floatingbaker

Let's talk about Cystic Fibrosis treatments

As you may know my son Vincent has Cystic Fibrosis. It is a genetic condition that affects his lungs and digestive system. We found out that we were carriers when Ariadne died as she had it too. When meeting the Cystic Fibrosis team about it we were told that a new life-saving treatment had just come out. We were told that nowadays having Cystic fibrosis was like having diabetes. It is the Only treatment for CF. It adds about 30 years of life expectancy to children with the condition.
The N.I.C.E is now reviewing the drug and about it to remove it from the NHS. This means Vincent wouldn't have access to the only drug that would mean he can grow like an other child and be a healthy adult. Luckily this isn't the case in France but we feel very strongly about this decision in the UK. The only reason of the review is cost. And frankly we're bored seeing price tags on our children's lives. I am very aware of the privilege I have to being able to access the treatment from where I am. But treatment access should NOT be a privileged for the ones who can afford it privately or move away. This is threatening hundreds of lives. And we are talking about children.

Could you please sign this petition and share it with as many people as possible.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/650674

👵👶A grandma meeting a new life is so precious. My son is lucky to have his three great grandmothers around. I say three because one of them is my adoptive grandma. She cared for me when I was little out of the kindness of her heart. She made space for me amongst her own family and loved me like her own grand-daughter. I learnt a lot of things from spending my summer holidays with her.
-I became very good at catching frogs and lizards in river swamps 🐸 (they always dropped their tails and ran away)🦎
-I mastered going down rapids on various inflatables
-I observed and learnt about the effortlessness of cooking and baking
-I became a great vegetable patch weeder and spent hours watering the rose garden
-I learnt that simple things matter. Especially that she grew everything we ate.
-I felt the abundance of nature

And now both my little ones have met her and I'm happy.

⛰️We are having a holiday in the sanctuary of my childhood. This is the place where I have the most beautiful and peaceful memories as a little girl. I was lucky to have it to shape me and only now I realise that wherever I go I crave the translucent rivers and the dominating mountains.
It feels both peaceful and dangerous and I am totally in my element. The forests are made of sweet chestnut trees. In the first 5m of our walk we could have collected 3kg of chesnuts 🌰. Nature there is full and abundant. I am home.

We had a real slow Sunday today with lots of home baking and just hang out. I made a leftover lunch with all the bits in the fridge. I like to empty it before we go on holidays and see what I can come up with. We had some mashed up veggie lasagna, a coquilette salade with white miso dressing and some fried rice. It felt a bit like one of those restaurants that specialises in too many different types of food. It was real carb fest and wow it was delicious. I also had some fresh yeast I needed to use and some meyer lemons pick up in the park downstairs.
I attempted a chocolate babka with the yeast and it was a bit of a disaster. Still tasty though but the dough was way too soggy and I had trouble kneading it. I still shoved it in the oven covered in buttery chocolate sauce and it looks (and taste pretty good). It will be our train breakfast tomorrow morning 🚉 bags to go down South tomorrow morning.
The meyer lemons are a real discovery. They taste a bit like yuzu. The park downstairs has all those amazingly unnative food trees and I'm very excited to try out things with all the fruits I find. I used recipe for candied fruits and the whole flat smelt of deep citrusy goodness.
I made breakfast and fruit sweeties for the journey but I still haven't packed our bags! Can't wait to be in Ardèche tomorrow and soak in deep forest and mountain walks.

6 months in France 🇫🇷!!!
We have left the UK half a year ago already. Time flies really. And it feels like we have done so much slowing down, settling in and building routines. A few things that happened:
🍼 Vincent is here and is lovely
🍩 is absolutely nuts
🏕We made wonderful friends in the south of France
💕 Vivienne started school in the middle of the year not speaking French and 3 weeks later she was fluent
🍽My fridge will never be big enough
🧨We started redecorating the flat and haven't finished
🎊 I'm doing a Cap patisserie so I can work here

A few truth about boat life. It was amazing when it was the 2 of us cruising the canal network but it became a full-time job with children. It's constant work. There isn't a day when you can just laze around casually because that will be the day you ran out of water, need to move the boat and empty the toilets. It was hard work to keep good standards of hygiene. It was hard work in general.

