We Go Again

Did we tell you we’re pretty mad about profiteroles or proofiteroles as we like to call them…. We’ve perfected these gorgeous balls of choux filled with crème chantilly and topped of with a dark chocolate sauce. Go Luxe and get a salted caramel sauce with honeycomb and strawberry accompaniment. And the best thing, they are now available for national postage ready for you to assemble in the comfort of your home. 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻 Some would say, you do you, we do choux 😜. #theproof #webringpudding #profiteroles #youdoyouwedochoux

Here’s some of our favourite in action cake shots ever featuring “the Edie - Pink Shag Cake”. It’s not often we see people enjoying our creations so seeing the amazing @florencepugh celebrate her birthday with one of our cakes is really special. Big thanks to @thestandardlondon & @elli1276 as always ❤️❤️❤️❤️ #theproof #cake #cakesofinstagram #cakestagram #cakedesign #cakes #cakelover #birthday #birthdaygirl #birthdaycake

Ok we have news. So it turns out manifestation does work. 3 years ago when we started out and got asked what the goal for the Proof was it was easy….To get into @selfridgesfood foodhall, but said in a naive way of not knowing how hard it was going to be to get this far. But, 3 years on, with blood, sweat and tears…literally…we’ve bloody done it! 💥💥💥 From Monday we are serving up all the things we think are great about The Proof. We’ll be on display in the bakery with mini shag cakes, cheesecake choux buns and profiterole tarts. We will also have a beautiful selection of cakes on offer that can be ordered for collection in store. That’s not all folks; you can also taste our goods in Dollys cafe on the lower ground floor, which you can enjoy with a cuppa or a glass of bubbly. It’s safe to say we are pretty mind blown by this opportunity; it’s huge and we are beyond grateful to @theofficialselfridges for buying into the proofs vision. It’s time to get excited to start the next phase of the Proofs journey. We’ll bring Pudding! #theproof #selfridges #cake #dessert #pudding

Episode 2 : We Go Again It was such a pleasure to talk to Corre Myer better known as @cocolarkincooks for episode 2 of We Go Again. Corre is a food content creator building an engaged audience of over 1.7 million followers on insta, nearly 1 mill on TikTok and a thriving substack community. Her first cookbook “Season To Taste” is also set to be released later this year. We talked about ambition and the desire to make a lot of money, the bravery in just starting something, dealing with trolls and celebrity followers and the grit and determination to create a life you want to live. It was honest and authentic and it’s clear to see what sets Corre apart in a sea of other creators. Podcast out now on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Musix and YouTube

We Go Again The power or building a network and collaboration. For me without a huge network I struggled and really needed to be able to talk through my struggles and wins with people who were in similar positions and could empathise or offer feedback. It’s a very lonely place building anything without a solid network Link to episode one in comments ⬇️💘

I’ve gone back and forth about sharing this more times than I can count. Many of you followed this page through the highs of The Proof, and you also saw the silence that came when it ended. For a long time, I carried a lot of shame around that. I worried about what people thought, what it said about me, and whether failure would be the only thing people remembered. The truth is, losing something you built and believed in is painful. It’s personal. And even now, talking about it still feels raw, emotional, and honestly quite scary. But I also know I’m not the only person who has poured themselves into something that didn’t work out. So instead of hiding from that chapter, I’ve decided to share it. We Go Again is a new podcast about resilience, rebuilding, and finding the courage to start over. It begins with my own story, the reality behind The Proof, what happened, and what I’ve learned since. If it helps even one person feel less alone in running their business or more hopeful about what comes next, it will be worth it. Thank you to anyone who listens with an open mind and kind heart. 🤍 and thank you @davidjonathanjohnston for helping bring the story out. Here is the trailer x

Part 2 (thanks for reading) I couldn’t be prouder of The Proof, the vision, team (past and present) and the fact that I tried which was bloody brave. I had no network, limited funds, a heart attack ❤️and fuck all experience. But in the end I also failed and I need to come to terms with that as do my team and my family. For anyone booked in for a wedding cake this year you will be contacted separately. For anyone interested there is a beautiful brand that could be bought and pivoted, I would love The Proof to have a life beyond me. For me personally, I genuinely don’t know what the future holds. Financial ruin yes, but I like the idea of getting a job and an actual salary if anyone wants to hire me and also getting a good nights sleep again one day would be nice. I also can’t wait to be a proper mum to my babies who have loved me no matter what and always will. And to Chris, you have worked 2 full time jobs for 5 years. You are amazing in how you have supported this dream of mine, but now it’s time to focus on your career and also get some sleep. Thanks for the love, the support, the orders, the joy, the tears the laughter and the memories. We brought the fucking pudding always and I will be proud of what we achieved forever. Fran x

