Julie is proud to take her place in the Cashel foodie scene

The pretty peach facade of The Fox and the Flour appeared on the Main Street, Cashel in June 2022.
Candy pink touches enliven the modern, futuristic interior designed by Julie O’Flaherty and her business partner Claire Cullen.

Here, there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. The peach delivery jeep outside the door provides the finishing touch.

Julie is warm and engaging with an infectious laugh and a passion for cake-making. She elevates her craft to a whole other level, reaching for perfection with breathtaking creativity underpinned by meticulous attention to detail and formidable organisational skills.

She knew exactly what she wanted when she decided to open the newest addition to Cashel’s burgeoning foodie scene. “I’d seen a lot of other studios like this abroad. I just thought it was a great concept to have a consultation space, a kitchen and an office,” she said.

The studio is a haven of calm where the aroma of freshly brewed coffee welcomes one on non-baking days, the days Julie dedicates to her prospective clients.
BUTTERCREAM TEAM
The consultation area comprises a quirky curved sofa, streamlined rattan furniture and a Neon pink sign proclaiming The Buttercream Team.

Settling comfortably into the cream cushioned couch to interview Julie, I can see exactly how this would appeal to customers.
The Fox and the Flour is not an obvious name choice for a speciality cake shop but it came about when Julie went into partnership with Claire and Rob Hallinan, the owners of the Fat Fox in Greystones, county Wicklow. The Flour is a nod to her original business, The Flour Artist, started when she was only twenty-three.

It seems Julie was destined to be a cake maker. Well-meaning advice from a family friend nearly put her on the path to nursing, but the night before the CAO change-of-mind deadline, Julie switched all her options back to Culinary Arts. Her degree from the Dublin Institute of Technology afforded her a successful start in the restaurant business, so family and friends were astonished when she gave it all up to work for two years in a bakery, where she perfected her cake making skills.

The next step was opening her own business, but while she was very busy supplying lots of outlets in Dublin, she wasn’t actually making money.
“The day I decided to close was the worst day of my life,” she says. Heartbroken at what she perceived as the crashing end to all her dreams, Julie wandered into a little coffee shop on Camden Row. Chatting to the owners Claire Cullen and Rob Hallinan, she broke down in tears.
“What happened next was simply amazing. They offered me the opportunity to make cakes for them until I decided what to do next. It was such a moment of serendipity and that’s how we started to work together,” said Julie.

Passion and patience is the key to the unique craft of master Tipperary potter

Artistans of Cashel

NEW CHAPTER
So, the worst day of her life proved to be the start of a whole new chapter for Julie. Claire and Rob provide the business knowhow and marketing skills allowing her to forge ahead creatively.
Her advice to anyone setting up on their own is to do a business course, find out what kind of supports are available, for example from Enterprise Ireland, and seek out people who have the skills you yourself lack.

“I think that if you want something just go for it and it will eventually fall into place. And if you fail, as I have failed, just try again,” said Julie.

She has found that social media, especially Instagram, is the most effective way of promoting her business as well as word of mouth recommendations.

Julie’s face changes when I moot the possibility of returning to the restaurant business. She found it to be male dominated and fiercely competitive.
“It’s not for the faint-hearted and it’s definitely not for me,” she says.
In contrast, she finds the baking world, comprised mainly of women, nurturing and inclusive.
“Everyone supports each other and I love the fact that we are all really appreciative of everything all the team members do,” she added.

CREATIONS
While Julie is happy to provide all kinds of occasion cakes, she specialises in bespoke wedding cakes.
Her beautiful creations range from wildly extravagant to classically elegant. They are very different to the traditional fondant-iced wedding cakes of yesteryear. She uses a Swiss meringue buttercream icing, gold leaf and fresh flowers instead of sugar flowers. “It’s a unique approach and people love the more natural, bohemian feel,” she said.