Wedding cake in Paris 🎂 in my mama's kitchen👩🏼‍🍳.
My husband got me 's book More Than Cake last time he was in London. I relate to the way she builds layered cakes. She almost makes them into entremets with less sponges, more cream, less overpowering sugar and the buttercream doesn't run the show! She balances sourness and sweetness, lightness and deep flavours. This is actually the first time that a layered cake cookbook speaks to me. I couldn't wait to try out her recipes! And I did. dairy-free. I made her Black Sesame Cake turned dairy-free.
And what better reason to try it out then the wedding of my dear friends from Clown School and Johann . I couldn't be there so I thought I'd gift them a cake. And I think sharing food is the best feeling. And it's a privileged to be part of such a special day, celebrating love and growth.

I had two little assistants through out the making process. One was very involved with the swiss meringue buttercream!

It's plums season!🍂 I got my hands on some juicy damsons in the market.
Almost as good as the one in garden. I was planning on making a plum tatin but I've only got one hand free at the moment. The other one is busy holding a 4kg baby boy. I am quite excited to share my plum jam recipe with you. The trick is to throw everything in a copper pot and forget about it for 1 hour.

*Plum Jam 🥧
1.5kg of damsons
500g sugar
1 tbls of cinnamon

Slow cook in a pot for 1 hour. Wait for it to cool down. Strain and remove the stones. I make the jam with the stones because it adds a lovely deep flavour. The longer you leave them in the better. Put in a sterile jar. Eat throughout autumn and winter!

Hello!👋 I've been quiet for a little while. And very vague with what I was up to. But here we are! Me, Vinny and Vivi. For the ones who have been following me for the last few years, you know how long and difficult it has been to get to the point of being able to take this picture. Still it will never be complete and Ariadne will always be missing from our family photos, our celebrations and our lives.

But today I am celebrating the arrival of my son Vincent. Born early August about 2 weeks early. He didn't give me time to finish preping, painting and decorating anything 🤣. So the flat still has ladders against the walls and half finished flooring. Our bedroom is covered in baby clothes in baskets as we're waiting for furnitures and it very much feels like we live on a narrowboat still. I wouldn't have it any other way though 🌈 ❤️

I want to thank you all for baring with me the last few months. I have left everything behind and new beginnings do take time and energy. To put it in context I went from living on my boat with my family, running a baking business that I loved, being surrounded by friends to moving back to my parents flat and losing my independence. Turning a grown woman back into her teenage self...Never an easy thing! But I didn't feel like I had a choice. Unfortunately bad political decisions and a huge lack of support for young mothers running a small business has affected me personally. We were left without support at critical times and more importantly my children have suffered from it. It wasn't an easy decision but it made sense.

So now I have to rebuild myself in an other country. Starting from scratch. I can't casually open my window and sell my bakes here. Especially that I'm in the capital of the best cakes in the world. I have a few ideas on what comes next but to be perfectly honest I have no idea of how and where. The plan is to bake, to maybe find a piece of land and a derelict house to renovate. So I guess floating baker will be now floating around in the quest of landing. I'll be exploring baking in Paris. I will be going around France to look for land. And I am gonna take time to enjoy and cherish my little rainbow son 🌈

And... baking is back baby 🍰. With a Sour berry jam, lemon sponge and rose filled buttercream.

I am not sure which direction my baking is taking yet. The physical space I am in is now going to shape it a bit. Not being on the boat anymore means a different way of baking. I have more space to make bigger. cakes. But I don't have a constant flux of people coming to me. So being seen isn't going to be as easy. And making small cakes isn't the way to go.

Yesterday I made this very pink and summery cake for my daughter's Solstice School party. I was lovely focusing on making again. And I have a beautiful florist just downstairs! I'm excited!