Part 1 - The End. One of the hardest things to do in life is learn and accept when it’s time to stop. I have tried so hard to not have to make this decision but sadly it’s time to accept that The Proof has come to the end of its journey. We are financially struggling and the massive decisions of the last 12-18 months we took to scale the business have in fact taken it down. And, maybe more importantly, I am really struggling with the whole thing and making it work. We tried to do it all - and for a while we did. But this ultimately crippled the business. I could write a book about the stuff that was thrown at us daily. It was a fucking minefield. We grew exponentially in under a year from our small kitchen servicing wholesale accounts to businesses & retailers, events, pop ups, postal, our own shop, e-commerce and more. The workload often led to burnt out staff, fraught kitchen & a shit ton of overtime. I wouldn’t recommend doing all of that at once and ultimately we realised it was unsustainable without more money, more energy and probably more experience to make the right decisions. We/I worked 7 days a week to meet demand while juggling all the other facets of the business & all while trying (and failing) to be a present mum to 3 young children. I hope I don’t need to explain how difficult & at times impossible that was. 3 kids and a 24/7 business and zero life became very challenging to process mentally. But - We did so many things uniquely, beautifully & with an aesthetic that was true to our vision. We brought thousands of cakes and desserts to businesses and individuals across London perfectly, deliciously and on time for 5 years. We made cakes for celebs, Weddings and our customers happy celebrations and we serviced London in lockdown with mini treats to brighten up their days. And I can’t tell you how many thousands of profiteroles we have baked, Our Profiteroles always will be my pride and joy... continued in next post.

Taking orders from now until forever on our beautiful cake range. Check out the website 🤝🤝🤝 #theproof

*** News Flash*** Did we mention we make delicious cakes & desserts. Here’s a throw back to one of our favourite table scapes shot with @charliemckay a while back now. It’s when the Proof’s product & identity was really being formed. Elegant desserts using the best quality ingredients and lovingly prepared individually by us. Fast forward a couple of years we have our lovely little bakery in Dalston square, are stocked in @theofficialselfridges & are about to open a retail space in Westfield Stratford. 🤯🤯🤯 More to come on that in the coming weeks & we are so excited to have a whole new concept & menu specifically for that site. #theproof #profiterolebar

Small biz real talk A little update from us - because it’s been really hard. Survival in this market, at this economical time has had us on our knees, despite the fact we have been pretty steady. It’s meant drastic measures & scaling the business back - which felt destabilising & like failure, but now feels like the weight has been lifted. How? Smaller team - I have control of my business again without any outside influence; vastly better product; scrapping most of our wholesale clients because it doesn’t fucking pay enough for the level of time & work involved; limited events because we have to find the balance between us making a profit & not just making other people money; newly revamped shop to create an eat-in space & just a general motivation towards creating a business that is sustainable & not just increasing turnover & staff for very little gain. Last year was a ride. I Learnt a lot but also hated what we had created. Management of a big team was really difficult, We focused on growth in a very broad way - an attitude that said yes to everything but without a proper strategy for managing and maintaining this. Yes we pulled it off, just, but it was a car crash & I spent many months dreading the thought of going to work each day and the emotional rollercoaster it caused with the people involved. We pushed too hard and considering I had suffered serious heart problems at the end of 2022 this was insane. Fast forward to April 2024, and Yesterday we had the busiest day in our shop since the day we opened. It was amazing seeing the place full inside and out all day long. This is real progress; growing something that actually means something and having a counter full to the brim of delicious cakes and desserts. Making this spot a destination for profiteroles is now the aim while I continue to steady & save the business Chris and I have worked so hard on since starting it in our kitchen & inject the life back into it with some added joy. Someone said to me that scaling back is often the way to actually grow a profitable business & at the time I thought it was trite bullshit, but, actually they might be right 💫 #theproof #webringpudding

Kinda nuts to think Easter is in a few weeks. Our SS24 menu is going live next week and we are bringing back some of our favourite desserts. Perfect for entertaining and sharing 💕 📸 @charliemckay