Recipies through four generations

Born Maude Gatley in 1895, Grandma Parker lived with her parents Harriet and Joshua and her sister Sarah in Taylor Street, Ashton. She married Earnest Parker in 1915 and lived in Duckinfield with her growing family but when Ernest's health became poor Grandma Parker needed to become the main bread-winner of the family. They took over a grocery shop, living over the shop, and offering a range of delicious home baked bread, cakes and puddings in addition to general groceries. The Grandma Parker recipies became accessible to the locality and were very popular.

The family thrived and remained in the shop throughout the second world war. One daughter, Elsie, trained in cake decoration and patisserie in Manchester and one of her younger sisters (also a Maude) soon followed her interests. Photographs from the time show the sisters' spectacular royal icing creations with delicate and fragile raised nets and lace inserts. The specialised moulds made for these creations are still retained by the family.

Maude and Earnest were life long teetotallers but Grandma Parker knew the value of adding spirits to her rich fruit cakes to enrich the flavour. The rich fruit cake range is 'fed' with brandy or an alternative spirit according to customer preference.