A focus on baked goods

Kent’s Farmers’ Markets

Cracking open Easter

There’s nothing as appetising as the smell of freshly baked, crusty bread and I confess to often lurking around Farmer’ Markets’ bakery stalls just to enjoy the aroma of still-warm bread. So I’m delighted that we can boast of 25 artisan bakers attending our Markets.

I am truly impressed by the efforts they go to only use the best-quality, locally sourced ingredients and traditional methods – resulting in some superb specialty bakery products. This contrasts with Tesco, who last year were rebuked by the Advertising Standards Agency because its so-called fresh bread was often actually cooked in distant factories, and then transported, chilled or sometimes even frozen, only to be re-heated in an in-store ‘bakery’.

Avard’s Village Bakery, owned by Stephen Steadman, have been baking bread in Kent since 1869 and all their bakery goods are made from scratch using high-quality ingredients. Based in Lamberhurst, the bakery employs 35 people, producing 80 different types of breads, 45 different soft and crusty rolls, French sticks and speciality breads and 130 choices of cakes. Everything is baked freshly each day, seven days a week.

This Easter Avards will produce a range of small cakes and themed cupcakes, gingerbreads and bunny shaped bread, while manager Joanna Baldwin is also planning a royal theme this month for the wedding of HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Enzo’s Bakery brings the best of Enzo’s Mediterranean homeland in Italy, but using local, fresh ingredients from Kent. The company specialises in English and Italian breads, home-made pizza slices, as well as a delicious selection of savoury and sweet tarts. Enzo sources 80-90 per cent of his ingredients from The Goods Shed in Canterbury where other Kent food producers deliver and retail their products daily; while Enzo runs the popular bakery in the shed.

This month, Enzo predicts that Pastiara Napolitana, a traditional Italian Easter cake, will be a best seller with his dried fruit cake recipe combined with wholegrain and essence of orange, adding an interesting twist on the traditional Simnel cake.

Enzo believes the Farmers’ Market to be a refreshing alternative to supermarket food shopping: “I make my bread and cakes with love and passion and farmers’ markets give our customers a chance to meet the person who makes their food! It’s fresher, more local and in my opinion, much more tasty!”

Where to find us?

Avard’s Village Bakery appears at the monthly Farmers’ Market in West Malling and the twice-monthly market at the Town Hall Farmers’ Market in Tunbridge Wells; while Enzo’s Bakery attends Wye Farmers’ Market each month.

What’s in season?

Lettuce

Purple sprouting broccoli

Spring greens

Radishes

Rhubarb

Crab

Halibut

Sea bass

Sea trout

Hare

Lamb

Venison

Easter surprise

With Easter just around the corner and the Royal Wedding due to take place later this month, it will be a great excuse to stock the larder to the brim with lots of sweet treats, be they freshly baked products, a celebratory cake or two and, of course, lots of chocolates for Easter day.

This month’s Farmers’ Markets will be filled with an array of home-made chocolates, truffles and fudge, including:

Coco Diablo

Delicious Farmhouse Chocs

Elham Fudge

Fabulous Fudge

Granny Manning’s Pies & Fudge

Handmade by Henry

Kay’s Chocolate

Occasions Truffles

Sweet Nostalgia

The Fudge Kitchen

NEXT MONTH: Asparagus