Ex-teacher Emma has swapped the staffroom for a bakery in a converted barn

Picture a job where finding the right dark chocolate is crucial to the company's share price. Think of board meetings where you test at least three different sorts of cake. Imagine a dream to-do list: 9am Taste squidgy chocolate squares to assess orange zest flavouring; 10.30am: Talk to cranberry suppliers about flapjacks; 3pm: Experiment with new cookie recipe.

For Emma Goss-custard, who runs Honeybuns bakery from an old farm in Dorset, tinkering with delicious ingredients in a steamed up kitchen is all part of her nine-to-five. "My married name is perfect for someone in the cake business," laughs Emma. "It helps me stick in people's minds". What also helps is that her sweet treats are delicious. No wonder then that they are selling, er, like hot cakes...

Honeybuns products are now sold in delis and supermarkets nationwide, but the first cakes were baked in the kitchen of Emma's shared flat in 1997. Emma, now 35, was then a fledgling teacher working with tough teenagers in secondary schools around Oxford. "I wasn't hot on discipline and the kids were running rings around me. While I was devoting myself to one or two pupils with special needs, the others were stabbing each other with compasses. It became clear I wasn't a natural born teacher", she recalls.

Baking, on the other hand, did come naturally. One day, she tried out some of her grandmother's old recipes and soon she  was selling cakes to friends.

What made you think that you could turn cakes into a career?

"I lacked confidence after leaving teaching and didn't know what to do. I got fill-in work in a little patisserie in Oxford called Le Petit Pain and it turned out to be the perfect job for me. I loved feeding people and customers loved  coming in. We'd give them a warm welcome as well as a nice lunch. My boss, Kreso, showed me how to stuff sandwiches full of fillings and get to know what customers wanted. I also learned a lot about baking. It was Kreso who encouraged me to start making my own range of cakes; I left with his blessing."

How did you turn the idea into reality?

"I spent £50 on a second-hand bike and £20 on a basket for the front. That was my transport sorted. I'd visit food shops on the Cowley Road in Oxford armed with a camping rucksack and load up with ingredients such as unwaxed lemons and ground almonds. Using my mum's Kenwood mixer, I would make cakes into the night and then deliver them by bike the next morning. There was no business strategy: I was just chuffed to cover my £150 a week outgoings of rent, bills and beer money."

She spends her days in her steaming kitchen perfecting sweet treats

Her quirkily-named cakes, inspired by

her grandma's recipes...

...strike a nostalgic chord

with her customers

So how did you come up with the recipes?

"Growing up we never had boring Victoria sponges or scones. My gran had passed down recipes to my mum that she'd gathered on trips to see a penfriend in Italy. Gran's cakes were so flavoursome; they were made with very little flour and loaded with almonds, hazelnuts, polenta and citrus flavours. Most of the Honeybuns recipes are gluten-free".

And when did you think, "Hang on, I'm on to something here?"

"I'd deliver direct to grey offices on industrial estates and see people bite into their cake and then start beaming - most people in business don't get instant feedback like that. I concentrated on using natural ingredients, with no additives, which commercial bakeries weren't doing 10 years ago. People seemed to love that home-made flavour; I think it struck a  nostalgic chord".

How did you develop your business skills?

"I'm not a naturally organised person, so it hasn't always been easy. With my husband Matt, I moved the business to an old recording studio in 2000. We took out a mortgage and ran up an overdraft so we could convert it into a bakery. The cakes started to win awards and we took on staff, but it was clear - beneath the surface - that I needed help. I loved feeding people but I'd been overgeneorus and not charged enough. I started to learn more about the financial side of things, went on courses and joined the Telegraph Business Club. You can sign up for free seminars and read about inspiring business people."

Emma uses high-quality organic ingredients to make her scrummy cakes

My Five Best Decisions
1 Accepting some ideas are not meant to be.I wanted to produce gourmet fish cakes, but I'd have needed expensive kit and transport.It would never have got off the ground.

2 Trusting female intuition.I was bucking the trend by including fresh lemons and oodles of butter instead of flavourings and margarine. But I decided that's what people would like.

3 Deciding to supply wholesalers.It was tempting to do all the deliveries ourselves, but we realised we are better focused on production.

4 Moving to Dorset. It's the larder of England- a foodies' mecca.

5 Learning to delegate and trust the team. I'm not very organised , but I have made sure that therte are people who work with me who love the details.

"My three brothers and my mum were all worried because they thought going it alone would be stressful, but my dad was over the moon. I think he could see I would make it a success. We finally turned a corner financially and, in 2003, we moved to Dorset. We bought a thatched stone house with outbuildings and turned them into our home, a bakery and an office, plus a cafe, which we open to visitors once a month."

What's your working day like now?

"I spend a lot of time tasting cakes and playing with recipes - I love using polenta, butter, fresh zest, citrus juice and Boyajian citrus oil, which gives baking a moreish, clean taste. You could almost wear it as perfume! I also go out and about  a lot to meet suppliers. The West Country is studded with artisan producers such as our honey supplier who is a local retired GP. And the creamy local butter is fantastic".

What can't you resist yourself?

"If I'm in a chocolate mood, it's the Heathcliffe brownie, so called because it's dark and brooding. Or the Scrumdiddleyumptious Cookie with almonds and lemons".

Can there be any low points when you're surrounded by cake?

"Sadly, yes. Moving to Dorset was a challenge because we were employing new people and had premises to renovate. My right hand woman, Charlotte, was - and still is - wonderful, but we employed another woman, who made me feel like all the  problems were because I wasn't working hard enough". In addition, because of storage problems, I was getting up at 4am to manhandle sacks of sugar and oats, and trundle them  through the mud to the bakery. My hands were red raw - I'm sure that first year in Dorset aged me like no other".

So when does it all feel worthwhile?

"When we win awards and when we have time to savour the smell of baking or enjoy the lovely local landscape. I'm a complete romantic. We chose Dorset because I'm a Thomas Hardy nut and we felt a huge affinity with the area. It has lush, verdant grassland and we have a large collection of animals here on the farm, including Joan, our old donkey, plus horses and rescue dogs."

How do you stay in shape when you're surrounded by cakes all day?

"I do loads of running. But it's not for the love of it: I only run so I can eat more!"

Does the future look sweet?

"Eventually Matt and I would like to find an old agricultural building that we could redevelop into a state-of-the-art bakery with a sustainable moss roof and straw-bale walls. That would be cooking heaven".

One of the perks: there's always great cake to go with your cuppa

Christmas gives Emma the chance to get creative