Like it or not, the Great British Bake Off has got the country talking about cake again. If watching mouth-watering, slow-motion footage of pastries every week has sparked your sweet tooth, then why not visit one of Scotland’s excellent independent bakeries? Here’s some of the best.
1. Tantrum Doughnuts, Glasgow
27 Old Dumbarton Road, Glasgow
0141 339 9319
Open Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm, Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday, 10am-5pm
www.tantrumdoughnuts.com
In our social media society, the appearance of food has become almost as important as the taste. It should come as no surprise, then, that the extravagant, colourful designs of Tantrum Doughnuts have helped the bakery become a hugely popular among Glaswegians. Husband and wife owners Iain and Annika Baillie opened their first bakery in the west end in 2015, but high demand saw them open a second branch near Central Station last year. They offer brioche, ‘old-fashioned’ and vegan doughnuts in an array of flavours that include pistachio and hibiscus, cherry cheesecake and creme brûlée. Regardless of which one you go for, you can be safe in the knowledge that your doughnut has been proved, baked, fried, glazed and decorated in-house and by hand.
2. Mackenzie’s Bakery, Pitlochry
104 Atholl Road, Pitlochry, Perthshire
01796 470102
Open Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm, Saturday 9am-5pm and Sunday 10am-4pm
www.mackenziesofpitlochry.co.uk
Offering cakes to order as well as a sit in coffee shop, Mackenzie’s is doing its best to make sure the people of Pitlochry get their sugar fix. The pastries, scones and biscuits are hearty -if not necessarily healthy- and the fresh Italian coffee is excellent, too. The service is good and the welcome is warm, but there are only very limited tables so you will need to get there before the lunchtime rush if you want to guarantee a seat. Don’t leave without sampling their speciality product- the humble empire biscuit.
3. The Bakehouse, Findhorn
91-92 Findhorn, Forres, Moray
01309 691826
Open every day, 10am-4pm
www.bakehousecafe.co.uk
Situated in Findhorn’s Foundation eco-village, this community café uses local and organic ingredients in the vast majority of its food. The in-house Findhorn Bakery prepares fresh bread from scratch every day, with speciality bakes like the Highland Rye Loaf and the Shipton Focaccia attracting customers from right along the Moray Coast. They make a mean cooked breakfast (with plenty of veggie alternatives) but the quality of their baking really shines through during their weekly pizza nights. On Friday and Saturday nights they make seven delightful flavours of fresh pizza using homemade dough, offered on a first-come first basis in 15-minute slots. Don’t miss out.
4. Tasty Buns Bakery, Edinburgh
67 Bread Street, Edinburgh
0131 228 6513
Open Monday-Friday, 8.30am-5pm and Saturday, 9.30am-4pm
A bakery situated on Bread Street pretty much has to be good. Luckily, Tasty Buns lives up to its name and offers suitably ‘tasty’ buns, cakes, scones, macaroons and brownies (even a Tunnock’s version). They also pride themselves on creating genuinely inventive products: like ‘rainbow tacos’ that are made with white chocolate, filled with jam and vanilla buttercream and then topped with rainbow drops, freeze-dried raspberries and sprinkles. Tasty Buns also hosts its very own monthly event -Sconefest- where they offer eight brand new flavours of scone (at least half of which are usually ‘boozy’). If none of that takes your fancy then be sure to try at least one mug of their indulgent hot chocolate, from Edinburgh firm Edward and Irwyn, which provides the perfect way to warm up as the weather cools down.
5. The Mad Batter, Coatbridge
23 Coatbank Street, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire
01236 437228
Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8.30am-5.30pm, Friday, 8.30am-4.30pm, Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday, 10am-4pm
www.madbatterbakery.co.uk
Only open for two years, this underrated bakery is undoubtedly one of the best in Lanarkshire. ‘Instagrammable’ indulgent cupcakes are the Mad Batter’s speciality, but there are plenty of sinful biscuits, pancakes, scones and cheesecakes if you’d prefer. Our pick is the pumpkin French toast, which is flavoured with seasonal spices and smothered in a maple spiced syrup. If you want to sit in, then they offer afternoon tea with sandwiches, artisan rolls, meringues, scones, cupcakes, mousse, traybakes and unlimited drinks for a reasonable £15 each. But if you don’t fancy moving from the couch, then the entire Mad Batter menu is also available for home delivery on Just Eat.
