Award-winning brownie maker Artisana – aka Ailsa Hayward – sells her delicious homemade treats from a vintage van named Fleur. Gayle Ritchie finds out more…
It was love at first sight when in 2013, Ailsa Hayward set eyes on a rusty old heap of a van abandoned in a farmer’s field in France.
Fast forward seven years and that van – fondly named Fleur – is now a regular visitor at shows, weddings, markets, fayres and other events, laden with sweet treats and delicious coffees and teas.
The homemade brownies sold Fleur proved so popular that Dundee-born Ailsa took the bold step of setting up an online business in 2016, selling them across the UK. And so, Artisana Brownies was born.
If you’ve never tried one of these heavenly traybakes, then you simply must because they’re are the most gooey, chocolatey brownies you’ll probably have ever tasted.
Not a fan of brownies (as if that were possible?!). Then Artisana’s signature tall, drippy, incredibly flavoursome cakes and pâtisserie goodies are sure to tickle your taste buds.
The fantastic range of products are all down to Kirriemuir-based Ailsa, who is 100% dedicated to her mission of making incredibly flavoursome food for others to enjoy.
Growing up on the Isle of Skye, she was accustomed to waking up to the gorgeous aroma of fresh bread being baked by her dad Bob, who worked as a chef.
Ailsa, who is the granddaughter of the late Monifieth butcher Bert Brown, always enjoyed baking at home in her childhood, as did her late mother Tina.
But it was only when the former art gallery worker was based in Dubai that friends, impressed by her cakes, suggested she pursue baking as a career.
After being made redundant from her job in the Middle East, her husband Paul persuaded her to study patissrie at Le Cordon Bleu London. She followed this up with a professional development course in artisan French bread making.
When the couple started noticing numerous abandoned 1970 Citroen H vans scattered across farms in rural Provence, Ailsa had something of a lightbulb moment. She decided to have one of the vans restored and make it the focus of a mobile artisan bakery business in the UK.
She took one of the rusting vans home and, after a year of loving restoration, transformed it into Fleur.
These days, Fleur, who is a beautiful blue colour, is a massive head-turner as she travels up and down the country. “People see her and smile!” says Ailsa. “They often think she’s an ice cream van or some kind of circus!”
Fleur’s interior is fitted with a sink, fridge, boiler, and professional coffee machine.
Ailsa sources flour and cocoa from France, and chocolate from Belgium. She attempts to source other ingredients locally where possible; handmade butter and organic free range eggs hail from North Street Dairy in Forfar, and in season, berries come from East Scryne Farm in Carnoustie.
She also uses plums, apples, brambles and raspberries grown in her garden, along with various herbs.
With so many goodies to choose from, does Ailsa have a favourite brownie?
She laughs. “It’s hard to choose! At the moment it’s our pear, bramble and toasted hazelnut brownie, which is seasonal. But my overall favourite is the liquorice and blackcurrant, one of our first Great Taste Award winners.
“I love creating new brownie flavours. All my new flavours are carefully considered and tested before I sell them. I’m inspired by the seasons and what we have around us at the time.
“But, above all, I love hearing reactions from customers and building relationships with them over the years.
“To see someone’s face when they eat our brownies or drink our hot chocolate makes it all worthwhile. It’s precisely why I wanted to do what I do – to make food that people truly enjoy and makes them happy.”
Like any small business, Artisana has encountered challenges along the way
“Personally, balancing work and home life is incredibly difficult as you need to work longer hours to make it work, and it can often mean sacrificing a social life,” says Ailsa.
“Balancing doing something you love with paying the bills and not ‘selling out’ can also be hard, but if you go into it with a clear ethos and always do your best, you can’t go wrong. I know I’m far happier now than when I was sitting at a desk day after day, despite the monthly salary.”
Artisana’s best-selling brownie is the Isle of Skye sea salt caramel brownie, and second in line is the rosewater and raspberry which took two gold stars at the 2019 Great Taste Awards.
Looking to the future, Ailsa reveals she hopes to “ever so slightly” change direction in 2020: “It’s very much at the early stage of planning so I can’t say too much but we hope it will be very exciting!”
Last year, Ailsa moved her cooking operation from her home to a production kitchen in Northmuir, just outside Kirriemuir, but she moved out last month and says she’s in the process of planning something “pretty exciting” in terms of premises but she’s not quite ready to confirm anything just yet.
“This allows me to cook six trays of brownies at a time. We do a lot of local markets and supply a few shops and cafes which complement the online sales. We sell an average of 400 brownies at a market – it astonishes me every time.
“We have a very loyal following who have spread word of mouth. If we come up with something wacky, people are usually very keen to try it.”
For more information, see artisanabrownies.com
