Britain's Best Bakery

Britain's Best Bakery

Mich- Britain’s Best Bakery first book to accompany our second series celebrates every one of our 60 bakeries that took part in the competition.  They highlight their bakeries and include recipes of their speciality bakes.   The book includes 40 additional mouth-watering afternoon tea bakes.  For me it is a photo album reminder of all the fabulous bakes, bakers and bakeries that make up Britain's Best Bakeries.  

Peter- This book is a celebration of everything that is great about our wonderful British bakeries, you can flick through this book and tick off each one as you visit them. It’s packed with lots of recipes from all our talented bakeries that will make your mouth water and definitely want to visit your local bakery. 

Please tell us about founding Little Venice Cake Company

I founded LVCC in 1999 having qualified as a Food Scientist and working as a bakery and Patisserie buyer at Harvey Nichols. I made cakes in my spare time as a hobby, with the intention of setting up my own business.  The business is 15 years this year during which time I have written 5 international award winning books made over 5000 cakes for weddings, birthday and many celebrities including Pierce Brosnan, Madonna, Paul McCartney, David Beckham, Gordon Ramsay and Her Majesty the Queen.  I teach all over the world and have a range of baking and cake decorating tools.  

Why is it important to have scientific knowledge when you are baking?

Baking is scientific.  The success of the bake relies on the accuracy of following the recipe; quality of ingredients and understanding the physical chemistry throughout to understand not just what you are doing but why and what is happening at each of the processes to maximise the results.  Not adhering to any of these stages will result in a lacklustre cake.  Understanding the principles will ensure a success every time. 

What are your favourite recipes from the book and why?

Mich- Burbidge's Danish pastries - the best I have ever tasted.  Steve travelled to Denmark and studied for 3 months to be able to recreate the perfect Danish pastry.  The balance of sweet, crisp, chewy with the most subtle balance of cardamom and dark chocolate make these a destination for all.

Outsider tart's Turtle Cheesecake - 'turtally' awesome, total wickedness and pure sin

1066 bakery's ale and cheese bread [CHEDDAR CHEESE AND ALE BREAD]- perfect balance of flavour, texture and crunch in a well flavoured sourdough for this honest, great tasting savoury loaf.

Peter- 1066 beer and cheese sour dough [CHEDDAR CHEESE ALE BREAD]-These guys knew how to make an amazing sour dough and then they created   a symphony of local flavours, that for me is how to create a real following, it the future for independent bakeries and a classic example of how make something unique to you and your bakery.

Angels Share Cumberland Pie [CUMBERLAND HAM, APPLE AND SAGE PIE] - this pie was a work of art, it was perfectly baked with a great flavour, a wonderful example of how to execute the perfect pie 

How did you both get on working together?

Mich- Peter and I both understand what it takes to run a successful business. We have a similar ethos to quality ingredients and great recipes.  We support the community, using fresh, local seasonal produce and driven by the desire to keep innovating and moving forwards. With these qualities it was a joy to work together to compare and contrast each other’s skills in bread, pastries, pies and cakes to collectively set the challenged and decide on our ultimate winner. Avidly 

Peter- Mich and I are very different in ways, but when it comes to baking we are much on the same page, we look for quality, innovation and creativity. As the show is in its second series we have become good friends and usually when we are on set tasting and judging we know what one another is thinking before we even get to discuss. 

Tell us a bit about the show Britain's Best Bakery

Mich- The show is a celebration of the nation's bakeries and bakers. Over the course of 6 weeks Peter and I put 60 of the best professional bakeries from all over Britain through a number of challenges to crown Britain's Best Bakery.  The bakeries present their 'Speciality Bake' which should be the one product that best identifies their bakery; the 'Wildcard Bake' tests their creativity and innovation and the 'Bakers’ Dozen' sees the bakeries pit their skills against their competitors. Only one can be crowned Britain’s best. 

Peter- Britain’s Best Bakery is the nationwide search for the Best Bakery in the land. Each day we are presented with an array of mouth-watering recipes, regional specialities and delicious treats. Together, Mich and I look for bakeries with passion and creative flair, willing to push themselves and their breads, bakes and cakes to exciting new heights. The competition is intended to pit the best bakeries against each other in a series of challenges putting their skills and techniques, ingenuity and craftsmanship to the test.

Peter, when did your passion for Artisan baking begin?

It all began at School when I was 12. It was the first time I had ever made bread and i just caught the bug for it. Making bread is a process that very much requires touch and feel, it’s not so much about exact measures, more about how it feels and that to me was where I could thrive and create. There’s something instinctive about bread making and I love it! 

What is next for you?

Peter- Next for me is an exciting new Cookery school based in the Lake District just next to my restaurant. I am also launching a new recipe app "Simply Good food” on smart phones and tablets (it’s the future!). I have created lots of fantastic new recipes in small bundles so that people can download and create a book with chapters of recipes they want to cook. Good cooking always starts with good ingredients so that said I have launched a new food range called Simply Good, I have created and selected a range of oils, pastas, pesto, bread making flours to name but a few products that I am passionate about cooking with. They will be available nationally in all good deli’s and farm shops this year. 

 

 


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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