Good afternoon one and all,
Another week and another stint for Kate at a London bakery, this time Quince in Islington with superstar baker, published author and dear friend Anna Higham, and her fab-u-lous team. It’s the only other bakery we know of to have Strictly Come Dancing magnets adorning the prover-retarder. The menu changes weekly and has a steadfast focus on seasonal fruit and vegetables. Highlights this week were the flakiest plum and vanilla custard pie (one to pay homage to on the Hamblin counter we think), almond layer cake with damson buttercream and roast squash and ricotta quiche. Anna is also making beautiful, characterful bread using flour from our mutual friends at Landrace, including an outrageously good batch bread enriched with lard. Anna's strength is truly letting the grain come to the fore in all of the bakes, be that in a buttery puff pastry, a crumbly cookie or an aerated country loaf, they all have a sweetness and depth which comes from knowing how to guide the flour along its way. The space is full of joy and humour, as the team work steadily hand laminating pastry and assembling sandwiches, whilst exchanging anecdotes across the central wooden work bench. And how fortuitous to not only be there for the first week of the new Strictly season, but during the quince season itself- many dozens of kilos were peeled, poached and pureed and baked over the two days, as Anna prepares to make her famous quincemeat for Christmas pies.
Like Helen at Eric’s, Anna is the sole owner of the business, and knowing how much there is to navigate at Hamblin between the two of us as a business partnership we are simply full of admiration for these exceptional women doing it on their own. Both bakeries have been hewn from sheer force of will, and both reflect the very best qualities of the women behind them. Anna, keeeep dancing (and baking)!
In honour of Quince, there is a very fruit-forward offering this coming week. The apple crumble custard bun remains (Anna’s apple butter, vanilla custard, apple compote and buttery crumble), and we’ll also be making apple muffins with cinnamon streusel, with some beautiful russets donated by a kind customer. Then there’ll be a poached pear and almond galette, and a couple of weekend specials, damson Swiss roll, and plum custard cake. Technically the oat and raisin cookie falls into this category, and we’ve been very much enjoying the current version with plenty of fresh nutmeg. For those looking for something a little less fruity, this coming week sees the return of the chocolate and almond bun, which is up there among the most decadent of Hamblin bakes.
Monday found Hugo, Harriet and latest front of house recruit Justyna hitting up legendary wine bar 40 Maltby Street in Bermondsey, which is also home to importer Gergovie Wines. The team were pouring new arrivals from three of their Auvergnat producers. The Auvergne, a mountainous, heavily forested region in central France, with its volcanic soils and relative availability of land and vines, has become something of a hotbed of natural winemakers. Gamay, both the Beaujolais variety as well as the smaller berried Gamay d'Auvergne, and Pinot Noir are the predominant red grapes, whilst Chardonnay is most common for the whites. It was fascinating, if at times somewhat overwhelming, to taste through twenty or so wines made with various combinations of these grapes. We have picked four of our favourites to add to the list:
Domaine Trouillères, Eruption, Gamay d'Auvergne - fruit-driven, lithe, mineral and very moreish
Marie et Vincent Tricot, Les Milans, Gamay d'Auvergne, Pinot Noir, Syrah - sanguine and supple, with a blackcurrant/blackberry note to the fruit
Marie et Vincent Tricot, Escargot, Chardonnay - ageing in a mixture of stoneware jars and old barrels lend earthy minerality and lovely richness. Think lemon meringue pie - ripe, citrusy fruit with a mouthfilling texture.
Henri Chauvet, De cendre et d'âme, both Gamays, Pinot Noir - a real stunner and feels just right for this time of year - smoky minerality (Harriet's tasting note was "bonfire"), spicy fruit, touch of earth/forest floor.
Well, that's quite enough for this week. As always, thank you for reading and we hope to see you very soon,
Kate and Hugo