Lockdown left many of us looking for new hobbies to pass the time, and plenty of people turned to baking.
For Ella Marsham, 21, from Thorpe St Andrew, it was an opportunity for her business venture to thrive.
Eat With Ella offers trays of homemade brownies, blondies and treats for all, including vegans.
“I began my small business when I had finished my second year of studying psychology at Sheffield Hallam University,” she said. “I had been furloughed from my part-time job, we were in the beginning of lockdown, and so once all of my assignments were handed in, I had lots of spare time on my hands.
MORE: Cucumber and watermelon tonic among award winners for Norfolk gin firm“Initially the baking was to just keep me busy and to hopefully sell locally to my friends and family, I never dreamed of becoming as busy as I have.”
Since May, her picture perfect brownies and baked goods have racked up more than 1,000 followers on Instagram and have earned her a successful start to her business, despite the obstacles of a pandemic.
“Thankfully I found that lockdown certainly helped my business grow,” she said. “With many cafés closed people were craving sweet treats that could by delivered safely to their door.
“Many of my orders have been people buying for their friends and family to cheer them up during the hard times of isolation or to celebrate birthdays in lockdown.”
Eat With Ella sells traybakes of brownies, blondies and more. These can be sold as assorted boxes to try lots of different flavours or as boxes of one flavour.
MORE: From Trash Tribe to TikTok famous: Meet the Norfolk man who has millions of likesPrevious flavours have included Twix rocky road, Oreo gold brownie and Lotus and Biscoff blondie.
Miss Marsham added: “I will be starting my third and final year at university in September so I will be slowing down Eat With Ella to concentrate on completing this.
“However, over the festive period and Easter I will be doing some special assorted boxes that can be pre-ordered and managed alongside my studies. I am really hoping to have a pop-up shop in Norwich for the day within the next year.”
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