New Cake Lab cafe opens in Fife village
An Anstruther woman with a masters degree in chemistry has opened her own lab in the East Neuk – with a focus on all things cake.
Hailey Marshall opened the Cake Lab in August in her home town, offering tray bakes, cakes, biscuits, scones and everything sweet.
“It’s been good,” said Hailey.
“We’ve had a lot of locals in. Because we’re off the main road we don’t get as many of the tourists in.”
Hailey grew up with a love for baking, working on recipes in her grandma’s kitchen.
She earned her masters degree in 2011 and took up a job in Grangemouth, but gave that up to look for something a bit closer to home. She then started a job in Dunfermline, but found herself thinking of cakes.
“I wasn’t happy,” Hailey said, “and I would daydream about the cake lab. One day I emailed the Overgate shopping centre in Dundee and put forward a plan for a trailer.
“I did that for six months, before taking it to events. But I always wanted a shop.”
The opportunity arose at the start of the year, when she learned that an Anstruther shop had gone on the market.
But just two weeks after taking over, lockdown began.
Like most people, Hailey found herself doing nothing, waiting for lockdown to be lifted.
It was at that point she started offering deliveries.
“I saw a place in Kinghorn that was doing deliveries,” she said. “I thought it would be a fantastic way of advertising myself.”
Hailey is still able to put her chemistry skills to good use, with a knowledge of what ingredients work well together.
To find out more about Cake Lab, or place an order, visit the website – www.cakelabltd.com.