6. Byron Bakery, Aberdeen
11 Byron Square, Northfield, Aberdeen
01224 691510
Open Monday-Friday, 4am-4pm and Saturday, 4am-2pm
Byron Bakery prides itself on its award-winning butteries (or rowies), a calorific treat much-loved by Aberdonians and held in high esteem in the north east. For those who aren’t in the know, a buttery is a savoury bread roll made with lard, created for fisherman to take to sea because they stay fresher for longer than bread. Each buttery contains 49% of an adult’s daily allowance of saturated fat, but their loyal fan base will tell you that it they are more than worth the calories. Butteries aside, the bakery is popular for its custard donuts, cakes and meringues- with some customers travelling long distances to get their sweet fix at Byron.
7. Falko Konditormeister, Haddington
91 High Street, Haddington, East Lothian
01620 824 824
Open Wednesday-Saturday, 9am-5pm and Sunday, 10am-5pm
www.falko.co.uk
In German, Konditormeister is the highest qualification that a pastry chef can achieve. Those who call themselves a Konditormeister must have worked in the trade for at least five years, learned the exact quantities and chemistry of baking and passed demanding craft exams. The eponymous owner of Falko in Haddington achieved Konditormeister status before he moved to Edinburgh in 1998, but when he arrived in Scotland he was disappointed to see products labelled as strudel or gâteau when they didn’t meet the strict rules of German baking. He set about trying to right this wrong, and prides himself on offering authentic German products that focus on taste rather than aesthetics. Falko is a must-visit if you want to try products created to these high standards.
8. My Home Bakery, Glasgow
59 Hyndland Street, Glasgow and 8 Kildrostan Street, Pollokshields, Glasgow
Open Tuesday and Wednesday, 9am-4pm, Friday and Saturday, 9am-5pm and Sunday, 10am-3pm (Kildrostan Street is open Wednesday-Friday, 8.30am-5pm, weekend opening hours are the same as Hyndland Street)
www.myhomebakery.co.uk
Vegetarians and vegans are well catered for in this small bakery, which offers plenty of ‘cruelty-free’ alternatives that don’t miss out on flavour. They even have a vegan version of their speciality volcano cake: a moist, glaze covered cake which oozes seductively when cut into. West enders who are in the know have been coming to My Home for years to pick up freshly baked bread, but now those living in the southside can do the same. My Home opened its second branch, near Nithsdale Road, in May.
9. Bhaile Craft Bakery, Ayr
11 North Harbour Estate, Ayr, Ayrshire
Open Thursday-Saturday, 8am-2pm
www.bhaile.co.uk
It might have only opened in 2017, but Bhaile has already made a big impact in Ayrshire. Its brand of homemade, high-quality bakery products has gone down so well with the people of Ayr that the firm has already opened a second store in Troon. Bread is their speciality, and although it isn’t cheap, picking up a spelt loaf or an Alaska sourdough from Bhaile will make it difficult to ever go back to a supermarket loaf. If it’s a cake you are looking for then you can’t go wrong with their Pastel De Nata- the Portuguese custard tarts currently taking the bakery world by storm.
10. Main Street Bakery, Callander
56 Main Street, Callander, Stirling
01877 330374
Open every day, 7am-5pm
The Main Street Bakery offers no fuss, no frills, but excellent cakes. They specialise in nostalgic, traditional cakes like iced buns and strawberry tarts, with the focus firmly on flavour rather than appearance. Savoury options are plentiful too: pies, bridies and stovies for anyone looking for comfort food to warm them up in the cold weather.
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