The longer we bake, the more we realise that our craft is deeply rooted in bygone baking traditions where knowledge was common, instinctive and better for us. In servitude, we, as bakers, agree to embrace new skills and methods whenever they become available to us and by doing so, create the most natural, unprocessed and nourishing recipes. Over the last year, we’ve been busy doing exactly that and we’re delighted to share where we are with you. Here’s to a new generation of sourdough: bigger and better.
Recipes
We’ve reviewed our formulas and introduced a larger diversity of whole grains, fibre, plants, seeds, nuts, fruits and herbs into each one because we prioritise feeding our gut with as many nutrients as possible to sustain a healthy ecosystem in our bodies. Over the years, we’ve learnt that every little helps; even our signature White Sourdough contains a small amount of whole grains
Shape & Size
Most of our sourdoughs are now shaped into bloomers which yield a better bake and a more consistent slice, perfect for sandwiches or toast
Flour
Our partners and suppliers keep us going and we can’t do what we do without sustaining healthy and deep, lasting relationships. By far, our most precious relationship is with our millers at Shipton Mill, who mill most of our flours
Hydration
We’ve added more water to our doughs and stretched the boundaries of everything we know about mixing and shaping our breads. Higher hydration in our formulas means our breads now have a softer crumb which stays fresher for longer
Starter
We are what we eat and being bakers means that we are mostly bread, so it’s paramount that our breads are as good for us as they can be. More than ever, all of our recipes involve a wide range of whole grains, fibres, natural yeasts and yield gut-friendly loaves.
We make sure to look after not only our recipes, but our starters themselves - the forces of nature that keep us all going. Keeping our mother doughs healthy and happy is our way of ensuring our breads are wholesome, nutritious and easy to digest. We champion this by keeping our arms around two key elements:
1. A great bacterial diversity. We enhance our starters with different grains and natural fibre wherever it’s suitable
2. An effective fermentation process which can be a little bit neurotic. We keep our starters close to us, at room temperature rather than in the chiller, which means they are more bubbly and active. We know what they like to eat (different types of fibre) and we only feed them when they show us they’re hungry