Puddings have been very profitable for Helen Colley, founder of Farmhouse Fare.

HER conversation is liberally drizzled with talk of chocolate fudge brownies and sticky syrup pudding.

And, as the founder of an award-winning Clitheroe pudding company Farmhouse Fare, Helen Colley has built up years of expertise on sugar, spice and all things nice.

So when she was recently called upon to mingle with a select band of successful women from the worlds of media, science and academia at the Savoy Hotel in London, there was no surprise that she proved as popular as her sought-after desserts.

"I still have no idea why I was invited," said Helen, who was nominated for the prestigious Women of the Year lunch last month, where she rubbed shoulders with the likes of Joan Armatrading, Maureen Lipman, Carol Vorderman and Virginia Wade.

"There was a cocktail reception where I got chatting to the diet guru Rosemary Conley, of all people!

Back in everyday life, Helen is a 37-year-old mum of three who is happily married to Michael, a farmer. But even in her life as a successful businesswoman, Helen's relaxed approach to her work wins her many friends.

"People are interested in what I do because everybody loves puddings -- even those who pretend they don't. When I explain what I do, people are intrigued." Helen's culinary career kicked off at an early age.

She explained: "I've always been interested in cooking. I represented my school in the junior cook of the year competition and started entering the Gargrave show from the age of 10.

"I grew up on a farm in Gisburn and I remember one weekend when I was 14 and I turned my parents' front room into a cafe. I can't believe I did it! We put a sign out on the road to let passers-by know and I served them ham sandwiches and cups of tea.

"In the end we were having to serve people in their cars because it got so busy in the front room!"

After studying hotel management at Nelson and Colne College, Helen went to work at Gisburne Park country estate, which employed outside caterers at a time when they were few and far between. Helen said: "This woman came up from London and she'd made a chocolate roulade. I thought, 'That's what I want to do'.

"I started up in my parents' farmhouse and all I had was a £250 bank loan. I set off with a Kenwood mixer and made cakes for all the hotels in the area. I got my first funeral tea and it went on from there."

However, after 19 years in outside catering, Helen decided to found her pudding business to help with cash-flow problems during winter.

So popular did her desserts prove they have been snapped up by big-name stores like Booths, Sainsburys, Fortnum and Mason, Asda and Morrisons and have already won several awards. Helen sold the outside catering company last February to concentrate on Farmhouse Fare, which has just moved to a purpose-built £500,000 premises in Clitheroe.

She said: "A lot of our puddings are based on traditional recipes, including my great-grandmother's. Often we take something and see how we can improve it."