Whether it's for Christmas, a birthday, a special thank-you or a first home gift, I've put together a list that will tickle the heart of that special baker, or baker-to-be, in your life. All prices are ex-postage/delivery costs, and correct at the time of writing (7/12/2021).
Though under each price-point I've group things together you can buy for about that sum, I've left the list as single clickable items so you can mix and match according to your budget, taste and imagination. To use it just click on each item link, then click "add to basket", it's that easy.
About £10
Italian bread-to-go
A beautiful cotton bag to store your bread in, just as some families do in Italy, plus a bag of the best Italian flour from my favourite artisan Italian mill.
BakeryBits printed-cotton Bread Bag
Organic Type 00 Soffiata Strong White Flour, 1kg
Say “I love you” with a bunch of flours
Give that sourdough baker in your life this trio: legendary Michael Stoate’s stone-milled rye, & wholemeal, mixed with
Marriages Flour's extra-strong roller-milled white, as this will give great flavour, shape & lightness to sourdough bread.
Stoate's Organic Rye Flour, 1.5kg
Stoate's Organic 100% Wholemeal Flour, 1.5kg
Marriage's Very Strong 100% Canadian White Bread flour, 1.5kg
Weigh cool
I love these quality pocket scales for under £10, I use them all the time and as much as big scales, but for salt, yeast, whenever I want to micro-weigh ingredients.
Pocket Scale JZ115 (115g x 0.01g)
Granary-style loaf kit (salt and water not included)
Give the gift of a classic English tin loaf. Select some Cotswold Crunch bread flour, with malted barley grains, with one of BakeryBits great loaf tins, and dependable Saf Levure yeast
Traditional 2lb or 900g Double-Coated Non-Stick Tin
Matthews Organic Cotswold Crunch Flour, 1.5kg
Saf Levure Active Dried Yeast, 125g
About £15
A sourdough/breadmaking beginner gift: buy the bunch of flours above plus:
A very sharp blade so the loaf top can be slashed with precision just before baking, essential for that impressive “ear” artisan bakers swoon over. Add in a flexible dough scraper so that every bit of dough can be removed from the mixing bowl or bench easily without scratching the surface.
Dough Scoring Knife or Lame
Flexible Dough Scraper
A basket of love
The secret to an open-textured loaf is to make it with enough water so that the dough is pliable and slightly flowing – no need to go overboard here – and what many artisan bakers do is leave to dough to rise in one of these great ‘Brotform’ baskets to rise. I line mine with a square of floured muslin (I peel it off just before baking) and that way the dough never sticks to the form. These are great value, made in the UK, and will transform your baking if you’re not using one already.
1kg Oval Smooth-Surface Brotform
or we have many more shapes available at great prices
About £25
Cut to the important things in life
Slice your prized loaves with this beautiful and very sharp German-made Emil Schmidt bread knife with a serrated 21cm stainless-steel blade and hand-riveted wooden handle.
Emil Schmidt Serrated 21cm Bread Knife
Perfect Pizza and polenta
Make the best pizza with a hand peel to shovel your dough onto a hot tray, bakestone or wood-fired oven, and perfect polenta with the finest Italian artisan-milled cornmeal. I like to sprinkle a little polenta on the pizza too for extra crunch.
Bread or Pizza Peel for Domestic Ovens, 12" blade
Organic Type "0" Manitoba Flour
Organic Fine Maize (Cornmeal) for Polenta
The Italian-inspired gift that keeps giving
With ten of BakeryBits oblong wooden Panibois – oven-safe trays made of aspen ply, that you bake in – your gift can ensure that lots of delicious baking gets done. With some classic Italian flavouring, candied fruit and flour just imagine what can be made.
900ml "Sire" Baking Basket, 10
Fiori di Sicilia Essential Oil
Candied Citron
Organic Type "0" Manitoba Flour
About £30
Tin bread is the new must-make
After a few decades of rugged-looking artisan bread everywhere the fashion has flipped to the sharp corners of a flat-top tin loaf, and there is only one way to make it: with a Pullman loaf tin
Pullman Bread Pan 10x10x40cm with sliding lid
Be the baguette boss
If your giftee is yearning to make the perfect baguette, totally understandably, then they will need these essentials: the right flour, a place for the shaped baguette dough to rise, and a way of moving it from the cloth to the tray. Here’s all three.
Heavy Duty Couche Proofing Linen for Baguettes
Planchette à Pain
Traditional French T65 Bread Flour, 1kg
Marvellous muffin making
With a great stainless steel mixing bowl and a super high-quality muffin tray, your baking-mad recipient will be overjoyed, and remember to ask for muffins in return.
Stainless Mixing Bowl, Rolled Top, 30cm diameter
USA Pans 12 Cup Muffin Tray
