MAXINE GORDON meets a York woman who has swapped the nine-to-five to make Christmas cakes and puddings full-time from home.

IF you've ever made your own Christmas cake, you will know what a labour of love it entails. There is the careful mixing, the baking, the icing and - to top it all - the decoration, using your festive figures of choice.

For some, only the simple elegance of the holly and the ivy will do. For others, nothing can beat a snow scene complete with fir trees and Santa on his sleigh. All hand made, of course.

It's a time-consuming business and no one knows this better than Elizabeth Wright.

Since October, Elizabeth has made a dozen Christmas cakes and as many Christmas puddings, along with a range of chutneys and jams to give the Robinson corporation a run for its money.

And it's all been done from the kitchen at Ivy Cottage, her home in a converted barn at Bolton, near Wilberfoss.

Elizabeth's baking and jamming frenzy is not because she has a large family to feed on December 25 (although she does: three children and seven grandchildren). It's because it is her business. Or at least it has been for the past two months.

Back in October, Elizabeth Wright was the personal shopper at Browns department store in York, where she had worked for 17 years, setting up and running the cosmetic department for a large chunk of that time.

Today, she spends her days baking, cooking, jamming and using her considerable artistry (she was also in charge of bridal registry and gift wrapping at Browns) to display her Ivy Cottage produce in a range of hampers.

Given her background, it's not surprising Elizabeth is immaculately groomed. Just because she has swapped her job in the city for one in the kitchen, she is not about to let her image slide. Before our interview, she had been for her weekly visit to the hairdressers and, when we meet, her hair is elegantly coiffeured and she is wearing a mauve skirt with matching sweater and nail varnish.

A hot-pot is in the oven, which I regretfully turn down because I'd already eaten lunch, however I do accept a cup of tea and a slice of her Christmas cake.

And what cake. Light brown, soft and moist, it's full of juicy fruit and a million miles from the dark brown, glac-cherry filled, rock-hard varieties that all too often pass as Christmas cake.

On her dining room table are displayed a selection of festive baskets and hampers. There are large Christmas cakes, individually decorated (she offers a bespoke service), round Christmas puddings (they look so much nicer than the domed ones, she reckons), jars of jams and chutneys (the spicy banana one being a work in progress) and cheeses from Hawes creamery in Wensleydale.

Not only is the produce home-made, most is home-grown as well, coming straight from husband George's allotment a field away. Elizabeth turns it all into a range of jams, jellies and chutneys featuring everything from marrow and ginger marmalade and gooseberry and elderflower jam to apple, orange and cider jelly.

Presentation is all for Elizabeth and her eye for style is evident in everything from the ivy print on the cellophane wrap of the hampers to the hessian and raffia covers on the jars of chutney and jam.

In one hamper, four jams are presented alongside a Wedgewood jam pot with silver Arthur Price spoon in. In the cheese and vintage port hamper there is a lovely wooden cheese board, the top of which slides over to reveal a hidden compartment with four cheese slicers and servers.

The hampers are doing a roaring trade - mostly being sold to friends and former colleagues.

Such is the demand that Elizabeth is now planning variations to cater for events throughout the year, such as St Valentine's Day and client's birthdays. It was this demand, this clamouring for her chutneys and cakes, which forced her, reluctantly, to quit her job at Browns and devote herself to developing the Ivy Cottage brand.

Elizabeth explains: "It all started when Jo at work in Browns said she didn't like normal Christmas cake, she only liked mine. Then she asked if I would make her one, and a Christmas pudding.

"I'd always made jams and chutneys from everything we grow in the garden and would give them away to people at work or to friends who had been round for dinner. It was just a hobby, I didn't like to see anything going to waste. To me pottering in the kitchen is therapy.

"I said to Jo: 'Would you like me to make you a hamper and put in some preserves and chutneys'. She said yes, then when I mentioned it to some other people and they said: 'Will you make one for me'."

Soon, Elizabeth was inundated with requests and decided to throw herself into a new business opportunity.

Going back to the kitchen was like returning to a first love. She originally trained as a domestic science teacher and was taught to cook by her granny, who was Welsh.

"My granny was brilliant," said Elizabeth. "Really hospitable. I still have some of her recipes. She used to make lots of Welsh things, like Barabrith, a fruity and spicy loaf. We used to have it for Christmas morning. When I smelt that I knew it was Christmas. I still make it."

Now 64, Elizabeth shrugs off any notion of slowing down.

"I'm not ready to retire. What would you do when you get up in the morning?

"At this age, I'm supposed to be winding down, but I'm winding up."

Besides making festive hampers, Elizabeth has also been making and selling Christmas table decorations, again offering a bespoke service.

With a house full of festive hampers and seasonal displays, it's just as well Elizabeth adores this time of year.

"I love Christmas, the warmth and security of it: putting up the tree and decorating it. It's magical."

For more details about Ivy Cottage produce, contact Elizabeth Wright on 07866 473 253.

Updated: 11:33 Tuesday, December 21, 2004