Owner Erin Swinsburgstarted the business after realising she wanted to spend more time with her two young sons Dexter and Spencer.

She also wanted to work more flexibly than her job allowed at the human anatomy lab in the University of Canberra.

"While I was on maternity leave with my second son I discovered this love of baking and I wanted to turn it into a business, somehow. So I started to make cakes and then coffee to go with it," she said.

"It grew from that. We didn't want the usual kind of coffee van, we wanted something more special. And I've always had that love of retro and vintage so we wanted something to suit my personality."

The retro-looking caravan is actually a reproduction – custom built in Queensland. Ms Swinsburg started selling coffee and cake out of the caravan in November last year and says she has done pop-ups at the National Folk Festival, the Yass Show and the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Ms Swinsburg's vintage theme, complete with tea sets, pretty plates and crockery, and chairs has made My Sweet Alice a popular hire for private events such as bridal showers and tea parties.

She says the caravan touches a chord with older people, who often have stories to tell.

"For the older generation it brings back a lot of memories for them and they start to think a lot about their childhood," she said.

"We get a lot of people saying they used to travel around with their families in the same style of caravan."

Ms Swinsburg plans to set up the caravan to the park outside Blundells Cottage every weekend from 8am to 2pm, except when she's booked for private functions.