In 2010, Jane and Dave Endean were looking forward to semi-retirement in Worcestershire. But somehow that didn’t go quite to plan, and today they run their own business called Mad K Pies (Mum and Dad’s Kitchen), baking and selling 2,000+ pies a week from an industrial estate in Portsmouth!
Coming to Southsea
Jane started by making cakes to fundraise for breast cancer charities after her mum passed away. Soon, what started as a hobby began to ‘spiral out of control’ and the couple found themselves selling their produce at shows – their first ever was Southsea Food Festival.
Dave’s brother and his wife lived in Southsea and, after visiting them, the couple decided to move here from Malvern in 2011 and never left. “We love living near the sea and we love the community feel, the friendliness and the diversity of Southsea,” says Jane.
Allergy-Friendly Pies and Cakes
Today their business, Mad K (which stands for Mum and Dad’s Kitchen), is 100% gluten-free. “It started when one of our customers said I bet you can’t make a gluten-free pie,” Jane explains. “Well, the challenge was on. It took 18 months to get the pastry right and now here we are!”
Vegan and dairy-free options are also available and their pies have won lots of awards. Jane and Dave say they are most proud of those where their pies beat “normal” ones.
They’ve won several non gluten-free classes at the British Pie Awards – including Best Dessert Pie (rhubarb and custard) and Best Sports Pie (chicken and mushroom). Their steak & ale pie was also runner-up in the Pub Pie class.
The Taste Test
On the menu at Mad K is a wide range of single-portion savoury and sweet pies, as well as quiches, cakes and sausage rolls.
I recently tried two pies – chicken, ham & leek and goat’s cheese spinach & potato – plus some Bakewell tarts. All were great and I was impressed by the pastry and the flavours.
My Dad, who is able to eat “normal” pastry, had a lamb and red wine pie – which he described as very good and well filled with a good amount of lamb and gravy.
The pies remind me of the Pieminster ones that you can find in supermarkets, but they’re priced more keenly (at around £4 each) and taste better.
An added bonus is the wide variety of fillings at Mad K. These range from ‘beef Sunday lunch’ to vegetable curry pies on the savoury side; cherry to blackberry & apple on the sweet side; and ginger to ‘ultimate chocolate’ cakes!
How to Buy Mad K Products
Anyone can buy direct from Mad K’s online for delivery across mainland Britain. But the great news for us locals is that we can visit Mad K in person and pick up pies at lower prices.
You can also buy “wonky pies” onsite – which don’t look quite good enough for restaurants but still taste fab. “Everyone loves a bargain and, well, we like to see people!” says Jane.
Most of Mad K’s business these days involves supplying shops and pubs across the country. In Portsmouth, this includes the Historic Dockyard and the Ship & Castle pub. “What we would really like, as we all love football, is to get the pies into a football ground – preferably Fratton Park!”
A Growing Pompey Business
By 2020, the business had outgrown Jane and Dave’s Southsea home kitchen and they moved to commercial premises. Partnering with Dave’s brother and his wife, they opened their current unit in Copnor, and now provide jobs for several other local people.
Jane recalls: “The timing was shocking, as Covid hit the same month we took the unit on and we promptly lost all our wholesale customers! As a small business, it has been a hard few years and we continue to jump through many hurdles.”
Thankfully, Mad K has weathered the storm and today Mad K is a Pompey success story, thanks in large part to teamwork and a sense of humour. “They say you either pull together or pull apart, and we all pull together to make the business work!”
Want to try the award-winning Mad K pies and cakes for yourself? You can buy online or pop into their premises between 8am and 4pm on Monday to Friday!
See all their socials and online shop below.
