Like many couples plunged into lockdown and looking for ways to fill the time during the early days of Covid-19, Simon and Summer Black got into baking, only they're exiting with a new business.

Simon, originally from England, worked in localisation for an animation software company, and Summer, from Thailand, also worked for a tech multinational prior to founding Coconut & Moo Moo.

The couple now spend their days making cakes to order online and on Instagram, selling their products at markets around the greater Dublin area, and soon at Taste of Dublin, where they will be exhibiting on the Artisan Producers' Row.

The Blacks officially started the company in January 2021, several months after Summer had a craving for Basque burnt cheesecake, a Spanish-style baked cheesecake with a caramelised top and without the biscuit base of a typical cheesecake.

"It took her a while to try to get into a state that she was happy with," Simon explains. "We had a lot of cheesecake that was popping out of the oven. And of course, she was doing this during downtime or during work hours when she just didn't have enough work to do and she was trying to keep busy.

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"And it got to the point where the majority of people were telling us: 'Sell the cheesecake.'"

Word of the cheesecake's popularity spread beyond their friend group by word of mouth, and soon people were insisting on paying for it, at which point the couple begrudgingly set up their business on a part-time basis.

"We were just doing deliveries and collection as a side hobby, and then we realised it started to get a bit more serious, so around June, she left her full-time job to do this full-time.

"I was helping her try to expand the brand, trying to get well-known -- we haven't done any advertising. I was helping on the weekends, and we thought we might try ourselves at a farmers market.

"We just gave some samples to different people," Simon says, but it has quickly escalated, to the point where he is now working full-time on Coconut & Moo Moo as well, and the couple are in the process of securing a commercial kitchen in Bray, having operated out of their kitchen to this point.

The couple initially bonded over a love of food and often explored Dublin looking for new outlets and restaurants, although Summer could never find the Basque burnt cheesecake she craved.

"Cheesecake is a universal food language," Simon says, quoting his wife. "And a lot of people can relate to it. Many cultures have their own variation of cheesecake or grew up with a different version of cheesecake."

Having lived in Thailand for a long time, the couple had no real connection in the food industry, so when it came to building relationships with traders, they were starting from scratch, and they also had to get to grips with the regulations for food businesses.

Simon and Summer currently trade at the farmer's market at Kilruddery House in Bray, the Djoice Outdoors in Roundwood, Co Wicklow, the People's Park in Dún Laoghaire, and the lunchtime market on Mespil Road in central Dublin throughout the week.

They plan, in time, to establish their own retail outlet, but for now they're sticking with online sales, delivery and collection and markets, and they do a roaring trade on Instagram, but their cakes are available in some stores in Dublin and Wicklow, specifically:

Barnhill Stores, Dalkey; Robbie's Greengrocer & Food Store, Kilmacud; The Wooden Spoon, Blackrock; Kerb Restaurant, Foxrock; Asia Market, Ballymount; TWOBEANS, Dún Laoghaire; Platform Pizza Bar, Bray; Rise at the Cove, Greystones; Rolling Stoves, Dublin 2 ; Beanhive, Dublin 2; Day n Night, Dublin 1; Mulligans of Sandymount, Dublin 4; and Michie Sushi, Dublin 6.

Ahead of Taste of Dublin, Simon is looking forward to engaging with the "diverse" collection of "foodies" who attend the event and who typically wouldn't go to the farmers' markets they frequent.

"We'll be able to share what we do with people who are like-minded who love food ... and spread what we're doing to a larger amount of people, so it should be great for us and everything that we are trying to do."

Coconut & Moo Moo will be at Taste 2022 June 16 - 19, located at the Artisan Producers Row in front of the band stage. Tickets for the Iveagh Garden event can be found HERE.