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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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Rebecca and Jim in the bakery
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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!
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Southwold High Street
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Southwold Cottages
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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.
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| 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!
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This sourdough starter's heritage is over 200yrs old and is used for their sourdough pizzas.
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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.
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| 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.
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| 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 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.
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| 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.
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| Two Magpie's perfect croissants, beautifully fresh and fluffy! |
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| 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 ;)
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| Finally here is the famous Chocolate Fudge Birthday Cake from The Two Magpies Bakery! |
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| Finally here is the famous Chocolate Fudge Birthday Cake from The Two Magpies Bakery! |
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You can't beat a bit of double cream, the strawberries makes this all healthy... promise...
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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!
88 HIGH STREET, SOUTHWOLD, SUFFOLK, IP18 6DP
OPEN EVERY DAY (EXCEPT TUESDAY) FROM 0800 TO 1700
AND ON SUNDAY OPEN AT 0900
