Adventures: Bakehouse Wanders Brighton Part 2 Hi everyone! After months of procrastination, I'm thrilled to finally share part two of my Brighton adventure—because who doesn’t love a seaside story? Picking up from last time, I started my day at the Flint Owl Bakery for breakfast and coffee, followed by a visit to Vero Gusto, an Italian bakery, to pick up some delectable treats. Although I’ve been to Brighton plenty of times, my adventures have mostly centred around the Marina and the beach. This time, I wandered into The Lanes—a popular spot with locals and tourists alike, but a place I’d never explored. I didn’t even realise I was in The Lanes at first—that’s what happens when you don’t have a plan. From what I gathered, The Lanes are a mix of independent shops focused on ‘hip’ culture (do people still say ‘hip’?), fashion, and antiques. None of these are really my thing, but you know what they also had? A pasty shop. Now that is definitely up my street… or lane. The ...
Adventures: Bakehouse Wanders
Food Walking Tour
Another new regular on the docket, I plan to regularly feature this in the adventures sphere. I originally considered rocking up to a town, trying all the bakeries and some other foodie sites, then telling you about them. Whilst attempting my first attempt I quickly realised I might be literally biting off more than I could chew, and if I did eat it all I would become what I ate very quickly.
As a Plan B, I'll be checking out a few of the most highly endorsed places in a location, both on the internet and by locals. Any recommendations will be incorporated with a roam around the area. This way we get to learn about the location and not just put on weight.
Dorking
An internal debate occurred to figure out where to do my first walking foodie tour, whilst waiting for my new camera to turn up, still waiting. After some to and throwing, I realised there's only one place I should start, my home town.
I've lived in Dorking in the Surrey hills my entire life, with the exception of a three month stint in Switzerland, perhaps a future exploration. The surrounding area is beautiful and quaint, nothing really happens here, and I love the tranquillity that brings. A long stay would probably drive busy city people a tad crazy, but they'll enjoy the peaceful break regardless. Don't worry; it's not so small that everyone knows each other. Its a reasonably sized town, albeit with fewer chain shops and takeaways.
Dorking is well known for an abundance of antique shops, admittedly we're not off to a great start, I honestly don't see how one can charge more for items that are by definition second hand. Fortunately there's other things that the area is known for, primarily its beauty, and the abundance of scenic walking routes. We also have a couple of breweries and a full vineyard, some of the aforementioned walks go through the winery.
Possibly the most important thing to Dorking is a Cockerel, yes Dorking Cock is a thing indeed, you'll see it everywhere, just be careful on Google. If you watched the Olympics in 2012, you'll have seen the giant Cockerel on the A24/A25 roundabout during the road cycling, which spent most of its time in the town and surrounding beauty spot of Box Hill.
Dorking has been put on the map for wine, and more recently beer, but the food scene doesn't have a lot of variety, there used to be several bakeries, but alas they've mostly gone now. I've managed to find a few little gems to tell you about so keep reading.
If you want to check out more background info there's a museum, I'll leave a link to this and the wikipedia page below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorking
Putty Cakes
I've lived here all my life and didn't know this place existed until I did a little research following a personal recommendation and a bit of online searching, somehow I missed it despite being a member of the church literally opposite, and frequenting the beer shop a few doors up, Cobbet's, which in itself is worth a visit.
When you first step in the front door, it’s a bit of an odd experience, there’s what looks like a shop in a see-through box selling a few cake making bits and pieces like cake boards and coloured icing, this'll come in handy at some point, I had to use Amazon or go to Horsham for edible glitter before!
Once you push forward you reach what I’ll call a cafe, there’s not really a counter as such but a reasonable amount of seating and little computer in the corner for payments. I imagine take away is a thing, but I went for table service outside.
There's a rather quaint, private little courtyard with random old retro items dotted about, including a cute old thermometer, this one threw me, ahhh farenhiet! I didn't think it was that hot.
There were two friendly waitresses on duty, both very pleasant, they checked in on me a few times, not in an annoying way, they were very endearing. The lady who greeted me in was lovely and always had a smile, which is very much underrated these days.
After bringing out the cake menu, well a huge white board with cakes written on it in marker, up front you may get the impression that its not exactly a slick operation, its not, but it is lovely.
I opted for a slice of Red Velvet Loaf (£3.50) along with a white coffee since tea didn't seem like the right accompaniment. I'm quite the fan of red velvet cake, I think part of its appeal is its humble origins of wartime rationing and making do.
My first impressions is a slightly dry cake, the slices are pre-cut already on plates in cling film, there's normally a moistness to red velvet, but pre slicing is going to dry cake out. I also found there to be air tunnels in the cake, this almost certainly form over mixing the batter, which also could've contributed to the dryness.
When it comes to flavour the cake managed to step up better, is wasn't too sweet; often with cake purchased out you’re going to be hit with sweetness like you’ve face planted a bag of icing sugar, but this had great balance. Traditionally the icing on a red velvet is made from soft cheese, and this one has enough sweetness for the palette, but manages to retain the nuance of the difference in method associated with Red Velvet.
