#Communityhero: Hetty from Canape to Cake

Community spirit is more important now than ever. There are many people up and down the country working hard to support the communities in which they live and we want to champion some of these fantastic people who are helping not only the wider community but also our owners as they stay safe in isolation.  

Meet Hetty from Canape to Cake, a catering company based in Cheltenham, who has been busy with her colleague Lucie serving up tasty meals for our owners and others around the town.  

Can you explain what it is you’re doing to help the community during the lockdown?  

During this crazy time, we wanted to try and support local businesses as well as keep ours afloat and help those who are less able. So, since the peak of the pandemic, we have launched a food delivery service for the owners at One Bayshill Road and for others in the local community, we offer a collection point to pick up the cooked meals.  

We’ve been fortunate to still be able to get hold of most supplies for the meals thanks to local companies including butcher Martins Meats, North’s Bakery, Roots and Fruits and Creed catering services.  

What spurred you to cook and deliver food to the owners at the development during the lockdown?  

We were due to launch The Larder restaurant within the One Bayshill Road development before the pandemic hit so although we can’t get into the beautiful restaurant, we still wanted people to be able to experience some of the delicious food and meals we had planned for our menu. So, we had a think and popped together an adaption to our planned restaurant menu to include our most popular dishes to create nutritious, delicious, and easy to reheat meals. We then batch cook in large quantities and freeze on a weekly basis.  

How are you going about cooking and safely delivering the food?  

We have a wonderful catering unit where we have been able to work in a safe space and good distance away from anyone else. Our deliveries come straight to site, we then prep, cook and pack it all up. The meals get labelled and frozen immediately whilst we await orders!  

We do a weekly delivery to PegasusLife’s One Bayshill Road, topping up the freezers to coincide with fresh deliveries of shopping for the owners who are isolating. Kelly, the host on site, has been the ‘middle man’ informing the owners when we shall be on site so no one comes into the communal areas during that time. We leave shopping bagged in the fridges and the new menu choices in the freezer for owners to help themselves to as and when they like.  

A little honesty pot has been set up and we communicate via e mail, it all works really well.  

Is this available to the wider Cheltenham community too?  

The news got out that we were offering this service and other people around Cheltenham have been in touch to purchase for relatives who also want and need home cooked food.  

We were also really missing a tasty Sunday lunch at a charming pub or restaurant and figured many others would be too! Also, those living alone who may not want to or be able to cook a whole roast for one but would love to be able to treat themselves. So, we now offer a roast delivery!  

We received 170 meal requested over the Easter weekend which proved an awful lot of planning and work. We can’t employ our staff currently so it’s just Lucie and I so it’s hard work but its great fun! We’ve now worked out a simpler booking and payment method and have built a great database to spread the word about how delicious a roast will be at The Larder as soon as we can open the doors.  

What kind of food are you cooking up?  

In our roasts we offer; Gloucestershire Old Spot pork and crackling; Cornfed chicken with bread sauce; Long horn beef with horseradish cream; Cotswold lamb shoulder and mint sauce. We vary our vegetarian and vegan options between root vegetable and feta wellingtons, nut roasts and vegetable parcels. These all come with lashings of gravy, rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes, braised red cabbage, cauliflower cheese, buttery carrot and swede mash, stuffing balls and the all-important Yorkshire pudding!  

Our most popular dessert seems to be either the clementine bread and butter pudding or pear and hazelnut crumble. Another popular choice is the good old sticky toffee pudding and Lucie’s infamous Oreo cookie cheesecake is a big hit! We cook it all up once a week, delivering on a Saturday with cooking guidelines and allergen information.  

Are there any other highlights from the past few weeks?  

When we realised we couldn’t open The Larder we wanted to find other ways to keep ourselves busy and help keep others safe. Many people have and will unfortunately miss out on big celebrations so we’ve also created several hamper deliveries for individuals including a 40th birthday supper treat, a Golden wedding anniversary delivery, a child’s tea party and an afternoon tea drop off!  

We’re happiest when we’re cooking and this situation has taught us so much, it has shown us how we can keep our passion going and keep people well fed as well as keeping our business name alive. We are all adapting to these new ways of living and we have adapted ourselves to fit. However, I can’t see us becoming Deliveroo drivers anytime soon! Hats off to all those takeaway establishments and delivery services working hard across the country, it’s by no means an easy task!  

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For those interested in ordering some of Hetty and Lucie’s delicious meals during lockdown then please visit: https://www.facebook.com/canapetocake/ 

Hetty and Lucie also look forward to welcoming you to The Larder at One Bayshill Road. The restaurant is now open for bookings post-lockdown so reserve your table today via OpenTable: thelarderrestaurant.co.uk or call 01242 388246.