Good afternoon everyone,
When putting together our weekly pastry menus, there's a few principles we live by. Of course, the cinnamon bun, cardamom bun and chocolate chip cookie are going nowhere, as the earliest sweet items we ever presented to the fine folks of East Oxford. Since then we have expanded the offering somewhat, with a dedicated pastry team putting in even more hours than the bread team, headed up by Valentina, she of the Tiramisu Cake. So now we always like to have one or two guest buns on the list, rotating every two or three weeks so everyone gets a chance to try them. This coming week it's the whole vanilla bun and the Chelsea with a marmalade, brown sugar and nutmeg filling, topped with a milk glaze. The vanilla bun has been threatening to join the weekly staple list for some time but we resist, both to keep things fresh for the pastry team and so you are fonder after its absence. Then we also like to have one or two guest biscuits, a cake or two, a tart and perhaps some weekend specials. All bases of chocolatey, nutty, seasonal and fruity should be covered.
Looking at the menu as a whole, we love to think of someone coming in early, leaving with a bun fresh from the oven to consume immediately, plus perhaps a biscuit or cookie for elevenses with a cup of tea, whilst also picking up a heritage roll sandwich for lunch, lovingly assembled by our front of house team, and something robust and a little richer to fulfil the afternoon slump or even act as a dessert, a cake or a tart, robust enough to withstand the journey home and a day in a paper bag. This coming week the elevenses slot could well be filled by the chewy ginger cookie, warm with spice, or maybe the plum financier with brown sugar streusel, for lunch, perhaps a Westcombe cheddar sandwich with St John chutney, and we have the walnut tart or our classic Higham apple galette - rough puff, apple butter, sliced apples, nutmeg sugar- to help you through an afternoon or evening, maybe accompanied by a lovely dollop of crème fraiche. We'll leave it up to you to decide where the Montgomery cheddar and spring onion scone fits into proceedings. All this is to say we enjoy imagining how the products we spend our time making and baking fit into your lives.
Over the summer we also received a delivery or 'drop' as we believe it's called these days, from our favourite baker-cum-potter Sam Luntley. Whilst everything Sam makes is beautiful, these latest creations are in the realm of breathtaking. They are made of delicate white clay, and after throwing the vessel Sam shaves some excess to create faceted sides. Generously proportioned for tea or coffee, or even beer. Numbers are limited...
That's all for this week. Thank you for reading and very best wishes for the rest of your weekend,
Kate and Hugo