The Baker's Blog

We're sometimes asked questions about rye flour, for example "what's the difference between dark rye and light rye?", and "is all rye flour wholemeal?". Hopefully we can quickly clear up any confusion you might have about rye flour and how it's sometimes labelled. Thanks to Andrew Wilkinson of Gilchester, and baking guru Dan Lepard for their input. Like wheat flours, rye can be classified by how ... Read more

Make great coffee an extra special event with this butter-rich cake flavoured with freshly-brewed Brazier’s filter coffee. It’s a straightforward cake to make and bake, and whether you ice it with a vanilla or coffee buttercream – or follow our lead and ice it with both – it will absolutely keep you buzzing with pride. Top it with some crushed toasted hazelnuts and shards ... Read more

There are several ways we can help the relief effort to support the Ukrainians who are fleeing the war in their country, as well as those staying at home to defend it. We also need to remember the many Ukrainian people working to bake and provide food for their communities, keeping everyday supplies flowing, even while missiles are firing above them... At BakeryBits, we’ve worked with companies... Read more

Slightly more complex than grilled cheese on toast but in its own way equally delicious. There used to be many different sorts of rarebits, you sometimes see them spelled as "rabbits" – an English rarebit would be made with good red wine – and they somewhat grew out of the traditions of 19th century gentleman’s clubs. Wales was renowned back then for toasted cheese on toast ... Read more

Barley was one of the more common grains used in baking in Wales, less so in England, and its beautiful flavour and colour of the milled grain is almost forgotten. Barley is much more typical in baking when it’s sprouted and malted, and we have a great range of BakeryBits malted barley that gives loaves a great rise and flavour. There are two ways you can use barley flour in a recipe like ... Read more

Brød & Taylor FAQ Answers to your questions about… the Brød & Taylor Bread Proofer. What is the Brød & Taylor Bread Proofer?? It’s a metal heating plate with a folding box that sits above it, holding the warmth or heat in. The lid has a clear Perspex-style window to you can look inside to reassure yourself what state your dough has risen to, though ... Read more

This is essentially a great delicious hummus (though the word hummus strictly means chick pea), reminiscent of the flavoured varieties I’ve eaten in Beirut. Here I’ve used beetroot but I’ve also tasted it with pumpkin, sweet potato, and even one made with sorrel-like leaves known as fresh Lebanese Za’atar (the same name but different to the popular dry seed mixture). The ... Read more

These crisp vegetable cakes are flavoured with dill, lemon and onion are a great substitute if you’re looking for an alternative to crab or fishcakes. The texture is light and delicate, with a crisp outside. Roll them in some breadcrumbs so they shallow-fry without sticking: perhaps even your own home-made breadcrumbs from your baking. Serve these with a dollop of tartar sauce on our soft ... Read more

Fresh carrot juice gives these buns a rich golden colour, extra flavour, and sweetness, and helps to keep them soft for several days. You could use other vegetable juices here, like tomato, beetroot, or a mixture, and a home-juicing machine makes this very easy. Otherwise, you can often buy fresh vegetable juices at the supermarket. But the heart of these delicious buns is the flours used, and a ... Read more

Ficelle are very thin baguettes, crisp and so delicious, and here I’ve made them into heart-shaped rolls: they’re still long, thin and crisp but with an angled cut in the middle I was able to shape them into heart-shaped rolls that are sweet to look at, and so good to eat. The great flavour and crunch is really all down to using a type of French flour known as T55, and the Cotswold ... Read more

Such a great flavour, and relatively easy to make once you get the hang of folding flour into a very aerated whisked egg. What the semolina does is absorb moisture from the mix during baking which means they dry very quickly in the oven. This makes them perfect for soaking up liquids, from the fruit and jelly in a classic trifle to the coffee in our Tiramisu recipe. Here I’ve added nutmeg to... Read more

Tiramisu is the most famous Italian dessert, and such a classic I only wanted to enhance it gently. Great coffee, like BakeryBits range of Brazier's Coffee, has many complex flavours depending on the region it’s grown in, the bean varieties used, different altitudes and climates, farming methods, roasting techniques, so many factors. And one flavour I taste in some is a maltiness, so I ... Read more

Ok, here’s the lowdown on getting great bread from Emmer or Einkorn flours, the heritage grains that have an undeserved reputation for being tricky souls that won’t behave themselves. In truth, we bakers are the problem when it comes to unusual ingredients. We have a tendency to obsessively search out these curious flours, then complain to the moon and back when they don’t behave like ultra... Read more

Tested: The Ankarsrum® Assistent Mixer, get the best price and find out more about it here. Summary: beautiful to look at and easy to use (no steep learning curve, no idea why some reviewers say this) Recipe tested: Dark Malt Focaccia Notable: straightforward mixing, quiet motor, very easy to add ingredients, cleaning the easiest ever. Opening the box The Ankarsrum Assistent arrived ... Read more

A rich, soft, spiced traybake that is absolutely packed with stoneground flour, rolled oats, and shreds of marmalade peel. It’s also not too sweet so perfect for a mid-morning slice of ginger cake. The combination of stoneground rye flour with wholemeal wheat flour, and just a little roller-milled white flour, gives you the perfect balance between a flavour-rich cake as well as a light delicate ... Read more

Be Inspired by South & East Asian Baking Happy Lunar New Year, bakers! At BakeryBits we wish you every success in what looks to be an auspicious and exciting year. We've got a super-packed newsletter for you this week, fantastic interviews with bakers around the world explaining Lunar New Year from their perspective. Plus a new recipe for a saffron garlic bread dough made using Asian baking ... Read more

A fragrant golden garlic bread with layers of buttery spring onion through the saffron dough, using a traditional East Asian roll shaping technique to create flower-like rolls that your guests pull-apart when you serve it. The technique it uses is for shaping a Chinese flower roll, or 花卷 (pronounced Huājuǎn): a small, steamed bread traditional in Chinese and East Asian ... Read more

The Best Bread to Eat With Marmalade It's toast-time at BakeryBits and we want you to get adventurous about the flours you use for the bread you bake: so many possibilities... As bakers we get very focused on what goes in our bread, wanting the best flour (BakeryBits probably has the best selection of great flour online), the finest sea salt (yes BakeryBits sells a range of salt too), but often ... Read more