In the early hours of the morning, when estate is quiet and still, our bakers arrive. Working ‘til dawn to ensure there is plenty of fresh bread in the morning to feed our Farm Shop and fresh deliveries with sourdough, baguettes, seeded loaves.

One of life’s inimitable small luxuries, a freshly baked loaf is a sensory indulgence, from comfortingly doughy aromas to the sound of crackling crust. It also requires the luxury of time to create; so, like all of our food production, it’s important that nothing goes to waste.

As our bakers like to say: “Every crumb counts.”

The journey of our signature apple waste sourdough an embodiment of the beauty of waste. Its starter is made from the apple pulp waste of our cyder-making process – heading straight from the Press to the Bakery, where it gets fermented and the yeast captured. Beyond the loaf itself, starter discard becomes crumpets, chunks of leftover bread are stirred into in our soups, and breadcrumbs make their way into our gelato.

So, it’s time to use your loaf. The next time you find a spare end of bread, or that you’ve not managed to eat your whole loaf, try whizzing into breadcrumbs or tearing into chunks to use in inventive ways. Here are some suggestions from our Bakery team – so good they’re almost worth buying extra:

  • Roll slices out thinly, then air dry to make melba toast
  • Mix breadcrumbs with cinnamon and use to make ice cream
  • Make a gazpacho-style chilled tomato soup – we use sourdough for extra tang
  • Freeze breadcrumbs to keep for your Sunday roast stuffing and bread sauce
  • Toast breadcrumbs in garlic, chilli and lemon zest to make Pangrattato – ‘poor man’s parmesan’ – and use to top spaghetti
  • Mix chunks of bread with tomatoes, onions, olive oil and vinegar for a Tuscan-style  panzanella     

HONEY & SUNFLOWER SEED TART

makes one 25cm tart

  • 500g sweet pastry
  • 600g honey
  • 200ml water
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 500g ground sunflower seeds
  • 200g breadcrumbs
  • 2 x oranges, zest and juice
  • Pinch of salt
  • Sunflower seeds to top
  • Large pinch lavender

Large pinch lavender

Line a pastry tin with the sweet pastry.

Cover with baking paper, fill with baking beans and blind bake at 170°C for 10 mins.

Remove the baking beans out, prick with a fork, then bake for another 10 mins.

Place the honey, orange zest, juice, water and lavender in a pan over a medium heat until heated through. Stir in the breadcrumbs and toasted sunflower seeds.

Remove from the heat for l0 minutes until the breadcrumbs have fully absorbed the honey.

Pour the honey mixture into the tart case and bake at 170°C for 30-40 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of thick cream.