Raisin’ dough…

Are you and your business joining in with The Great British Bake Off? Last nights episode focuses on bread, so if you sell flour and baking goods make sure your shop is promoting with these recipes in mind, because tomorrow this is what all home bakers and Bake-Off fans will want to bake.

If yes, keep up the good work and reap the benefits to your business but if not, take a moment to think about the impact:

• The whole country is still baking mad with more baking books, equipment and ingredients being sold than ever.
• Baking has had a revival as one of the best ways to fund raise and bring communities together.
• Baking follows trends too and keen bakers are always on the look out for the next big thing.
• Baking is beautifully seasonal, celebrating all the best of British.

So with this in mind, please remember to tie your displays and shop fronts to what’s happening in the nations favourite competition.
Recipe suggestions, cake decoration ideas, old school vintage props for keen bakers to display their show stoppers and why not hold your own sponsored bake-off? The ideas to aid your promotion and get to know your customers are endless, have fun with it and go wild with your puns on chalkboards…make Mel and Sue proud!

“If you feel in knead of a little baking time yourself, why not knock up our own recipe developer Leeanne Cooper’s, Autumn Soda Bread…just add a pot of tea!”

Spiced soda bread
An aromatic sweet variation for Autumn, best eaten whilst still warm from the oven.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 35 minutes
Serves: 6

100g rolled organic oats
30g salted butter, diced
200g plain flour
200g wholemeal flour plus extra for dusting
100g golden caster sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp fine salt
50g raisins
2 tbsp mixed peel
100g stoned dates, chopped
450ml buttermilk
4 tbsp demerara sugar

1 Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6 and dust a baking sheet with a little flour, put to one side.
2 In a large mixing bowl, rub the butter into the oats with your fingertips as you would with a crumble. Add the two flours, golden caster sugar, soda, spice, salt, raisins, peel and dates and stir through. Add the buttermilk to the mix and stir in with a round-bladed knife.
3 Tip the dough onto a flour dusted board or worktop and bring together into a ball using your hands. Transfer to the prepared tin and scatter the demerara sugar over the top for a sweet crunch, pressing it in before cutting a cross into the top using a floured knife blade.
4 Bake for 35 minutes until crusty and golden. Serve straight away with plenty of good butter and tea.

Huge thanks to Leeanne Cooper, Food writer, stylist and Editor of The Cooking Cuddle for this guest blog & recipe. You can find out a bit more about her here.