GAIL's Bakery

Croissant dough swirled with rarebit sauce, parmesan, sweet caramelised onions, spiced red cabbage and cranberries. Drizzled with jalapeño-infused honey and sprinkled with fresh thyme.

On the baker's table this Wednesday.

Did you know that 'treacle tart' is Cockney rhyming slang for sweetheart? To make sure our version isn't too cloying, we're using breadcrumbs made with our new Brown Sourdough. Its variety of ancient heritage grains add complexity which offsets the syrup.

Ingredients

For the pastry:
- 260g white plain flour
- 100g icing sugar
- 125 chilled, cubed butter
- 1 egg
- pinch of salt

For the filling:
- 200g golden syrup
- 100g maple syrup
- 145g dark sourdough breadcrumbs
- 50g butter
- half tsp ginger
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 eggs
- large pinch of salt

Method
1. Sieve together the dry pastry ingredients and rub in the cubed butter (or speed it up using a food processor). Add chilled water a teaspoon at a time and bring it together in a dough.
2. Roll out as shown and transfer to a buttered tin. Use a piece of pastry to press it into the edges of the tin (rather than your fingers). if it gets tricky to work with, put it back in the fridge.
3. Before trimming the edges, chill in the freezer for 20 mins. Trim the edges in outward motions.
4. Bake blind at 170 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, brush with beaten egg and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
5. To make the filling, brown the butter on a medium heat. Add the sugar and syrups and heat to a bubbling caramel.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs, salt and ginger.
7. Lightly beat your eggs separately, and then stir into the pan along with the lemon juice and zest.
8. Pour this into the pastry case. Bake at 160 degrees for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 140 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes.
9. Serve warm with clotted cream.

Traditionally made with leftover minestrone and stale bread, Tuscan ribollita is ideal for using up whatever you find languishing in the vegetable drawer and bread bin.

We've used GAIL's sourdough croutons and autumnal veg - find the full recipe on our Journal: https://gails.com/blogs/journal/ribollita-recipe

We don't have favourites, but we know that our Lemon, Rose & Pistachio Cake is one of yours. Here's a syrup-soaked loaf version to make at home.

Cake Ingredients

- 190g caster sugar
- 180g butter (room temp)
- 4 medium eggs (room temp)
- 80g ground almonds
- 85g raw pistachios, blitzed in blender to a crumb (plus extra for decorating)
- 50g plain flour, sifted
- large pinch of salt
- zest of 1 large lemon
- 1 tsp baking powder

Syrup ingredients
- 90ml water
- 90g of caster sugar
- 60ml fresh lemon juice

Method
1. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and sugar is fully dissolved
2. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to whisk
3. Fold in lemon zest, salt, flour, baking powder, almonds and pistachio
4. Pour into a lined loaf tin and bake at 140 degrees for 35-40 mins
5. Combine syrup ingredients and heat until sugar is dissolved
6. Remove cake from oven and whilst hot pour over syrup
7. Allow to cool in the tin then turn out and decorate with pistachios

"Bread is the greatest symbol of community and has been for thousands of years", says John Lister, founder of . He and his millers are the connection between us and the farmers who grow the grain we eventually bake with.

Through our conversations, an idea emerged, to support more farmers doing good things with their soil.

As the resulting grain makes its way from fields to bakeries, we’re telling the stories of the people who touch it along the way. Read John's chapter of this unfolding story here: https://gails.com/blogs/journal/a-visit-to-shipton-mill

For the GAIL's Barista Championship, we wanted to celebrate the relationship between coffee and baking - and we didn't want any of those carefully-brewed espressos to go to waste.

We developed a couple of recipes unique to the event:
- Sourdough soldiers with coffee cherry marmalade
- Tiramisu made with sourdough, surplus espresso and coffee chaff

The Brown Slab is the dark sourdough we always wanted: a loaf which reflects the field and makes use of the farmer's whole crop.

But its complex, dark and earthy flavours don't only lend themselves to savoury baking - they add depth to desserts too. Like this take on bread and butter pudding.

Ingredients
- 8-10 slices of dark sourdough (we use The Brown Slab)
- Butter
- 100g sultanas soaked overnight in Marsala or Madeira (strain but conserve leftover wine)
- Vanilla extract or pod
- 250ml milk
- 300ml double cream
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 3 eggs plus 1 yolk
- Zest of one lemon

Method
- Generously butter your bread and make sultana 'sandwiches'
- Cut sandwiches in half and arrange in greased oven proof dish
- Gently warm the cream, milk and lemon zest, sugar and leftover wine from soaking sultanas until sugar is dissolved
- Whisk eggs and yolk in bowl and pour over custard mix (dispose of vanilla pod if using)
- Pour the custard over the sandwiches and leave to soak for at least 6 hours - ideally overnight
- Cover and bake at 160 degrees for 20 minutes
- Remove covering and sprinkle an additional tablespoon of golden caster or Demerara sugar over the surface. Increase temp to 180 degrees and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the top starts to colour.
- Allow to cool to warm before serving with whipped cream and your favourite jam (this isn't too sweet, so jam is recommended).

Few bakes have created as much chatter as the much-loved Maple & Pecan Scone.

Inspired by American baking traditions, the drop scone is somewhere between a cookie and a cake, with crispy edges and a soft interior. We stud ours with pecans and brush with a maple glaze straight after baking.