TWO MAGPIES BAKERY // SOUTHWOLD

It's Saturday morning just before 8am and I've managed to drag Ben out of bed to enjoy a beautiful, fresh morning in the seaside village of Southwold. Even though I'm an avid early riser, it isn't often I can find someone willing to join me this early, especially on a weekend morning! But we are here to celebrate Joan's 60th birthday (Ben's mum) and we're off to collect freshly baked goods and more importantly the birthday cake from a bakery called The Two magpies.

We weren't they only ones, outside their door eagerly awaiting them to open!

We managed to arrive even before they’d put the shutters up! Soon though, the blinds came up to show a wonderful display of tempting baked goods. We ordered a cuppa tea and coffee whilst we waited to collect our order. I was chuffed to find their coffee is from one of my favourite coffee suppliers, Allpress, based in Shoreditch.

Little fella didn't seem too chuffed he had to stay outside!

The owners, Rebecca and Jim are a couple, who began careers in completely different fields to what they are now doing. Jim was in bomb disposal in the Army and Rebecca was an art teacher. 

They opened the Two Magpies Bakery, back in Easter 2013, Jim has slowly got used to the baking shifts, which start at 10pm and finish at around 10am the next day! After completing his one year notice in with the Army. He finished work on a Sunday and began training as a baker on the Monday morning. Jim trained at The School of Artisan Food in Welbeck for a year, during which time he went on numerous placements to other bakeries, including Sweden.

Rebecca and Jim in the bakery

I’d been in contact with Rebecca, via email over the past couple of weeks. Both Jim and Rebecca were in the bakery at the back of the cafe, working away when we arrived. Rebecca was just putting the finishing touches to the cake whilst Jim was coming to the end of his shift. As we sat down to our caffeine they both popped out to say hello. Jim, greeted me & took me into the bakery to show me around. 

Who came up with the name for the bakery?

 The name … we like to collect things – ideas, recipes etc. We think they are an iconic looking bird, two for joy…etc, etc!

Why did you choose Southwold to open the Bakery?

 We travelled all over the UK whilst trying to decide where to open our bakery – we were looking for a town that still had a “local shopping culture” with some “must have” shops (butchers, greengrocers – but no decent bakery) We opened in Southwold because it came up first in terms of right location & property from our shortlist!

Southwold High Street

Southwold Cottages

What is your best selling loaf?
Our bestselling loaf is the Southwold Sour of which we give 10% of the sale price to local charities. We rotate our breads daily so its hard to say for sure. 

The 'specials' change on a daily basis. Today was Saturday and the specials were ‘100% Rye, Coriander and Caraway’, ‘Spelt’, ‘Oat and Honey’, ‘Pumpkin and Poppyseed’, ‘Fig and Fennel Sourdough’, ‘Stilton Apple and Walnut Sourdough’. Impressive selection don't you think?

If someone wanted to learn how to knead dough and bake the perfect loaf, do you do lessons or demonstrations?

 We don’t currently do lessons but it’s something we plan to do in the future.

Regular breads include ‘Magpie White’, ‘Magpie Wholemeal’, ‘Wholemeal Six Seed’, ‘Magpie Sourdough’, 'Southwold Sour', 'Ciabatta' and on weekends they do ‘Baguette’s’

How have you settled into the local community?

We love our locals and enjoy being part of the community. We support “my Southwold” which offers a discount on certain products daily, we have a popular loyalty card scheme and are in the process of setting up an initiative with the local primary school whereby we will give the children fresh bread every day for their lunch. We believe in the importance of good food and education about a quality product! We went into the same school last year and taught two classes how to make bread – they all went home with their own mini loaves, very proud of themselves!  We have recently launched our Saturday pizza nights – mainly aimed at take away but you can eat in – the base and toppings are inspired by our recent trip to New York to check out the artisan pizza scene there – we think they’re very exciting and a bit unique!

