A young entrepreneur who is turning a passion for baking into a business success story will unveil her latest culinary creation in Orkney this week.

Emma Rendall, 24, is delighted with the response from customers who have sampled the fudge and chocolates she makes by hand on the island of Shapinsay.

Now she is hoping for an equally positive reaction when her Curly Doddies go on sale at the Dounby Show and the County Show.

Curly Doddie is the Orcadian name for clover flowers. Mrs Rendall's new special sweet looks like a red clover flower - the emblem she uses for her business, The Shapinsay Farmhouse.

"I was looking to create a sweetie that had a connection with farming, that looked pretty and tasted delicious," she said.

"The Curly Doddies are hand made using a secret recipe. All I can say is that they have a marsh mallow centre, with a chocolate and coconut coating."

Orkney Enterprise is helping Mrs Rendall to turn her flair for cooking into a blossoming business.

Impressed by her enthusiasm, the Kirkwall-based development agency encouraged Mrs Rendall to join the HIE Starts scheme.

This enables her to receive a weekly "wage" through her first year as a professional sweet maker - always the most difficult period for any new venture.

"It's been a big help because there are so many things you need to organise and sort out when you start up in business. I've changed my packaging a couple of times, because I want it to have the right feel, and the financial support I'm getting is proving to be invaluable" she said.

Mrs Rendall has been developing her kitchen skills since childhood holidays in Shapinsay, where her grandmother encouraged her to bake cakes and enter them in local shows.

She then started selling home-made fudge at The Smithy heritage centre, craft shop and café in Balfour village.

"I was surprised by the reaction," she said. "I was taking in three batches a week - about 7lbs of fudge - and it was selling out as fast as I could make it."

Encouraged by the popularity of the fudge, Mrs Rendall developed a range of milk and dark chocolates and delivered samples to potential outlets in Kirkwall.

"I went around the shops with a suitcase on wheels," she said. "I felt a bit foolish, and one of the shop keepers said I looked like an air hostess with a trolley, but the reaction was really favourable and there was an order from every shop I visited."

Today, sweets from The Shapinsay Farmhouse are on sale at nine shops in Kirkwall and two in Stromness, while an Orkney hotel serves them to guests as petit fours.

Mrs Rendall is also developing a wide selection of cakes and fancies and will demonstrate a range that includes apple cake and chocolate fudge squares on her stand at the two agricultural shows.

Under the HIE Starts scheme, she receives a £55 weekly allowance during her first 12 months in business.

Harvey Stevenson, Orkney Enterprise's development manager said: "The idea is to help people with business ideas during the period when they're building up the customer base they need to make their venture a success.

"The Shapinsay Farmhouse is an excellent example of a small scale business ideally suited to an island location.

"The hand made confectionery is being marketed with a strong Orkney image and good, eye-catching packaging. It should prove popular with tourists and local people alike."