Cumbrian sourdough specialist Lovingly Artisan has been named Britain’s Best Artisan Bakery.
Run by husband and wife team Aidan Monks and Catherine Connor, the bakery took top spot in the 2023 Bakers Dozen, which lists Britain’s top 13 artisan bakeries as voted for by industry experts.
More than 100 specialists, including artisan bakers, consultants, vendors and speakers, were asked to vote for their favorite artisan bakeries. Each voter was hand selected by british baker with voters broken down by region to ensure bakeries across Britain had an equal chance to shine.
An artisan bakery is where baked goods such as bread, buns, cakes, and pastries are made by hand by skilled bakers, often using longer, more traditional processes. The quality of ingredients and final products are high on the agenda, and as a result, artisan bakeries typically only have a handful of sites.
The Bakers’ Dozen was revealed on Tuesday, January 31 at the first meeting of The Artisan Collective, sponsored by Bako, Brook Food & Bakery Equipment, Craggs & Co and Dawn Foods. The Artisan Collective is an initiative created by british baker to celebrate artisan bakeries and the people behind them while offering a platform to facilitate conversations and share skills.
“Congratulations to our first dozen bakers,” he said. british baker editor Amy North. “Each bakery on the list has been recognized by others in the industry as a model of dedication, passion and skill, as demonstrated through the lovingly handcrafted products and the people who make them.”
Here’s the baker’s dozen of 2023:
13 Liberty BakeryGlasgow
The Freedom Bakery social enterprise has grown to become one of the most respected wholesale bakeries in the West of Scotland, supplying over 90 restaurants, cafes and delicatessens.
The bakery, run by founder Matt Fountain, aims to teach inmates new skills, from baking to logistics, to help restore confidence and hope before they are released.
“Sometimes, old-fashioned, to get over things, to feel better, you need to do something,” Fountain says. “What happens with bread is that it is a trade and a vocation. He is social and creative. It’s often just what people need.”
12. Levain and Cherry, Birmingham
Levain and Cherry is an independent French artisan bakery specializing in French breads, baguettes and pastries with added touches from around the world. Staying true to their heritage, all of Levain and Cherry’s products are made with organic French flour from a family-owned mill on the outskirts of Paris, while the majority of their products use sourdough.
Visitors to the bakery can watch the bread being made from start to finish while eating brioche buns, cinnamon buns, pain aux raisins and a selection of sourdough.
eleven FactoryLondon
Fabrique is an artisan stone oven bakery hailing from Sweden with a handful of locations in London. The bakery uses fresh, natural ingredients and traditional methods to make artisan pastries, such as cinnamon cardamom buns, and sourdough bread, including Danish rye, baguette Levain and ‘Mr Toast’. Their Swedish heritage is also celebrated in the form of their Semmelbuns, a traditional cardamom bun filled with almond paste and vanilla cream.
Visitors to the Hoxton site can watch bakers at work while enjoying a fresh cup of coffee with a sweet treat.
10 PollenManchester
Pollen is run by Hannah Calvert and Chris Kelly, and was born out of a love of good food, fermentation, and flavor. He has two sites in Manchester, one in Ancoats and one in Kampus.
As a specialist in sourdough and viennoiserie, the bakery advocates a long, slow fermentation process with breads taking 28 hours to produce, while croissants and pain au chocolat take four days from start to finish. New and seasonal additions to the menu are frequent with a matcha cheesecake among the recent items.
9. dusty knuckleLondon
The Dusty Knuckle describes itself as a purpose-driven company that strives to help at-risk youth take steps forward in their lives through on-the-job training and mentoring.
He has two locations, one in Haringey and one in Dalston, from where he serves a selection of artisan breads, including sourdough and focaccia, as well as sandwiches, pizzas and cakes.
The Dalston location is also home to a dedicated baking school where attendees can learn how to make bread, kim chi, pasta and much more.
8. Peter cooks breadHereford
Located in Malvern Hills, Peter Cooks Bread was opened in 2014 by british bakerThe reigning baker of the year, Peter Cook. The bakery, which is a proud member of the Pan Real Campaign, is built on a passion for real bread and is on a mission to share it with the local community through a network of farm shops, restaurants and delis that sell their products, as well as their store in Worcester.
The bakery’s specialties lie in pies and sourdough, with many award-winning breads on the menu, including a wild hop and barley loaf which was named Britain’s Best Bread in 2020.