This sourdough starter's heritage is over 200yrs old and is used for their sourdough pizzas.

The starters are a wild yeast culture that live and feed off flour and water, they give the dough the leavening rather than using a manufactured yeast, it's the way our forefathers would have made bread and is a process that's been used for hundreds of years. 

Baker, Sam Cutter, putting the finishing egg wash onto the Brioche Swirls.

During a visit earlier this year, Jim and Rebecca were inspired to make these Brooklyn Swirls after coming across by a similar product made in 'Bakeri' a fantastic Scandi bakery in Brooklyn. The are brioche dough with kale, Monterey jack, Cheddar, Aleppo pepper flakes and egg wash. Have a look at the finishing result on their Instagram feed here.

Brioche swirls were a created after an inspiring visit to America

The seasonal menu is written on a brown paper roll hanging next to a blackboard behind the serving counter and changes seasonally, or as and when they feel inspired or have something to shout about.

Who came up with the design and visual look of the bakery?

The design was based on a clean Scandinavian look, we made loads of mood boards etc. based on things we love and then luckily met an interior designer called Paul Crofts through a mutual acquaintance and he then took on the project. 

The collaboration with award winning Paul Crofts Studios & was featured in Dezeen online magazine.

The fresh bread and patisserie is produced at the back of the shop every day, which can be seen through a window from the seating area whilst you enjoy a fresh cup of Allpress coffee.

Rebecca is in charge of the patisserie side of the business, all those delicious cakes and goodies!

Rebecca with the help of pastry assistant, Jess Hannah, create some fantastic looking treats that decorate the main window. See below just a few of their creations, from Pistachio & rose water meringues, fig and orange slices to streusel cakes and gingerbread men!

Any regrets at changing your lifestyle?

Regrets – on dark winters nights at 2 a.m. a normal life does seem quite appealing but on the whole we both enjoy being in charge of our own destiny, being creative and moving our business in the direction we want to.

Are there any special offers and deals you do at the bakery people should know about?

We can also provide larger orders for special occasions and have provided for film festivals, weddings, parties, hog roasts and BBQ's, we will need as much notice as possible for these.

Visit our shop to choose from a range of Two Magpies branded Tea Towels, breadboards, bags and T-shirts. We also have cane proofing baskets and a small selection of inspiring foodie books for sale. We sell some of the products we use in the shop; such as ‘We are Tea’ teabags and infusions, ‘Marriages Flour’ and ‘Rubies in the Rubble’ chutneys.

After a very insightful trip to the bakery, Ben and I headed back, arms laden with the croissants and the birthday cake. Ben's sister, Emily, had set up the kitchen for an impressive birthday breakfast with bunting galore.

Two Magpie's perfect croissants, beautifully fresh and fluffy!

Back at the cottage, Emily shows her mum the birthday breakfast spread!

After devouring a feast of a breakfast we headed out for walk along the beach and pier only to return back to have a cup of tea and some birthday cake! It was so big it took us three days to eat it all. Hard work, but we were happy to help ;)

Finally here is the famous Chocolate Fudge Birthday Cake from The Two Magpies Bakery!

Finally here is the famous Chocolate Fudge Birthday Cake from The Two Magpies Bakery!

You can't beat a bit of double cream, the strawberries makes this all healthy... promise...

You can't beat a bit of double cream, the strawberries makes this all healthy... promise...

So be sure to pop down to the bakery when you're next in Southwold. Buy some delicious bread and make a picnic for the beach or on a Saturday returning back to your holiday home, pick up a freshly cooked pizza and some delicious treats for desert. You won't regret it!

