Margaret Egan- pastry chef at Rathwood, Co Carlow
I LIVE in Tobinstown, which is about a seven-minute drive away, and I’ve been here since Rathwood opened 16 years ago.
We have a restaurant and a garden centre, furniture and clothes shops, a chocolate factory and a walk, so it’s a nice family day out.
I’m in at 9am and the first thing I do each day is make 60 fruit scones. I could do it in my sleep at this stage.
Once I’ve that done I’ll clear up and check the cake counter in the restaurant to make a list of what’s needed for the day. Then I’ll get the cheesecakes that will have been made the day before from the fridge and start decorating them.
I work with my twin sister, Mary, which is great. Neither of us knows which of us is the elder twin because our mother doesn’t know herself. I think it might be me because I’m bigger but, then again, Mary’s that bit more bossy so it could be her.
We work well together. Next we make the crumbles and the meringues fresh each morning, and start decorating the pavlovas and the hazelnut roulades.
Pavlova and banoffi are the two most popular sellers. Once we’ve filled up the cake counters we’ll put some in the fridge for use during the day as gaps appear.
We do 30 varieties in all, if you include kids’ cookies and coffee biscuits. By that stage it will be 10.30am and we have our own coffee break. The last thing you want when you’re making cakes all day is cake. You get a savoury tooth instead.
After that what we do really depends on what day it is. Monday is Madeira cakes, Tuesdays are all the chocolate and caramel squares, Wednesday cheesecakes and so on. Then we’ll be doing little extras, like making sure there’s fruit to steep for brack for the weekend too.
I’ll have a salad from the deli counter for lunch and, because I’m on my feet all day, it’s nice to sit down for a bit. The thing about being on your feet is that you get so used to it that even when I go home in the evening, I’ll rarely sit down and watch telly. I’d always be moving round and doing things.
In the afternoon we do custom cakes for customers for weddings, Christmas, christenings and confirmations. The recession hasn’t dampened that business at all, if anything I think people are entertaining at home more.
The last hour is spent washing up and clearing down mixers and counters and putting everything away, ready for out at 5.30pm.
Once I get home the first thing I do is bring the dog for a walk. My parents are nearby and I’ve three sisters and four brothers, so I go visiting a lot too.
In conversation with SANDRA O'CONNELL