christmas is already approaching!

we will be offering loads of fun christmas delights this season. we look forward to getting pictures up of our new ideas. we'll be taking orders for your christmas parties very soon and hope you'll included some of our savoury items for the buffet table too!
we'll have "ready to give" packaged options too: cookie boxes, gingerbread men, xmas cakes, and yule logs.
stay tuned for the whole list !

Thank YOU Taylor!!

Yes, Taylor has been keeping the home fires burning with his blogging...I am sorry that I have been MIA, but we have been busy this summer...plus I have been a little under the weather...at any rate,

At the beginning of the blog, our goal was to sell 40 loaves a DAY! I am sorry to say that we did not quite make that goal...however we did get up to almost the halfway mark...I am not too sure but i think our best bread day was 19 loaves...maybe our expectations were a bit high this year! but the good thing is...we have people come in JUST for the bread, who have never been in before...we have people who buy our bread 2 times a week and when I have been doing markets in the city the bread is the first thing to go...so all in all it has been a pretty positive experience :)

I am not sure if many of you know but we started opening i the evening this year, two days a week...thurs and fri...the focus is on local and organic! and that has been going quite well too...some slow days but over all good... I have posted some photos of the items that have been on the menu...

well gotta jump...its beautiful and sunny out and the customers are waiting!!!

shannen

a note: on the joy of preferments

we've had customers coming in with great feedback on our breads and their shelf life.

its great to hear that practice proves worthwhile!

we start almost all of our breads with a preferment the day before baking. this is a mixture of flours and yeast thats aloud to sit and ferment and devlop vital acid and flavour in the breads. the acids developed in the preferments, lead to a longer and natural shelflife to our breads, WITHOUT PRESERVATIVES! its another step in a long process of great bread baking, but its worth it.

some of our breads if stored in an airtight container will still taste fresh after 3 days of slicing. the new ballinspittle sourdough barely dries out after 2 days of slicing.

thats just super!

we've been complimented on the consitency and size of our loaves (1.5 pounds average!) as well. proving that the average €4 price point is a worthwile investment! for a longlasting bread. if they go stale theres loads of uses, too: bread pudding, croutons, crostini, bread crumbs. (will post recipes in future)

thanks for the support of all our loyal bread customers! we cant make this happen without you!

taylor

autumn is here

its autumn in the cafe the pace has slowed from the manic buzz of summer. its time to start trying out the ideas that were bubbling up while constantly trying to keep up with supply and demand. its a relief to have this time to experiment!
now its time to start thinking of christmas time. which over here means christmas cakes to the ceiling! this year we are going to be making them with macerated sour cherries, cranberries, and walnuts. also we will be doing a traditional french cake for christmas. "Buche de Noel" these are a rolled cake that have a coffee butter cream filling and are shaped and iced to look like fallen logs with meringue mushrooms growing around them. ooh-la-la!
with the slower paced days come the slower paced nights, which leaves room for more experimenting. tonight we featured gubbeen pork with autumn fruit reduction, braised beef short ribs with roast garlic mash, and a beautiful organic butternut squash lasagne. all yummmm!

taylor