TWO MAGPIES BAKERY

88 HIGH STREET, SOUTHWOLD, SUFFOLK, IP18 6DP

EMAIL: INFO@TWOMAGPIESBAKERY.CO.UK

TEL: 01502 726 120

OPEN EVERY DAY (EXCEPT TUESDAY) FROM 0800 TO 1700 

AND ON SUNDAY OPEN AT 0900

Borough Belles Best Baker Award

So I'm not sure if you realise but as well as photography, baking, doing this blog, being part of Hither Green's FUSS, I am also part of the Committee for the Borough Belles WI.
A fabulous London Based WI group that meets up once a month to chat, learn something and eat cake!

After going to just one meeting I jumped to join the actual committee the following month at their AGM. As part of the committee I was given the wonderful job of running the monthly cake rota and ensuring that there was cake readily available at each meeting - preferably homemade!

I soon realised that the cake rota needed 'jjjoozed' up and so began THE BEST BAKER award! 

The homemade cakes were loved at each meeting and are usually eaten with enthusiasim and chat full of questions about recipes, tips and new ideas. 

"Why not make a record of the cakes, bakes and homemade makes from each meeting, correlate the cakes with their recipes and have a vote at the end!?"

All the time and effort that goes into each time a member or guest decides to make something should be recognised and recorded! We decided that at the end of it all it would be wonderful to put together a Borough Belle Recipe Zine with all the recipes with comments, tried and tested!

So far we have had some fabulous things made since the BBB Award began. From Turkish Spinach Cake to Brazilian Carrot Cake and Spicy Samosa to Jamaican Patties! 

The reactions we've been getting is fabulous and we were worried that people would keep making the same recipes, but no! It's amazing at the array of recipes people find or know and the ones that have been a families close guarded secret are even more exciting!! 

Anyone is free to enter, we just ask you let us know the recipe used. So the remaining question is... what are you going to make? ;)

For more info click the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/events/132146310262521/

http://boroughbelleswi.wordpress.com/

Deep Dark Chocolate Sour Cream Courgette Cake

Another event another cake to bake!

This weekend was the FUSS craft market and considering I've been a bit slack with FUSS recently due to work commitments and also stretching myself thin - doing stuff for the WI, and DIY stuff in my flat, I decided I should make up by baking a load for the market...

Fortunately I have started baking on random nights I have free and freezing them straight away. Which has turned out to be a godsend for such situations! So I pulled out an Apple & Banana Bundt out of the freezer yesterday and last night baked a batch of my mum's famous flapjacks and also a chocolate courgette cake. Again something my mum used to make when I was a kid. Ironically we never really had carrot cake but instead had chic courgette cake, which I found out today was pretty unheard off!

I love recipes that have a story, a bit of history to them.. I ended up combining my mum's recipe with an american bundt recipe, thus the 'cup' measurements.

NOTE: This cake was devoured off the FUSS stand rather quickly!

1/2 cup Stork Margarine

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cup caster sugar
3 medium eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
2 cups grated unpeeled Courgettes (about 2 smallish, or 1 large)
3/4 cup Plain chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180°C and oil a Bundt pan & lightly dust with flour. 

In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil and sugar on high speed with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes, until thick and pale yellow. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

In a smaller bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add a third to the butter mixture and beat just until blended; add half the sour cream and do the same. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture, the rest of the sour cream, and the rest of the flour. Stir in the zucchini and the nuts and/or chocolate chips, if you’re using them, and pour the thick batter into the pan, smoothing the top.

Bake for an hour & 10mins, until the top is cracked and springy to the touch. 

Invert onto a rack and allow too cool or pop on a cake stand & serve with creme fraiche while still warm! 

Or you can make a Sour Cream Chocolate Ganache (as seen on the bundt below!)

Still working in cups....

1 Cup of chocolate (dark or milk or both, whatever you have to hand)
3/4 Cup of Sour Cream
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Break up the chocolate into pieces into a heat-proof bowl.
Bring a pan of water to boil, pop a heat-proof boil over the top and turn off the heat.
Leave for a while (good point to look at the horrific mess you've created in the kitchen and potentially clean it up). Enough faffing...
Mix the vanilla essence into the sour cream and then pour into the melted chocolate. Beat until you get a smooth consistency and then pour over the cake and dust with cocoa powder.

