Tasty treats are on the menu as Moira teen Ollie develops his own bakery business

Ollie, a student at Lisnagarvey High School, dreamt of being a baker from a very young age and loved spending time in the kitchen with his Granny Maureen and late Great Aunt Vera. Now he is using the skills he has learnt to set up his own business, Ollie’s Patisseries, and customers have been devouring his tasty treats.

"My passion for baking started with my late Aunt Vera and my Granny who I still bake with on a regular basis and we enjoy a giggle in the kitchen,” explained Ollie, who recently sold his wares at Bow Street Mall’s Halloween market.

"From around 2016 I began to develop a serious passion for baking and in primary four I decided I wanted to be a baker. I began to bake more with my Granny and attended after school cookery classes in primary school. My teacher at the time was Kathryn Dickson, I still have a close friendship with her as she is a keen baker too and she always gives me lots of much appreciated baking advice.“

Ollie’s baking career really took off when he started Lisnagarvey High School and teachers suggested he set up a pop up cake stall. “I started off with brownies and basic buns,” continued Ollie. “This gave me the idea of opening a bakery. Then covid hit. I was working hard from home doing all my school work, however it gave me more time to pursue my baking passion and I started to think about opening my own home bakery whilst growing my baking skills.

“In year 10 around Valentine’s Day our class started an enterprising project. My stall was baked goods ‘Baked With Love’ and everyone loved my bakes, cupcakes, brownies, fudge and traybakes and I turned a profit of around £200. This gave me a massive confidence boost that everyone loves my baked goods.”

Ollie went on to develop his skills in the kitchen, selling 20 boxes of Easter cupcakes and he decided to make ‘Ollie’s Patisseries’ an official business

“I registered with the council and achieved my food hygiene rating of 5 stars,” Ollie continued. “I worked hard over the summer whilst balancing studies, my business and a part time job ! I did my first market at the end of August at Coop Coffee Co. It was a hit and I sold out with two hours of trading time left.”

Ollie loves doing markets and his treats also proved to be a huge success at the recent Moira Specialty Food Fair. “Yet again I sold out the hard work paid off with over 400 bakes made by myself sold in around 16 hours.”

Ollie, who is grateful to his friends, family and his school for all of their support, is looking forward to Christmas and is planning to have lots of festive goodies to offer to his customers, including cupcakes, brownies, traybakes, Mince Pies and much more.

Find out more about Ollie’s Patisseries on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/olliespatisseriemoira and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ollies_patisserie