7. Poppy Seed Bakeryeastbourne
Poppyseed Bakery prides itself on its taste with breads from the East Sussex bakery that have taken home the title of Britain’s Best Bread on four separate occasions, as well as Special Bread of the Year in 2020.
It was opened by Lee and Kirsty Smith in late 2016 and now has sites in Eastbourne and Bexhill from where it serves a selection of traditional breads alongside sourdough and sweet and savory pastries. The owners are always willing to learn and, when time permits, can be found visiting bakeries in other cities and countries for inspiration.
6. north ryeNewcastle-upon-Tyne
Breads, pastries and coffees – these are the three things Northern Rye is known for. The baked goods are made using slow fermentation techniques and organic flour, most of it stone-ground, sourced from British millers including Gilchesters and Shipton Mill.
Robbie Livingstone became a full-time baker in 2018 and, following a successful crowdfunding campaign, officially opened Northern Rye’s first store to the public in 2020 on a riverside plot just below the production bakery.
5. Bread Forward BakeryLondon
Bread Ahead has gained a cult following over the years, largely led by the Instagram fame of its stuffed donuts. The bakery’s approach is simple: quality, seasonal ingredients that speak for themselves. Bakers believe that every bake produced should look and taste exceptional, from the first bite to the last crumb.
Founded by Matthew Jones, Bread Ahead opened its headquarters and school in Borough Market in 2014 and has grown to a handful of London locations, including a restaurant and bakery in Wembley. Baking courses are a big part of Bread Ahead with baking lovers able to learn skills including pastry, enriched dough, and Italian pastry.
4. Bread Fountain, Norfolk
Established in 2012 by Steven Winter, british bakery Baker of the Year 2020, Bread Source has shops in Norwich and Aylsham from which it supplies a range of high-quality artisan baked goods, including bread, pastry and confectionery.
The bakers describe themselves as fiercely passionate about every detail involved in making their products, from sourcing the grain to working with farmers, milling the flour, and the many processes to develop the perfect dough. Their bread is made in the traditional way with high quality flour, water, natural yeast and salt without artificial additives.
3. E5 Patisserie, London
E5 began in the spring of 2010, with a hand-built wood-fired oven making rustic sourdough breads, and later expanded to become a place for the community to share delicious pastries, coffee, and lunch. It can be found spread out under three railway arches in Hackney.
Sourcing is a focus for the bakery which grows its own historic wheat which is then ground on site in a French stone mill for visitors to view.
All breads start with a 200-year-old rye sourdough starter and encompass different flours including einkorn, heritage rye, and heritage wheat. Other items on the menu include freshly baked cookies, cinnamon buns, vegan mushroom pie, spanakopita, and spicy carrot puff pastry.
2. The Street Bakery, Basingstoke
The Street Bakeshop is a small artisan bakery in the village of Old Basing, Hampshire, started by Tim Goodwin in August 2020. While the bakery was set up to run alongside his existing catering business, it quickly became his heart and soul. . all.
Just a year after going into business, Goodwin was named Baker of the Year for 2021, followed by more awards for the company and its 40 employees in 2022.
The company’s vision is to create fantastic baked goods that people love to eat again and again and it is this spirit that has made it a destination store. The bakery specializes in sourdough bread, sourdough pastries, Danish pastries, buns, and pastries, and offers both retail and wholesale services.
1. Lovingly Craftsman, Cumbria
Lovingly Artisan was born from our need to eat, enjoy and share real bread. This creative bakery, located in Kendal on the edge of the Lake District, uses organic and traditional grains to make delicious products, such as its multi-award winning Malted Barley Tin Bread, Emmer Sourdough and Old Fashioned Kombucha. , Danish rugbrød, saffron buns and Kalamata olive focaccia. .
Leading the way is husband and wife team Aidan Monks and Catherine Connor, who espouse their belief that using traditional grain flours in sourdough baking creates breads that are good for the stomach, the earth, and the body. soul. As such, Lovingly Artisan works with expert producers and millers of organic, stone-ground and traditional-grain British flours to help create what it describes as flavorful, nutritious and natural breads that have true provenance and integrity.
The bakery has expanded its offering in recent years with the launch of a nationwide online delivery service where all baked goods are mixed, shaped, proofed and baked to order.