Ancient grains and ale, figs and walnuts, and charcoal powder are among the inclusions of loaves specially created for Sourdough September.
This year welcomes the 11th edition of the annual event organised by the Real Bread Campaign, which aims at promoting the baking and buying of genuine sourdough bread, ie. produced without the use of baker’s yeast, chemical raising agents, so-called processing aids, or other additives.
Following on from last year’s Sourdough September NPD round-up, here’s the batch of offerings available in 2024:
Beer Bere Sourdough, Eviedale Bakehouse
The UK’s most northerly commercial sourdough bakery has unveiled a bespoke bread featuring bere barley, one of Britain’s oldest ancient grains in continuous cultivation which is still grown and threshed on the Orkney mainland.
Although lacking in gluten, bere (pronounced “bear”) is said to be full of nutrients and fibre. “It is very challenging to use in bread making and was traditionally made into bere bannocks in Orkney, a type of soda bread, and biscuits and crackers, and is also commonly used in brewing,” revealed Philippa Porritt, who runs Eviedale Bakehouse with her husband Ian.
The Beer Bere Sourdough combines Dark Island – an ale locally sourced from The Orkney Brewery – with a mix of beremeal, malthouse flour, and Shipton Mill white and wholemeal flour, which provide a deep malty flavour and fill it with goodness. It is available on Thursdays throughout September at its bakery/honesty shop in Evie as well as at The Brig Larder in Kirkwall.
Fig & Walnut Sourdough, Bake 88
The sourdough bagel specialist has come out with a limited-edition country loaf to join in this month’s sourdough celebrations. Made with Shipton Mill organic wheat flour, toasted organic walnuts, and sundried figs plus a coating a of oat flakes, it is available for preorder via the Bake 88 website, priced at £5 each.
“The combination of walnuts and figs comes from memories of wonderful Mediterranean summer holidays and is perfect with a little soft cheese and a drizzle of honey,” commented Bake 88 founder Charlotte Crockford, who runs the micro-bakery from her home in Epsom, Surrey.
Seeded Sourdough, Bridge Baker
This 800g loaf is made with organic flour and a fantastic five seeds: chia, flaxseed, sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame. The dough is slow fermented for around 48 hours, with the end product offering lovely complex flavours – toasting brings out the nuttiness and aroma of the seeds.
Priced at £4.95, the Seeded Sourdough is available at either of Bridge Baker’s two stores in Fulham, southwest London, from Saturdays through to Wednesdays. It can also be ordered via its website.
Stoneground Wholemeal Sourdough, Cavan Bakery
The artisan bakery brand repeats its creation of a limited-edition sourdough from last year with a brand-new loaf aimed at appeasing consumers wary of ultra-processed foods (UPF). “Even though we are living in an age of Instagram-worthy, viral bakeries, many of customers are astonished to discover that their favourite sourdough loaf is also a genuinely UPF free zone,” noted Cavan Bakery MD Nicky Taylor.
The Stoneground Wholemeal Sourdough (rsp: £4.20) is made with Marriage’s premium wholemeal flour, which is ground with traditional French Burr stones. The chain is also offering a Mediterranean Sourdough (rsp: £4.40), a tear and share centrepiece inspired by the classic Italian flavours of sun-dried tomato, green olive, onion, and herbs.
Both are available at all of Cavan’s 14 shops across Surrey and Southwest London during weekends in September and beyond.
Charcoal Sourdough, 4 Eyes Bakery & Patisserie
With the spooky season fast descending upon us, 4 Eyes Bakery in Chesterfield has brought back its cauldron black-coloured sourdough loaf to mark Sourdough September and tap into Halloween sales.
“It was mega popular last year and I ended up running it until Christmas because people just kept asking for it,” said head baker Tomas Martin, who turned a sourdough mistake into Britain’s Best Loaf 2024 and is also in the running for Baker of the Year 2024.
Charcoal powder gives the bread an extremely airy, soft crumb whilst remaining open, and just enough is used to send it jet black but not tasting like a leftover BBQ. “Make sure you clean your mixing bowl out thoroughly,” notes Martin, “otherwise you will end up with grey focaccia like we did last year, which doesn’t look quite as appealing”.
It will be sold at markets for £5 each, or £3 to wholesalers, same price as the bright yellow Turmeric, Honey & Sunflower Sourdough, which 4 Eyes Bakery is also producing over the Autumn.
No comments yet