs has marked a royal occasion. Last year, it baked 70,000 cupcakes to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee.
It has also linked up with Chocolate Manor for cake orders to thank NHS staff around the UK for their commitment during the Covid pandemic and for special events such as graduation days.
