From working as a photographer in the early 90s he found pastry and breadmaking a much better fit. His first book “Baking With Passion” (1999), won Guild of Food Writers’ Cookbook of the Year. His next, the breakthrough sourdough book “The Handmade Loaf” (2004) was awarded Observer Newspaper’s “20 best cookbooks" in the last two decades. Short & Sweet (2011), won Andre Simon Cookbook of the Year. He writes regularly for newspapers and magazines across the globe.
A crisp easy-to-roll rugged buttery shortcrust made with mix of dark rye and white bread flour, and a hint of real honey. Filled with your very best mincemeat. Then topped with a scotch whisky and walnut sugar crust. Giving you a very impressive Christmas mince pie with a knockout flavour too. And of course you can replace the whisky with rum (that's Faith at our BakeryBits HQ's preference), ... Read more
Using BakeryBits decorative sugars
What are they?
Not all white sugar is the same. You’re probably familiar with different brown and unrefined sugars, the coarse demerara sugar crystals and “coffee” sugar (even larger brown sugar crystals). But did you know that the same is true for white sugar? At BakeryBits we do a range of different white sugars especially made for baking, with ... Read more
Fuel Saving Baking: 9 tips to help reduce fuel costs
We hear you! You have these great skills, you're baking terrific breads, you have a good oven and our amazing flours, everything you need… and now you need to watch your fuel bill. What do you do?
At BakeryBits, we’ve been wondering: what would fuel-smarter baking be like?
So here’s our BakeryBits guide to reducing fuel costs!
1. ... Read more
A flavour-packed sandwich bread which uses a mix of some of BakeryBits top flours. By combining flours milled from different grains you get all the qualities of each flour included in the bread, from the easy-slicing character from roller-milled strong white flour through to great flavour and omega-3 oils from the wholemeal wheat and rye.Makes one large 1kg loaf, to fit our Traditional 3lb Loaf ... Read more
With our BakeryBits Handmade Heavy-Duty Stainless Crumpet Rings you can be cooking perfect crumpets at home, and with our sourdough recipe you can add ever more flavour than the supermarket ones.
Most crumpet recipes use a combination of yeast and baking powder but we’ve found that the best flavour is achieved with a combination of ripe or even spent 1-2 day-old sourdough with our Bioreal ... Read more
A delicious quick and utterly simple bread loaf to make, full of delicious linseed with a touch of honey, a super straightforward recipe we hope you’ll enjoy all summer long. We’ve been making it here for a few weeks and we think it’s our new house favourite. No kneading, no shaping, no stretching. Just mix in a bowl, spoon it into the tin, leave to rise then bake. We snip the ... Read more
What is… strong flour. I guess by the name strong flour has strength, but what does that mean?
If a particular flour contains high-quality protein that in tests produce a elastic, resilient dough, then it’s correct to describe it as strong flour. In the USA the more straightforward term “bread flour" is used, and baking bread is what strong flour should be good for, or wherever ... Read more
Ok, so plain flour in the UK is "cake and pastry flour", am I right?
Maybe. Or not. The thing is, it’s not a specific thing, and that makes it hard to categorise. Bread flour – called strong flour in the UK – is generally assumed to have good levels of gluten, probably something around 11-14% protein, and score pretty well on strength and resilience tests; however plain ... Read more
So I’ve read that 00 Italian flour is the best for bread and pizza, is that true?
Forse sì, forse no. That’s Italian for maybe yes, maybe no. With that phrase alone you can go a long way in Italy, and get into some very tricky situations. See, the thing is those zero numbers have nothing to do with the doughmaking characteristics of the flour, but really only tell how finely ... Read more
Confused about these numbers in the names of many French flours: from T45 up to T150? Then find out here just what the French T-system for grading flour is all about.Choose the flour that’s right for what you want to bake…ideal for baguettes:Matthews French T55 Belle BlancA great general-purpose baguette flour, with excellent elasticity and stretch with low stickiness. The wheat ... Read more
What is a sourdough starter?
A sourdough starter is a slow-rising mixture of flour and water, containing both yeast and bacteria, that together produce gas bubbles, a sour flavour, and a bright acidic aroma. Using it gives the bread a distinctive flavour, an irregular aeration, and a slightly waxy appearance to the crumb.
The yeast and bacteria contained in the sourdough starter mostly come from ... Read more
A slice of toasted wholegrain Pumpernickel-style sourdough, spread with butter and the best honey is one of my favourite ways to start the day. Add in hot coffee and I’m in heaven. Bake this delightful loaf in our 23cm USA Pan Pullman Pan - this is a square-sided bread tin with a slide on lid to make square slices.
If you don’t have white rye flour you can easily make it by taking one ... Read more
A rich and gently-malted chocolate cake with a hint of stout beer and cinnamon. Plus, it uses a mix of white and stoneground wholemeal flour so the crumb has a slightly rough texture that tastes really good.
Makes 1 deep 7” diameter round cake (that can be sliced horizontally and filled), or 1 thinner 8” diameter round cake (for a layer of cake)Method
Butter the inside of a 7” ... Read more
A great simple white-style sandwich bread that slices very smoothly, excellent for sandwiches if you’re making afternoon teas or lunches. And it toasts and grills quickly giving you that perfect mix of a golden outside and soft crumb inside, just what perfect toast should be.
The loaf mainly uses strong white flour with a little wholegrain spelt and rye giving it a more complex flavour and ... Read more
Though it may seem strange to be using a bread flour in something as light and delicate as a scone, it really helps to give the crumb lightness. What’s known as “plain flour” can be made from any quality of grain, better suited to making soft cookies and brownies, whereas strong flour requires the millers to buy and mill high-quality wheat which is what cake makers and bread ... Read more
Here’s an idea: when you make these flavour-packed cheddar cheese scones, try to bring together ingredients from all over Britain, or wherever you live. At BakeryBits we’ve championed small British producers for over a decade, and in this recipe you get to show off the best that independent millers, farmers and artisans offer.
Because the scones have lots of wholegrain flour, cheese ... Read more
Get yourself our premium stainless steel dough cutter and make these very easy no-knead rolls. Great flavour and crust but the star is really Mulino Marino’s extra coarse cornmeal which adds these very visible flecks of golden corn through the door, and on top too if you like.
You can either make the dough in one go, will take about 3-4 hours, or leave the just-mixed dough overnight covered ... Read more
Give me a box of homemade malted oatmeal cookies and I’m a happy camper. These are especially delicious as the special BakeryBits dark barley malt flour gives the cookies a rich dark colour and just a hint of malt flavour. Mixed with our BakeryBits Jumbo Rolled Oats, or Hodmedod’s Organic British-Grown Rolled Oats, and our omega-3 packed linseed and you will be full energy and a smile ... Read more