Goodbye Hope!⚓️

Now that you have been sold thank you for been a fabulous 57ft narrowboat. You have been our first home and have seen us grow. We will miss cruising you around the country and opening your hatch to sell cakes. But we made sure you're in good hands. And who knows where you'll end up on your next adventures. Hopefully you'll be a cocoon for new memories, travels and hopes.

👋That's me standing near the boat for the last time💫Goodbye beautiful K&A towpath!

And now 👋Hello new adventures!

https://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/cnm-57-semi-trad-for-sale/727032

CNM 57 Semi Trad for sale UK, CNM boats for sale, CNM used boat sales, CNM Narrow Boats For Sale Hope 57ft Narrowboat Semi-Trad - Bakery Boat - Apollo Duck Narrow Boats: For Sale: Hope 57ft Narrowboat Semi Trad Bakery Boat Bath Somerset

🎊✨️⚓️⚓️Hope is now listed for Sale!

Narrowboat Hope is a 57ft, 2005 built Narrowboat. It has been the home of the Floating Baker, a vegan French bakery. It has a fully 5 star rated commercial kitchen and is ready for a food trading business on the canal with an electric set up allowing continuous use of kitchen appliances, double sink, cleanable surfaces. It also comes with a display shelf and a selling hatch. There is an absolutely beautiful roof steal painted signage and a couple of painted menu boards. Specification for the Boat is below. We are looking to secure a buyer with an initial deposit, and balance ahead of completion.

This boat is very well cared for, and stunning throughout. It has been our home for the last 5 years. We have made it extremely comfortable for continuously cruising. It has an extraordinary amount of storage through out and a huge water tank. The internal head height is 6’6” in the middle which allows tall people to stand straight. Hull surveyed, blacking and BSS have been all been done in February 2023. This is the ideal boat for live aboard and trading.

The boat was featured on The Cotswolds with Pam Ayres.

External:

57 ft Semi traditional Shell.

Bow and Stern Lockers

Custom Made Cratch cover and Iroko Cratch board.

Custom Made bakery signage

750w Solar 2 tilting panels with custom built steel brackets.

Pole and 2 x Plank.

External LED Bow tunnel light.

Unique Design Stern and Cratch Covers.

Intertuff 16 Bitumen Coating (below waterline)

4 Piece Mooring Line (bow and stern center line x 2)

6 x Mooring Pin

1 x Lump Hammer.

Fenders

Smart cat flap.

Internal:

Spray Foam Insulated.

1000 Litre Water Tank.

Beta Marine 38 HP Engine

Autoterm Diesel Fired Central Heating System.

Salamander Hobbit multi-fuel Stove With Back boiler feeding 2 radiators.

⚓ More info on Appolo Duck🔗
https://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/cnm-57-semi-trad-for-sale/727032

👋📢 Au revoir Floating Baker ⚓
Well...here we are. My 57ft narrowboat floating bakery is now for Sale!

👩🏼‍🍳The Floating Baker is now shutting hatch and is looking for a new owner.

What an adventure it's has been!

When I moved onto the boat 5 years ago I had no idea I would have children, move to the South West, cruise across the UK, start a successful cake business and have Pam Ayres on board.
Boat life is a beast that gives and takes. You live with nature and in a beautiful community. I made life long friendships and lived my dream of being a baker. Our boat Hope has given and given and given. And we've loved her and took such good care of her. ❤️ She has been our first home. Her kitchen is a real nest of creation for food lovers.

It's now time for more space and new beginnings. Baking is not over! Watch this space for vegan baking recipe, the beginning of a new journey🧁

🎊⚓️The boat will be properly listed in a few weeks with nice pictures. We want her to go to someone who has dreams and wants to make them happened.

