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

The Big Red

THE BIG RED is a kooky new pizza restaurant to open in Deptford, actually it's been there for a while. But considering I have only just found out about it, it feels like it's brand new! Anyway, off I went to try it out with a helping second opinion from Jo. Jo has very kindly offered to assist me in my search of new places in the local area! Thanks Jo (at the time she didn't realise I'd end up dragging her to a crazy play where she ended up having water dropped on her head!? :s Yeah, sorry about that )


I believe it was originally an old disused double Decker bus that is situated next door to the Bird's nest pub before it was transformed into The Big Red. Such a brilliant idea!
So as you can guess, all the indoor seating is situated inside the bus (upstairs and downstairs) and then there is the seating outside on the decking, half of which is covered by a canopy.


They also offer hiring out the whole bus if you fancied having a party there. They're happy to offer this this on either a Wednesday or Thursday.
I think the idea is great and the design of the website is great - really love it!




Wonder if Jo got very far?....



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cook-athon Part 3 - Pizza Dough!

Seriously when you've got time you have to make some of this,  it is so easy but really useful & I have to say, quite impressive to have your own dough at the ready :)

This recipe makes enough dough for around 8 bases - if you like them thin, obviously if you like them thick it'll make less.... This is another Jamie Oliver recipe - "Cook your way to the Good Life"

1kg strong white bread flour
1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
4 tablespoons extra virgin oil
650ml lukewarm water

Sieve the flour and salt on to a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave foe a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.

Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Now remove the the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands - this is called ' knocking back the dough'.

At this point, you can either use it immediately or divide into balls and pop into the fridge or the freezer for a later date :).


When it comes to using the dough this is what to do....
First of all it's best to roll out the dough bases about 15-20mins before you want to cook them. if you want to worked more in advance and be fully prepped, you can roll them into 'rough' circles and place on a olive-oil + flour dusted rubbed piece of foil. Then stack the bases cover with clingfilm and pop into the fridge.
If using dough that has been frozen, get it out in the morning and pop onto a plate - warning if they were originally wrapped in cling - this will explode as they warm up so make sure you pop a loose piece of cling over the top or a damp tea towel so it doesn't dry out.

At a later date I'll do a post for a good tomato base sauce, in the meantime I'm sure you've got a rough idea of what to use for a tomato sauce :D

This bit is KEY to making the best pizza at home. so listen carefully!!
Preheat your oven to full whack and place a large thick baking tray, pizza stone or granite slab into the oven to warm up. (went to our local Topps Tiles that was closing down and they gave me 4 free granite slabs!! which work perfectly)

Taking into consideration the size of the granite slab, i cut out a piece of baking paper to the correct size - a large square. Sprinkle with a little flour then place my ball of dough on top then start rolling out from the center until I reach a nice circle, about 0.5-1cm in thickness. I then place it on another 'no edge' baking tray and place all my topping on. the 'no edge tray then is used as a shovel to slide the pizza on the parchment straight onto the granite slab. Viola!! leave for 10mins - and you'll have a delicious crispy divine pizza!!.

PS. As tempting as it is, try not to overload the pizza with topping as it'll just make everything to soggy...

As I'm giving a lot of this dough away I'm hoping to get some shots of what their pizzas ended up like - if they're any good I'll pop them up - the pressure is ON!! :D

Mx

Here are some photos from the lucky folk who got some dough:

Jo, Rich & Harrison's pizzas

Kim & Steve's pizza - Note how I provided the dough! yep, in a Chinese cartoon - always ask for spare cartoons when at a takeway :)

Still awaiting other photographic evidence from the slackers.... shall be posted once received!
x