Good afternoon everybody, After the relative verbosity of the last two entries, this week's journal will be, perforce, short and hopefully sweet. Our guiding light, Kate, is celebrating a significant birthday this weekend and sad to report some of the preparations have been left a little late. So, to business. Highlights on the pastry counter this week as follows: Blackcurrant Thumbprints - chewy, almondy biscuits with a central dimple filled with blackcurrant jam Poached Pear Galette - flaky puff pastry, frangipane made with the best almonds from Food and Forest, and gently poached, new season Conference Pears from Herefordshire Apple & Cinnamon Muffin - essentially a mini apple crumble perched atop a fluffy muffin For weekend visitors, there will also...
Good afternoon everybody, Apparently it's Wensleydale week. Not in any official sense, you understand, just because we love it and are featuring two of our faves. The cheddar and chutney sandwich has been a staple at the bakery since the very early days. For quite some time the cheese was always Lincolnshire Poacher. Probably because one of Hugo's formative farmhouse cheese experiences was arriving at his aunt and uncle's house in rural Nottinghamshire back in the 90s, starving hungry in the way he so often was in those days, possessing a quite frankly formidable appetite that would frequently see him demolish whole loves of bread, multiple takeaways, tubs of ice cream etc. and somehow retain a waif like waistline -...
Good afternoon everybody, Just a quick one this week. We are very happy to be working with a new fresh produce supplier. Shrub are based in East Sussex. Working with more than sixty small farms and market gardens they aim to revive the supply chains of old by focusing on seasonality, quality, regionality and soil health. This week’s produce will include heritage tomatoes from Nutbourne Nurseries (completely herbicide and pesticide free), yellow courgettes from a biodynamic market garden (Farmacy Farm), plus greengages and raspberries from Myatts in Kent. Mirabelle plums from Myatts will also feature in a shortcrust pastry pie on the pastry counter this weekend. There's a distinctly autumnal feel to the rest of the pastry offering this week;...
Good afternoon everybody, Well, those two weeks have flown by. In the Hamblin household it's been nappies, naps, night feeds and tantrums, interspersed with trips back and forth to the bakery and the Covered Market to deal with fussy fridges (broken), ornery ovens (fixed, thank goodness), peeling paint (Iffley Rd redecorated and feeling much smarter) and parched ply (the wooden fixtures and fittings lovingly restored by the wonderful Curtis with his Osmo oil). We did manage to fit in a weekend in one of our happiest places, Presteigne. On the Saturday our dear friend Dani treated us to pizza from his gem of a restaurant, Daphne's, washed down with Skyborry Cider which he makes in partnership with his brother, Adam....