Thank you to all my customers for your incredible support and for being cake lovers! You have meant that I loved my job every second.❤️

Thank you everyone 🙏 and farewell 🥰

💫Happy new year✨️

This year has been the hardest for me. Between multiple losses and trauma I am very much hoping for a softer and slower 2023. Hopefully the energy I am feeling now is different already. Things have started to shift. I won't be too certain in which direction yet but I am letting myself be carried. I am walking towards change and hoping for peace.
Thank you to all my customers who have supported me through this year. To my new friendships and my older ones. To my beautiful family which I will always cherish ✨️

I am back home for a few more days and very much enjoying walking around museums and childhood streets. That's me au Musée d'Orsay and I am so grateful for Monet, Lautrec and Van Gogh for making my day so beautiful.

☃️Baking on my boat in winter is surprisingly easier than any other seasons. With the fire on and the oven every becomes very quickly toasty. However the floor is always always very cold so I wear some very fluffy slippers. I also have the luxury of an icy view with a bright blue sky. At the moment the boat is frozen in. We can't move until the ice melts. Hopefully we don't run out of water this weekend 🤞
⚓️On a boat everything is more work and harder in winter. You need to keep the heat going all the time. Cleaning is almost an hourly chore with all the dust from the stove. Moving can be very cold and tricky. It's not necessarily colder it's just that you work a lot more for your way of living as you are off grid. Still with some good lighting and our Christmas tree it's very romantic in here.

I thought I was going to start sharing how it is to actually bake on a boat. Here you can see me making some b**b batter and filling my silicone moulds🍨

Hands up if you want to see more 🤚

**bcakes **bcake

💥💥Last orders for your plant based Christmas Yule Log!
Tomorrow Wednesday 14th of Dec at 12pm 🕛 ⚓️ (with a small extention for late cake lovers)

Flavours are: 100% vegan
🍨Ultimate chocolate
🍨Pistachio & Raspberry compote

👉Serves 8 to 16 people

🚗 Delivery available from Bradford-on-Avon to Bath on the 22nd of December
⚓ Collection from the boat in Bradford-on-Avon available at 10am

🎊Price:
£35 collection
£40 delivery

EXTRA 👉Add a vegan macarons box of 5 for £10

🚫☃️Today Cancelled! 🌨 due to weather conditions aka snow I will not be trading at today.

💫🍨I will be there next weekend! Sat 17th and Sun 18th of Dec.

⚓️You can always pre-order and collect your macarons boxes from the boat next week!

Enjoy the lovely coat of white cotton and stay warm 🔥

🌿 🍨Pre-order your plant based macarons box today! You can choose between 6 flavours:

⚜️Madagascar vanilla
⚜️Pistachio
⚜️Wild berry
⚜️Lemon
⚜️Dark chocolate
⚜️Coffee

🎁They are freezer friendly so you can keep them all the way up until Christmas 🤶. Their flavour will only get better.

🧨They are egg free, dairy free and gluten free

⚓️🕛Collect from the boat moored in Semington or on Saturday and Sunday.

And they are all generously filled with delicious ganache!

🍨🌱Plant based vanilla macarons⚓️

Today I am making vanilla macarons ready for this weekend at St Nicholas Christmas Market .

The boat is nice and warm and the canal is now frozen. We are moored outside of Bradford-on-Avon at the moment and it feels great to be further away a little bit.

🕛I will see you this weekend from 10am to 6pm Saturday 10th of Dec

10am to 5pm Sunday 11th of Dec
in Bristol.
Remember you can always pre-order your macarons box for this Christmas and collect it from the boat ⚓️☃️

🌃 💫Late Night Christmas shopping on Tuesday the 6th of December at 6pm!

I will be there with my B***s & Macarons 🍨along with other really nice traders. I think quite a nice way to spend the evening with a little impromptu in Bradford-on-Avon.

**bcakes **bcake

🍨🎊Birthday Cake 🎂

I thought this one deserved its very own post. I made this cake to celebrate growth and going through life with its highs and drops. This cake was commissioned as a surprise for a loved one by a dear friend of mine 🎉 I love bringing food to a day of transition. And I am wishing gentle new beginnings.
Lots of love ❤️🎊

🎄 Pre-order your Yule Log now!

