Top Five Scottish Bakeries!
Autumn is every foodie’s favourite! So what does Scotland have to offer that sweet tooth…
It’s prime coorie-up weather – urgently requiring cake, coffee and good company to get by. So we’ve selected the best Scottish bakeries around to relieve some of your cravings.
Nothing soothes the soul and wards off those winter blues quite like a good old sugar-rush.
Is your mouth watering yet?
Bad Girl Bakery (Muir of Ord, Highlands)
Based in the Highlands village of Muir of Ord, Bad Girl Bakery is one of our Scottish bakeries that specialises in small batch cakes and bakes cooked fresh every day that combine seasonal flavours and textures. This isn’t about sourdough baking; this is about treats and cakes that taste as if they’d been baked at home – just by someone with a real flair for flavour.
Bad Girl Bakery Cakes often include hidden centres, gooey textures and extra toppings and cakes might include jammy crumble toppings or hidden surprises like Vanilla Caramel Fudge Cakes filled with caramel and topped with Orkney fudge, Salted Caramel Crumble Bars, Jam Doughnut Muffins, and White Chocolate, Strawberry and Cranberry Rocky Road. The range of doughnuts includes a Crème brûlée doughnut that they simply can’t supply the demand for.
Twelve Triangles (Leith, Dalry and Portobello, Edinburgh)
Run by Rachel Morgan and head baker Emily Cuddeford, Twelve Triangles now has three cafes and bakeries in Edinburgh – two in the Leith area of the city and one in the seaside area of Portobello. They will also launch a fourth in Dalry in September 2019.
Working entirely with cold, slow fermentation sourdoughs, all breads and pastries are made and shaped by hand by their in-house bakers. They don’t use any additives or improvers. Sourdough breads include white and wholemeal varieties as well as some more unusual loaves like charcoal, sunflower and rosemary seed and even a loaf made using cooked porridge! All their jams, custards, pie fillings, and ricotta are made daily in the bakery, using local, seasonal and organic ingredients wherever possible. The shops stock a changing roster of caramel sauces too: from malted beer caramel to whey caramel.
Signature sweet bakes aside from their amazing loaves, include a seasonal range of pastries including blackcurrant and pistachio croissants, raspberry bakewell bars, a vast range of doughnuts and cinnamon buns.
Three Sisters Bake (West End of Glasgow, Quarriers Village and Killearn, Renfrewshire)
As the name suggests, this bakery was founded by three sisters, Nichola, Linsey and Gillian Reith. Having travelled the world sampling the best food and drink, they decided to channel their passion into their own chain of Scottish bakeries. The three sisters decided to open to launch their own food business, with their three sites offering a cake bar in the West End of Glasgow and two cafes in Quarriers Village and Killearn.
Wanting to ‘delight the senses’ each menu item has been rigorously tested to ensure it’s a show stopper. Their menu of cakes includes Chocolate Guinness, Salted Caramel Classic and Lime and Courgette as the sisters have spoken of how they want their ingredients to shine with natural flavours enhanced rather than altered.
Their Cake Bar in Glasgow will soon be offering an online order and pick-up service, but for now you can choose your selection of take-away cake from their fun displays of pick ’n’ mix, ice-cream, brownies and cakes to enjoy while you watch GBBO.
Tantrum Doughnuts (West End and City Centre, Glasgow)
Famous in Glasgow and beyond for their hand-made brioche doughnuts, which are made with care and premium ingredients such as free-range eggs and French butter for an indulgent treat. A small team of highly-trained pastry chefs have developed their doughnut recipe, which includes a 16 hour prove time, to ensure that their brioche doughnuts have a delicious flavour and light texture.
These doughnuts are a labour of love, with the bakers working through the night to cut, fry, glaze and decorate each tasty offering. With a motto of ‘made by people, not machines’, Tantrum Doughnuts are rebelling against factory-made with a revolution of hand-made doughnuts.
They also have an inclusive menu, with vegan doughnut options well as family favourites and unusual combinations such as a Crème brûlée, Pistachio & Hibiscus, Salted Honey Ring, and Chocolate Millionaire.
Aran Bakery (Dunkeld, Perthshire)
Taking its name from the gaelic for bread or loaf, Aran Bakery was opened in 2017 after a successful crowdfunding campaign by Flora Sheddon. Flora was inspired to transform a derelict 200 year-old building on Dunkeld High Street into a bustling bakery, following her appearance on Great British Bake Off in 2016.
To meet increasing demand, in 2018 they expanded to have a production unit as their bakery kitchen. The heart of the community, the bakery uses local ingredients wherever possible including seasonal fruits from the Dunkeld Community Orchard, free-range eggs from a local farm and oats from Aberfeldy Mill.
With vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free options as well as seasonal specials, you will be spoilt for choice – just make sure you get there easy to avoid disappointment! Their cake range includes a coffee, pear and hazelnut layered sponge cake and a lemon and poppy seed layered sponge cake and rhubarb and custard.
And if you fancy spending a few hours in you own kitchen, cooking and baking this autumn, take a look at our recipes >>
