AFTER being furloughed since the first lockdown, one Duloch chef has come up with a recipe for success for her new business.

Rachel Parker, who works as a pastry chef at Restaurant 21212 in Edinburgh, decided to put her talents to good use and has set up Cake. By Rachel.

Offering bespoke occasion cakes, cupcakes and other sweet delights, she said the time away from work had let her develop a life-long ambition.

"We have been furloughed since last March and this is still continuing until who knows when," said Rachel, who moved to Scotland from her native Canada back in 2018.

"I have always been baking since I had a little Easy Bake Oven when I was a kid and I always knew I wanted to have my own business eventually. That was the route I was going down and over the last year I have been thinking I could get back into cakes.

"The whole reason I started this was because the hospitality industry isn’t one where you can typically work from home so now that I’ve started this is, it ended up giving me that opportunity and keeps me busy at the same time."

Rachel launched her business Instagram page in November and, after posting on the What's Happening Dunfermline Facebook page, her business has been blooming and her order book is filling up.

"It just blew up," she said. "I am doing it all from my flat – the kitchen is a little small but we are making the best of it."

Anyone wanting to find out more about Cake. By Rachel can visit the Instagram or Facebook page or check out Rachel's website at www.cakebyrachel.online.