✨️Serving up to 16 people vegan chocolate or pistachio Yule Log. I have lots of space left.

⚓️Collect from the boat on the 22nd of Dec at 10am

🚚get it delivered to your house in Bath, Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge dm me to check if I'll deliver to you 22nd of December from 12pm.

Price : ⛄️£35 collection / £40 delivery

🍨Open this weekend in Bradford-on-Avon Christmas Edition 🎄. What a day! Today was busy and lovely. Thank you to all my lovely customers who came to get a bit of my b**bs and macarons. ⚓ Open tomorrow Sunday with more of everything! 10:30am till 4pm at the bottom of Bradford Lock.

Now back in the kitchen to make some brownies and pistachio ganache.


**bs **bs **bcake

🤶 Christmas Floaty Fayre chrismas 🎄 ✨️ all set in Bradford-on-Avon for this Saturday and Sunday.

Don't forget your wellies the towpath is muuuddy! We are in for the treat this weekend with mulled wine from , pizza from .pizza.boat , the curry boat, the record boat , beautifully made candles by . There will be music and cakes and more!

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 Hope got a litttle 5 Star visit today!! Proof that you can do a lot in a little space. I am so proud of my tiny kitchen and have so much love for my narrowboat. It has taken a while to organise everything, make sure my cake trays have they're own corner. And I have had to compromise with the amount I am baking.
It is sometimes a bit tight especially in winter but somehow it works and it is a freeing way a living. Have you been on canal boat before? Would you like to? Or long have you had you boat?

Here are some pics of her looking gorgeous today✨️⚓️

And now back to baking!🍨 See you at 11am on Saturday and Sunday for a Christmas Special ⛄ 🎄

🤶 🎄 Chrismas Floaty Fayre this week! 26th and 27th of Nov in Bradford-on-Avon at the bottom lock. And you can come and try this Pistachio & Raspberry vegan macaron!

I will be selling from my lovely ⚓ boat some macarons & b**bs 🍨. There will be mulled vino 🍷 from and lots of amazing craftboaters.

The macarons flavours are:

Coffee
Salted Caramel
Chocolate
Pistachio
Raspberry
Vanilla
Lemon & lime

I will reveal the ✨️Special on Friday ✨️

🍨B***s, b**bs, b**bs ⚜️

Hey everyone, I thought I might reintroduce the b**bs as some of you are new here. And I wanted tell you all about them.

First they were called Almond and Berry mess. Probably because that's what they are. A soft vanilla sponge filled with homemade raspberry jam and covered in cashew cream and marzipan. I was selling them in Dundas Aquaduct from my boat and they became very popular to an almost all female wild swimming group. They planned their river swimming according to where the B***s/boat were. And one day they ordered their cakes calling them the B***s! And I thought Wow! They created such a powerful image of what women are. And it became an embodiment of them. Strong, wild and free. Bringing joy and laughter and they are full of life.

Now when people walk passed my stall they bring laugher and smiles.

They are also a very good barometer for misogynistic people. If you're dating someone new and you need definite on the matter, take them for a b**b test. Bring them around my stall and see their reaction! You will know straight away 😎. They are not vulgar or sexual. ✨️They are a symbol of all women 💪

**bs **bs **blicious

🎄 Hello Bristol! 🤶 It's Christmas Market season already! Can you believe it?
And the vegan macarons are truly back! You must try the pistachio one made with pistachio paste. It is to die for!

Flavours are:
✨️Raspberry
✨️Pistachio
✨️Chocolate
✨️Coffee
✨️Vanilla
✨️Lemon and lime 🍋

📍I will be all day today 10am to 5pm

That's a wrap! Thank you for coming this year. My last Sunday was wet ☔ and crowded and windy and as always amazing. I will hopefully be back next year with more vegan french pâtisseries.
🎄In the meantime you can find me for Christmas 🤶 starting on the 20th of November.

I will be closed next week for a little escapade in Praha! ✈ watch this space for pics.