Good afternoon everyone, It's one of the the most divisive week of the bakery calendar: Mint Choc Chip ice cream sandwich week. Even amongst our body of staff we have many colleagues for whom it's the iteration they look forward to the most, yet we've had others for whom it was the one Hamblin product they could not stomach. The technique we use these days is from the Happy Endings Cookbook. We blanche fresh mint, then blitz with sparkling water before infusing cream overnight with this vivid paste. Little flecks of Pump Street chocolate complete the Italian meringue parfait. Some say it's marmite, we say it's delicious. A nailed on crowd pleaser will make its debut this week. Hazelnut caramel thumbprint cookies. The same...
Good afternoon everyone, We have written before in these pages of an aspect of the hospitality industry which we really value, staging, the practice of professional bakers or chefs undertaking informal, unpaid work experience as a way of gaining inspiration, learning new skills and exchanging ideas. Our current stagier, Remy, is joining us from New York, having worked at the River Cafe inspired King, and more recently the three Michelin starred fine dining institution, Le Bernardin. Over this weekend, Remy introduced us to the American classic, coffee cake. Somewhat confusingly, the cake doesn't contain coffee but rather is designed to be eaten with coffee. Remy's version was enriched with creme fraiche, and topped with walnut and cinnamon streusel. As with...
Good afternoon everyone, We'll keep this one short and very sweet. Ice cream sandwich season is upon us, with the forecast looking, if not quite as glorious as last week then at the least, very decent. A trawl through emails past reveals that these frozen delights were originally concocted in March 2021 for our first ever pizza night. Hugo's little mind was blown when Kate blithely announced that she might try making ice cream sandwiches. Hugo's only reference point for such a concept were those ice cream wafers that he remembered from the 80s. Confronted with neat rectangles of vanilla parfait quite literally sandwiched between layers of chocolate and buckwheat brownie he was moved to drop down on one knee and...
Good afternoon everyone, What a lovely time of year, sunshine, cherry blossom, the hawthorn in flower and the hedgerows bursting with green growth and new life. After a very nice break we're feeling refreshed and raring to open the doors again this coming weekend. Our latest addition to the pastry counter is a cream bun with rhubarb compote. Readers of a similar vintage to Hugo may remember the days when the Milk Marketing Board commissioned TV ads for cream cakes with the catchphrase naughty but nice as a way of promoting the British dairy industry. Very different times, but an apt descriptor of an old-school torpedo shaped bun, split and filled with Styan rhubarb compote and creme diplomat (that's whipped cream and custard). Ooh-aah....
First of all, a bit of housekeeping. We will be closing as usual after Saturday this coming week, full dates as follows: Last day open: Saturday 19 April Then closed and reopening: Saturday 3 May It's a slightly longer break than usual. Not only do we have a contingent of Swedish family visiting from Stockholm, but Kate has finally assented to make an honest man of Hugo, with the nuptials taking place over the holiday. But enough of all that. The biggest bun week of the year beckons. We will be making as many HXBs as we possibly can, alongside the ever present cinnamon and cardamom, and our new favourite, the whole pod vanilla bun. There will be plenty available...
