Bread making is one of the skills I’m ashamed to say I’ve yet to master. It’s either too hard, too doughy or fails to rise. On a particularly bad day it’s a combination of all three.
The most successful cobs I ever made were ones which I put in the porch, covered with a tea towel and left to prove which my brother mistakenly sat on when I was a kid. You know what its like when you’re a kid. I still stuck them in the oven and they rose like nothing before. That’s the trouble with bread though, all that waiting, only for it not to rise. Yet there is nothing quite like the smell of baking bread. I was reminded of this when I went to a supermarket recently and was met with the overwhelming smell of smell as I entered the store and I had the sudden urge to buy some.
It seems I’m not the only one to love freshly baked goods. Hambelton Bakery shop recently opened its doors in West Bridgford and served over 900 customers in just two days! In fact, queues formed from when the doors opened at 8am. Despite Head Baker, Julian Carter and his team starting work at midnight, by mid-morning on both days extra stock had to be called in from the bakery and from Hart’s restaurant to satisfy the demand from local customers keen to sample a taste of the full range of breads, savouries and desserts on offer.
Owner Tim Hart, also of Hart’s Restaurant and hotel in Nottingham and Hambleton Hall in Oakham, was on hand to help serve customers and chat to those wanting to know more about the traditional bread-making processes used to bake the artisan goods and was overwhelmed by the response from the local community. “It’s been non-stop, the first weekend trading has been a huge success and the response we have received from the public has been phenomenal. It’s really nice to be part of West Bridgford and we love being here”
Hambleton Hall is famed for its artisan breads which include Sourdough, Spelt and Rye as well as delicious savouries, cakes and desserts whilst Julian Carter is a 10th generation baker and was crowned Baker of the Year at the Bakery Industry Awards in 2013. Julian added “It’s great that customers are enjoying their artisan breads. We’ve been so busy preparing the shop and producing the breads, we cannot thank the customers enough as they have turned out in their hundreds to try our products and it has exceeded our opening week expectations.”
Hambleton Bakery is based in Exton, in Rutland. It currently supplies five shops (in Exton, Stamford, Oakham and Market Harborough, as well as West Bridgford) and around 60 farm shops, deli’s and restaurants throughout the region. The new shop is part of an expansion plan that already seen the bakery premises at Exton in Rutland double in size.
Want to try it for yourself? The new Hambleton Bakery shop can be found at 101 Melton Road, West Bridgford and is open Monday to Saturday from 8am -5pm.
For further information visit www.hambletonbakery.co.uk
by Tanya Raybould
