If anyone knows how to do winter, it’s the Scandinavians. The concept of snuggling up with a steaming mug of something caffeinated and a buttery pastry is at the heart of their culture, from the Danish concept of hygge (cosiness – often involving sugar and carbs) to the Swedish ritual of fika (taking time for coffee and cake). Take a leaf out of their book and make a beeline for these five bakeries, which are sure to put a smile on your face this January.
Pophams Bakery, London Fields
Every Saturday, rain or shine, a jolly queue wiggles around the al fresco tables outside Pophams and into the street. London Fields is not short of places for coffee and pastries, but Pophams is a cut above the rest – and the queue shows it.
The bakery was founded by Ollie Gold, whose previous career catering for Formula 1 teams is reflected in the meticulous attention to detail in the food. The day starts with perfectly laminated pastries, their folds as crisp as laundry in a five-star hotel. The bacon swirl drips in maple syrup and biting into the plaited cardamom bun releases intoxicating wafts like an exotic spice bazaar.
For something savoury, you’re better off arriving from 11:30 a.m., when oozy toasties and steamy soups with piles of sourdough appear. Flavours vary but if the jalapeño-cream cheese melt is on the menu, count your lucky stars.
Indoors tables are limited, and although the local clientele is friendly, the atmosphere takes on a hint of The Hunger Games when people are prowling for a seat. Coffees cost about £3 and pastries range from £2.50-£6 (some are enormous, so consider sharing). Pophams also has outposts in Islington and Victoria Park.
Karma Bread, Hampstead
Hampstead is right in London’s Jewish heartlands, so it should come as little surprise that Tami Isaacs Pearce, who runs Karma Bread, is known as the Challah Queen. Pearce started baking nine years ago and quickly began honing her skills in braiding and coiling this spongy brioche-like loaf as so many Jewish customers were asking for it. She and her team now make more than 800 challah breads on Fridays alone (in time for the Sabbath) and have supplied everyone from La Fromagerie to Selfridges.
The bakery also offers rye and sourdough loaves as well as sweet treats from brownies to babka, and a banging brunch. The three-cheese toastie (around £7.50) is an addictive molten mess made using Pearce’s dad’s secret recipe.
The cosy Hampstead bakery has just six or so tables, so arrive early or be prepared to take away. Pearce plans to open another bakery within the next six months – watch this space.
Miel Bakery, Fitzrovia
Miel is the French patisserie of fairytales. A demure teal shop front hidden away by Warren Street station reveals a cornucopia where Paris-Brests burst at the proverbial seams with praline cream, chocolate tarts shine like Lake Superior in the sunshine and petite madeleines smile sweetly at you. It is all très, très chic. Expect no less from the well-heeled Fitzrovia clientele.
And as with any self-respecting French patisserie, quality is everything. The butter is shipped in from Poitou-Charentes (where France’s top pastry chefs get theirs from); the flour comes straight from the mills of Normandy; and the chocolate is Valrhona – a French brand making cocoa-based magic in the village of Tain-l’Hermitage since 1922.
Miel was founded by Shaheen Peerbhai – a pastry chef who trained in France at institutions including Le Cordon Bleu and Alain Ducasse. A true taste of France in London.
Dusty Knuckle, Dalston
One word: sandwiches. For a place that prides itself on its sourdough bread, it might surprise you that Dusty Knuckle’s famous sandwiches are more filling than bread. But, my, what fillings. Last month’s Christmas special – sweet roasted carrots dripping in tahini with a bright sumac-cranberry sauce, charred sprouts and more – was the perfect mix of pure comfort and refreshing zing. It’s been reinvented for January with beetroots and green sauce stepping in for cranberries and sprouts.
The sweet pastries are similarly inventive. Think pickled blackberry compote mixed with almond crème pâtissière exploding out of a croissant dough shell.
Dusty Knuckle has outposts in Dalston and Harringay, with the latter also open for wood-fired pizza nights from Thursday to Saturday. You can pre-order sandwiches to pick up from Tuesday to Friday, too, so no stressing that your favourite filling will be sold out.
Willy’s Pies, Hackney
To say Willy’s Pies has a cult following would be an understatement. Its delivery service (which has almost 30,000 Instagram followers) was set up by the eponymous Will Lewis during lockdown as a love letter to the pie – an English art form he felt was dying out in the South. Pretty quickly the pies were selling out within a couple of hours – and the success has continued to grow. Every pie is still made by Will, who has worked in top London restaurants from Brat to St John.
Fillings come in refreshingly generous portions. A celeriac, parsnip and raclette number oozes with cheese while the current special – slow-cooked beef in spiced black lentils and burnt olive oil – seems to melt away into pure flavour when you bite in.
Pies cost around £13 and feed two. You can also order them frozen and buy in bulk, with free delivery for orders over £50. Alternatively you can order to pick up from Willy’s shed at Netil Market in London Fields, or visit one of various stockists around London.
What are your favourite bakeries? Share your recommendations below.
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