Creating stunning cheesecakes for a whole range of tastes is just one of the many amazing desserts pastry chef Klaudia Zablocka makes for her customers in Forfar.
A number of food and drink businesses have been popping up across the nation as many restaurateurs, chefs, home cooks and bakers have found new ways to adapt to the ever-changing rules and restrictions imposed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
One such business, which opened in October last year, is Slice of Forfar, a dessert bar and delivery service run by 24-year-old Klaudia Zablocka who trained at college as a pastry chef.
Her stunning desserts have been proving popular among locals as they fly off the shelves of her new takeaway dessert shop at 32 Castle Street in Forfar.
And Klaudia has been kept busy delivering cakes and bakes locally within the Forfar and Kirriemuir areas each evening.
She said: “I have been trading since the middle of October but I only opened up the shop three weeks ago.
“I did four years at college and graduated as a pastry chef in 2018. That same month I graduated was when I had my daughter, so I took a year off to look after her. Then last year I did my HNC in professional patisserie. My daughter turned two in October and, from the Monday after that, I started off baking from home.
“I’ve now managed to find myself space at a pop-up shop at Quarrayside Crafts, in Forfar. I was in there for the odd day in October, then I rented the room through November and December. Then we went back into lockdown and I realised I still needed somewhere else to work.”
For the time being, Klaudia is the only employee at Slice of Forfar, meaning she is only able to deliver her baked goods locally, though she is able to take her delicious cheesecakes and other creations further afield if customers are willing to pay the fuel charge.
She says: “At the moment, I can only deliver within Forfar and Kirriemuir. But I have gone out to Glamis and Brechin before. Basically, if customers are willing to pay the fuel charge, then I’m happy to deliver.”
“A lot of people have been classing takeaways as supporting their local business, so it’s been good in that way. But it’s been hard to judge how it feels to open a business during a pandemic as that’s all it has been since we opened.”
With a strong client base already built up and orders flying in on a daily basis, Klaudia says that her cheesecakes have proven to be the biggest hit with customers.
She added: “I noticed when I was working from home, that if I didn’t have a cheesecake then I wouldn’t get any sales. There is a cheesecake ordered with pretty much every order.
“Basically, any chocolate bar or biscuit you can think of, I can put it into a cheesecake. At the moment I’ve got KitKat, Banoffee, Caramel Egg and Mini Eggs. There are new ones every day though, so once one cheesecake sells, I make another one with a new flavour.
“I do get customers sometimes contact me asking when I will be making a certain cheesecake. Then next time I am making a cheesecake, I will make the one they were asking for.
“Other than that, I like to play about with different flavours to see what people like, which apparently they don’t really like KitKat, so I might have to do a raffle for that one!”
Customers to Slice of Forfar are also able to order custom-made cakes for birthday parties and as much cheesecake as they want.
Klaudia continued: “It’s not just one slice per person, customers can order as much or as little of things as they want.
“At the moment, people can just order through the Facebook page, where there is also a shop to buy some of the products. There are price lists for everything on there too.”
Slice of Forfar’s opening hours are: Monday and Tuesday 9-5 (shop), 5-6 (deliveries); Wednesday (Shop closed but open for deliveries from 5-6); Thursday and Friday 9-5 (shop), 5-6 (deliveries); Saturday 9-3 (shop), 3-4 (deliveries).
