The Great British Bake-On

In the news



Most of this blog post concerns food, so please bear with us in this introductory paragraph, where we talk about ourselves. It is relevant. You see, we're estate agents, and proud of it. We enjoy giving our clients a great experience: minimal stress (this is property purchasing, letting and management we're talking about, after all), tlc - tender loving care -, and our old fashioned values including friendliness and professionalism.
 
We also enjoy experiencing that kind of service from others, and we enjoy cakes. We went the whole hog (or perhaps loaf) a while ago with our recipe flyer which shared a recipe from the fantastic South London-based Blackbird Bakery, and it got us in the news. 

However, it is good to reflect on baking as a lively sector in Britain's economy and on the fact that some high street bakeries are thriving despite the fairly comprehensive range of baked items in supermarkets these days.Shows like The TV show The Great British Bake Off must have helped boost Britain's appreciation of bakers. Ours was already high to start with.

This didn't last long

The smallest example is our Director, Sam Samuel. Not that, as an ex-Navy boxer, Sam is all that small, but he likes to bake. Not so dissimilar to that Will Smith line in the movie Enemy of the State (with Gene Hackman and a cat), "Some people meditate, some people get massages. I blend." See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0O9H0O8gko.

The staff of life

Then, near our Tulse Hill office, there is Creative Aroma. A coffee shop, but one that produces lovely ciabatta, mouth-watering fancies, and beautiful cakes. It is amazing what amounts to a business within a business can do.

On a bigger scale, the Blackbird Bakery has a number of cafe's, and one product to look out for in any of them is a particularly fine granola.

Not too far from our Bromley office, in Orpington, there is another new baker, Hank's (named after Cockney Rhyming slang - Hank Marvin - Starvin' - or so rumour has it). Hank's is on a parade of shops where a previous bakers, Plaxtol, had closed down. Too many do. Hank's was set up by the former head baker of the local Tesco, but now he does nicer bread and the cakes are great. Peanut butter cupcakes, just one of several kinds, stand out. Well worth dropping in if you're nearby - 23, Carlton Parade, Orpington BR6 0JB.

Much further afield, on a recent holiday (we have those) in Dunbar, Scotland, we found a remarkable bakery. The Bakery, Dunbar serves really excellent bread, brownies, cakes, and - outstandingly - sausage rolls. It is a community bakery, has local (and wider) shareholders, and is award-winning. It isn't too common to find a bakery website with an Our Ethos page, but there is one, just as we publish our Values.

We enjoy it when what we do and the quality of our service is appreciated. To the bakers mentioned in this post, we hope you enjoy our words. We'll be seeing you again.

You can view our earlier posts in our Index here.