Serves 8-16.

Spiced Apple and Banana Bundt Cake Success!

It's taken me quite some time to get this post on the blog. Better late than never.

I found this fabulous recipe on http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com it is so incredibly moorish and the caramel graze just takes it to the next level! (I nearly didn't do the glaze, big mistake if I hadn't) Plus it's full of fruit, so it's got to be slightly ..healthy?? ;)

I first made this cake for ELF cafe and blinked and it was gone. So if you want to make a winner this is the recipe for you! Oh now I went and got myself a set of 'cups' as I was ending up making so many recipes with that were measured using cups, it just seemed sensible. I have just made it a second time, just now. But instead of using white plain flour I used wholemeal self-raising flour - it's in the oven now, so it'll be interesting to see how it comes out.

Before I go on to tell you the recipe I thought I'd mention a useful piece of equipment you may want to get when baking American style recipes that use 'cups' as a measuring device. To save time working out conversions these set of measuring cups really help. Most catering shops sell them but you can also get them online.

Spiced Apple and Banana Bundt Cake with Vanilla Caramel Glaze

Makes one 12-cup Bundt or tube cake (or can be baked in two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans)

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 5 to 6 ounces vanilla or plain yogurt (one standard-sized small container; Greek yogurt is preferred, sour cream may be substituted)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon mixed all spice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 large bananas)
• 1 cup finely diced apples (1 medium apple; I used one unpeeled Gala apple)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste

Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 12-cup Bundt cake pan or tube cake pan very well with cooking spray (I use Pam For Baking with Flour and it worked so well for me that this cake literally fell out of the pan while I was beginning to inverting it before I was properly set up to catch the cake on a cutting board) or grease and flour the pan; set aside.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power. To the melted butter, add canola oil, yogurt, eggs, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, cloves (all spices should be added to taste and if you don’t have all of them on hand, not a big deal to omit some) and whisk until batter is smooth and silky, about 1 minute of vigorous whisking. Add the bananas, apples, and stir to combine. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix and over-develop the gluten, which would result in a tougher cake. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 39 to 43 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean (or insert a sharp long-blade chef’s knife and it should come out clean). Allow cake to cool in pan for at least 15 minutes before inverting it and removing cake.

While cake is cooling, make the caramel sauce. Optionally, while cake is cooling poke approximately 25 holes in the top surface of the cake with a chopstick or popsicle stick. The holes will allow the glaze to seep into the cake’s interior, creating a delicious caramel-apple flavor; the drawback is that it’s not quite as pretty when sliced, but since you’re not likely going to take pictures of the cake’s interior surfaces, I’d poke the holes.

Vanilla Caramel Glaze

• Makes about 1 cup glaze, enough to generously glaze the cake
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (half of 1 stick)
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons cream or milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups+ confectioners’ sugar, sifted (must be sifted)

Note: This is a fast moving recipe; have everything in place before you begin.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. To the melted butter, add the brown sugar and bring to a boil, stirring nearly continuously. Allow the mixture to boil quite rapidly for 2 minutes, stirring nearly continuously. Remove the pan from the burner, allow it to cool for about 1 minute, and add the cream, taking caution because the mixture could bubble vigorously. Whisk aggressively to incorporate the cream and calm the bubbling.

After the bubbling has subsided, add the vanilla and whisk to combine, using caution because the alcohol in the extract could cause the mixture to bubble up again. Add the confectioners’ sugar one-half cup at a time, until desired sauce consistency is reached (I absolutely recommend using sifted sugar so the glaze is whisks up smooth, silky, and free from lumps). Pour glaze over cake and allow it to set up for a few minutes if desired; or slice and serve immediately. Cake will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature. If there is extra unused glaze, it can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month; gently reheat it in the microwave prior to glazing another dessert.

