All you knead to know - a bakers gift guide
Baker’s pretend they like to keep things simple. Just flour, water, salt and time is what we like to say. Really we’re just like everyone else when we look hopefully under the Christmas tree - wishing for some more baking kit that’ll make life more interesting or some baking know-that’ll raise our game.
Here’s a few ideas for you to treat the baker in your life….
GINGER FOLK
Cookies make the perfect edible gift or you could thread them with a ribbon and hang them on your tree (remember to make a hole before baking!) This gingerbread dough recipe from my book, Two Magpies Bakery, is perfect for creating ‘Chrismoose’ - a cute little guy with piped chocolate antlers.
130g light brown sugar
50g golden syrup
25g treacle
25ml boiling water
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp orange zest
150g unsalted butter
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
290g plain flour, sifted
Place the sugar, syrup, treacle, hot water, spices and zest in a medium sized pan. Bring to the boil, stirring regularly until everything is melted and bubbly. Remove from heat and gradually add the soft butter before adding the sifted bicarbonate of soda. Add the plain flour in three additions then turn onto the counter and knead briefly until smooth and shiny. Chill the dough for a couple of hours then roll to 3mm thick. Cut to your desired shapes then bake in a 180°c oven for 10-12 minutes until medium golden brown. Cool. Combine some icing sugar with a few drops of water to make a smooth pipeable paste then let your imagination go wild!
Add water and flour (supplied) and follow the instructions to revive this dehydrated Sourdough Culture. Within a couple of days you’ll have an active culture of wild yeasts ready to raise your dough! Includes a 10g sachet of sourdough culture, rye and wheat flour and detailed instructions.
Here’s the ultimate gift for a keen baker - the means to be able to grind your own flour! Admittedly quite a heavy investment but once you’ve tried it there’s no going back. The mill contains two stones that grind whatever grain you put in into fresh flour - you’re only limited by your imagination. This one’s sold through Hodmedods, a great Suffolk based business that sells a range of interesting English grains.
A Next Loaf gift voucher is redeemable at checkout using a unique gift code of a value of your choosing. The perfect present for the baker in your life - choose from sourdough bread, pastries or sweet treats. Suitable for beginners or more advanced bakers looking for a challenge. A lovely day out for a special treat
If you’re making your own delicious bread then make sure what you spread on it is good too! This Bungay Raw Cultured Butter is made with milk from grass-fed Montbeliarde and Friesian cows just down the road from me in Suffolk. Mail order available.
Make it stand out
TWO MAGPIES BAKERY - SIGNED COPY
Written by the founder Rebecca Bishop and drawing on her experience of teaching baking classes, this covers all of your favourite breads, pastries and pizzas - everything from sourdough to scones, and from croissants to cardamom buns. There’s recipes for celebration cakes, and many more bakes and bars (including the famous Adnams Broadside bread pudding and lemon shortbread slice).
With over 100 recipes for every level of baker, this is a book to curl up with, to cook from and to treasure until your next visit to the East Anglian coast.
If you’ve visited The Next Loaf baking school you might have noticed my custom made tins. They’re made by my friend Campbell at Rackmaster and perfectly support your bread as it proves and bakes.
If you’ve always yearned for those distinctive patterns on the surface of your sourdough this is how it’s done! This cane basket is perfect for supporting your dough as it proves.
Reduce plastic waste and store your homemade bread in this reusable DIY bread bag. Using a cloth bag will keep your bread fresher for longer and it would make a great home-made gift for the baker in your life! Suitable for hand sewing.
New baking classes for 2025
Baking with wholegrains: Learn to bake bread for health AND flavour. This class will teach you the skills to work with a variety of whole-grains, including learning how to mill grains yourself to achieve different textures in your bread.
We’ll be mixing and shaping a range of doughs using both sourdough and yeasted long fermentation methods and working with locally sourced grains
Pasteis de Nata:This 3 hour class will teach you how to make the iconic Pasteis de Nata - egg custard tarts infused with lemon zest and cinnamon encased in a buttery layered then rolled puff pastry shell. Described as one of ‘Portugal's Seven Wonders of Gastronomy’ this little treat will perhaps take you back to memories of Lisbon and will wow your friends and family when you recreate it at home.
Scandinavian sweet buns. This new half day class for 2025 is all about buns! Create memorable ‘’fika’ moments for you and your family as you learn to make, shape and bake a versatile sweet enriched dough for fruity custard buns, cardamon knots and cinnamon buns.
Newsflash……
New Sourdough baking class dates added to my website for January and February 2025!