Not only does Julie provide fresh flowers to decorate her speciality wedding cakes but, in the summertime, she provides edible fresh flowers, violas, cornflowers, marigolds and peonies, something she actually opted for when making her own five-tier wedding cake. The edible flowers are sourced from the organic Bumble Bee Farm in county Cork.
She feels her approach chimes with how people feel at the minute about sustainability and going back to the natural world to source things in our environment.

“We always use Irish seasonal fresh ingredients. That’s very important to us,” said Julie.
While Julie does offer biscuit cake, most of her cakes are made of a Madeira style sponge.
“We syrup them all just so they have a longer shelf life. They’re very light and remain very soft for at least three days,” she said.
The cakes come in a variety of flavours with a myriad of different fillings.
“The cakes all have about three elements, all made by me. We have a hazelnut cake for instance that has a hazelnut buttercream, a hazelnut ganache and a crushed hazelnut praline,” said Julie.

WEDDING COUPLES
Couples come for their consultation by appointment so that Julie can give them her full attention. She is adamant that every bridal couple should have a cake that is unique to them.
Even if someone requests a cake she has made previously, she will talk them through all the available options, ensuring that the final creation reflects their individuality.

At the consultation the couples are offered a selection of six sample cakes. Julie will also encourage them to explore the other possibilities on the cake menu. She finds people are going somewhat retro at the minute with carrot and coconut cake a huge hit. Other popular flavours include gin and lime and champagne and strawberry.
Nowadays, couples often want to show off the cake and make it a feature of the celebration. One of Julie’s summer brides this year is going to have three tiers of champagne and strawberry cake and they will have a champagne toast with the cake upon arrival at the wedding venue.

Julie also provides cake stands and wedding toppers from trusted suppliers providing a ‘one stop’ design experience for her bridal couples and minimising any possible mishaps on the day.

She recommends that she takes care of delivery and the setting up of the cake at the wedding venue. In fact, if a cake has more than three tiers, delivery is part of the package.
She’s still haunted by the man in a builder’s van who arrived to collect a large wedding cake. Julie had to physically clear a safe space among all the paraphernalia in the back before she could hand over the cake. She thoughtfully furnished him with a ‘repair kit’ in case of mishap.

BAKING WEEK
Julie and her team also offer a selection of cupcakes, macarons, marshmallows, cookie stacks and cake pops for the dessert table. They will style the wedding venue if required, providing table linen, flowers, candelabras, cupcake stands etc.
Julie has found a work-life balance emerges organically in her baking week. She has long days when she is making her cakes and delivering to wedding venues. However, she usually has Sundays and Mondays free. Then it’s back to the studio for consultations and office work before the baking begins again.
“I absolutely love what I do.I don’t ever feel that I’m working, I enjoy it so much,” said Julie.
Julie is impressively candid about her hopes for the future.

AMBITIOUS
“I am ambitious. I want to have three or more The Fox and the Flour shops throughout Ireland,” she added.
She attributes her confidence to the unconditional encouragement and support she received from her parents throughout her life. Clonmel-born Julie had always hoped to move back to Tipperary but she never really thought it would happen so soon. However, when her husband Darragh was offered a job as chef in the Buttery in the Cashel Palace Hotel, it seemed the perfect opportunity for Julie and her partners to open another branch of The Fox and the Flour.
“I love being back in Cashel,” she says. “I feel I am literally living the dream.”

Two books, Artisans of Clonmel and Artisans of Cashel, were published before Christmas.
They were launched as part of Clonmel Applefest and the Cashel Arts Festival.
They both carry the stories of craftspeople in the community.
Over the coming months The Nationalist will carry stories from both books.
The article for this week was written by Mary Hanrahan.
Mary Hanrahan
Mary Hanrahan hails from Fethard, County Tipperary. She has had a life-long love affair with words - written, spoken, performed. A poet by default, she also writes short stories and is currently working on a memoir. Her stated ambition is to “dance the pen upon the page”.