SIDMOUTH tot Arlo Squires might be just three, but he has already landed his dream job.

He doesn’t mind that he doesn’t get paid for it because there’s nothing he enjoys more than licking out the mixing bowls used by mum Zahra in her new cupcake-making business, Cake-a-hoop.

While the focus is cupcakes, the 38-year-old makes other treats including lemon drizzle cakes and chocolate roulades.

Arlo is enjoying his role within the venture.

“There’s nothing he doesn’t jump at the chance to taste,” said Zahra, of Ascerton Road, Sidmouth. “I guess most of us enjoyed licking out the bowl as kids and he’s no exception. He likes pretty much any type of cake. Cake-pops, which are little balls of chocolate truffle cake coated in chocolate and sprinkles on a stick are a particular favourite.”

Zahra, who moved back to her hometown with Arlo, his seven-year-old sister Imani, husband Matt and a range of pets in 2008, launched her business from her kitchen earlier this year.

“I’ve always enjoyed cooking,” said the former Sidmouth College student, who at age 18 spent a year in France cooking for a family.

“When I moved back home to Devon, I started making cupcakes for friends’ birthdays and things like that. Then people began asking me to make cakes for them and it occurred to me that I might be able to turn it into a business, which I could fit around looking after Arlo and Imani.”

Zahra makes cupcakes for any occasion, from Christmas to children’s tea parties. All the cakes are made freshly to order, to the customer’s exact specifications including colour, flavour and decoration. For more information call Zahra on (01395) 510872 or email zahra.squires@btinternet.com