I finished this all off with a splattering of melted dark chocolate ;)
Hmm was soo tasty think I shall make another one this weekend!

E.L.F

This SATURDAY 23rd February

 NEVER EAT WOBBLY JELLY

 is popping up in a

POP-UP Cafe in Stoke Newington!

I will be helping out at E.L.F Cafe, which is situated inside East London Furniture's shop. 

So you have the added bonus of sitting on and testing out furniture which if you like you can buy! Gotta love "test before you buy". Oh and you even get the added bonus of seeing the furniture being designed

and created in the back of the premises.

Chance Kellner, the creator of the CAFE inside E.L.F, will be dishing out fresh coffee made with NUDE coffee beans and homemade cakes and treats. It is a 'true' pop-up venture and you could easily walk past it without realising the hidden gem is inside.

I'll be rolling up my sleeves, helping out, baking a few treats and most probably getting to grips with the washing up!

I shall be doing a post about the cafe and my day helping out soon. But please do pop in, it will only be there till the end of March - SO DON'T MISS OUT!

E.L.F Cafe is open 10am - 4pm on Saturday, and I shall be there from 12noon to 4pm - so do pop by and pop in to the pop-up!

E.L.F

197-199 Stoke Newington High Street

Here are few links:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/112511792263159/permalink/117841668396838/

http://www.wearepopup.com/p/meanwhile-in-stoke-newington/

And a bit about East London Furniture:

http://www.eastlondonfurniture.co.uk/contact.html

Moroccan Honey & Mint Bundt Cake

If like me you have loads of left over fresh mint and dozen of eggs in the fridge that  need using up, this is the recipe for you!

I have to say this is the first cake I have ever baked that contains fresh herbs and I like it! Why have I never done this before?! It just shows that is always worth a good google when you have an abundance of particular ingredient. You end up finding unique new recipes.

The original recipe had a lot more coconut and no ground almonds in it. But due to a limited amount of coconut, I improvised and it seemed to work.

Here is the recipe I used:

Moroccan Honey & Mint Bundt Cake

Ingredients

For the cake batter

160g butter, softened

310g sugar

1½  teaspoons dried or fresh chopped mint

6 eggs

100g desiccated coconut

130g ground almonds

210g self-raising flour

10-15 Cup Bundt Tin (or you can use 20cm spring-release cake-tin with baking paper)

Method

Preheat the oven to 150ºC.

Beat the butter, sugar and mint until they begin to change colour. Add small quantities of the egg, coconut, ground almonds and flour, beating well between each addition to prevent the mixture from curdling. Repeat until you have used these ingredients up.

Butter a large Bundt cake-tin and then lightly dust with flour. Pour the batter in. Bake for 1–1½  hours (you can make the Mint Syrup during this time).

Check the cake is baked by inserting a skewer in the centre. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for 5–10 minutes.

For the Mint Syrup

200ml water

180g sugar

1½  cups roughly chopped fresh mint

Place the water, sugar and mint in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to ensure the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 30–45 minutes. Strain through a sieve and discard the mint leaves. Use the syrup as directed.

To finish

75g butter

180g honey

180g flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 170ºC.

With the cake still in the tin, prick 60–70 holes in the top. Pour the Mint Syrup evenly over the cake, allowing it to soak in. Once soaked in fully, turn cake out onto a lipped baking tray.

Place the butter, honey and almonds in a saucepan and melt together, stirring until well combined. Do not allow to boil. Remove from the heat and immediately spread this topping on the cake.

Place the cake back in the oven and bake the topping to a light amber colour, approximately 10-15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool in the tin for 20–30 minutes.

Remove the cake from the tin carefully and remove the baking paper gently while still warm.

Dust with icing sugar before serving warm with a blob of creme fraiche.

Have to say it's great to be back back blogging and I plan to do a lot more this year. Hopefully I stick to this promise this year!

Tap soon....