The white coffee that I ordered was very well made, but on overhearing that they do Earl Grey, I’m probably got too excited for a return trip, it’s one of my favourites. Customers were offered milk or lemon, a nice touch, of course milk is correct with Earl Grey. I won’t judge too harsh someone chooses lemon, okay I lied, a lady ordered it and judgement heavier than Thor's hammer descended, I didn’t verbalise it for sake of not disturbing the peaceful atmosphere of the courtyard.
For a Saturday morning at 11am it was very quiet, I believe this is related to the lack of curb appeal, or more accurately enticement. As I said earlier I've lived here all my life and wasn't aware of its existence. There’s nothing on display to visually draw you in, this feels like somewhat of a faux pas, a real shame as this is how patisserie-esq establishments draw in there trade, and the piping was very well executed.
I believe the primary business is the ordering of cakes for events and occasions, but with a few upgrades of cakes in the windows and a more efficient setup this place could have a booming trade.
I feel like I've knocked the place a little, but I think its such a lovely little oasis where one couple sit a relax to unwind for a couple of hours escaping from the world. The tidbits here and there amongst the fauna make for a real life secret garden that encourages you to be at peace. The coffee was expertly made, its was remarkable for a simple white coffee, and the cake was delicious, just perhaps could've been helped by not being stored as separate slices like in a canteen and a less vigorous mix.
Coughlans Bakery
As far as I'm aware, Dorking has a solitary traditional bakery, so that's where we're headed next.
Coughlands both from outside and in has the look you'd conjure up of a bakery from from your childhood, at least if you're old like myself. It's a quite aesthetically pleasing from the outside all in black with gold trim, and a window of bakes.
There aren't many rules for the reviews, but a key one is if they do jam doughnuts, they get purchased. My mother absolutely loves them, and therefore they require the utmost attention. When I entered the doughnuts were staring at me, with the jam spot clearly visible, so I got a box of them, and cinnamon and raisin swirl, normally its one or the other, but together was a nice treat. Cinnamon buns are definitely my go to bakery sweet, so when I saw these my day got that much better.
I took the food home to eat in the garden, being a sunny day, and there's only a couple of seats outside; at least I didn't have to pay for a cuppa.
The doughnuts were soft and very jammy, I'm not saying they're the very best jam doughnuts that I've ever had, but the were a significant improvement over a supermarket or many imported doughnut chains. Checking with the boss, for clarity my mother, not the bakery, they were very good except the sugar on the outside was to large, no pleasing some people! I actually thought there was about the right amount of coating, I'd happily go back and buy some more.
Of course for me the make or break item was the cinnamon and raisin swirl, this did not disappoint, it was lovely. It was actually bigger than it looked in the shop, not sure how that happened. When I first looked, I thought that it might be a little heavy, but even with its literal weight it was very light. If i were making it myself I'm not sure that I'd have put cinnamon and raisins together in the same pastry, there do feel like they're fighting a little for dominance with the distinct flavours; I'm not going to say they weren't delicious or well made, but I would've preferred just the cinnamon.
There are as you'd hope from a bakery some bread offerings, and I believe sandwiches, which I might explore at a later time, but for sweet treats they are very enjoyable without the breaking the bank balance.
If you pop along, its only a short walk to the local park, and is a great place to chill on a sunny day, just hide your cake from the ducks!
Box Hill National Trust Café
The National Trust café element of this week’s blog is from a separate excursion the following week. There is a reason for this, I had to do a bit of a wee hike. The town of Dorking is a lovely place, beautiful scenery is abundant, but the route to my favourite view however is somewhat more,… Vertical.
Yes, there’s a car park at the top, but this is a walking tour. Why take a leisurely drive up the scenic Olympic road cycling route when you can climb it to the precipice of a heart attack?
There's a few ways of getting to the top, with varying levels of exhaustion. If you’re a masochist by nature and want the hiking route rather than a steep stroll, literally to the left of Burford Bridge Hotel there’s an entrance providing two routes, left for steep, and right for "you’re an idiot". Being me, I took the "you're an idiot" path, at least I'm not daft even to walk down that angle unlike some people I passed, I imagine they had a quick trip to the bottom.
The steeper route caused quite a few stops en route, I did begin to wonder if a younger me doing this frequently in the past was a figment of my imagination. The only solace was overhearing an American saying how tough it was part way up an easier route.
The things I do for this blog!!
Fortunately, there is a nice little place at the top run by the National Trust, and I happen to know they make a good cuppa.
When I'd crawled to the top in the name of my phantom readers I headed straight to the water fountain to refill my bottle for the return trip, that is a very handy feature of this spot.
There used to be a National Trust shop, but this has been replaced by a café, I did pop in and have a look around, its quite nice in there but on the sunny day that it was a bit too hot for me. There is also an outdoor hatch, which is one of the two reasons I'd hiked up. Since my last trip they've added in a Jude's Ice Cream counter if that's more your thing.
I had a cup of tea, a personal tradition for this place, I've always walked up and treated myself with a tea, one of the best cuppas around, not sure why, maybe its the environment. As I'm doing this blog, seems a good excuse, I also bought a Blueberry Bakewell Slice, which was something new for me, and I found it very enjoyable. I'd always assume on looking before that the cakes wouldn't be much of note, except with the insane amount of cyclists there, but I was corrected, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The hint of tartness from blueberries cuts through, the sweetness, I'm convinced better than the traditional cherry, sorry Yorkshire! The texture was softer and more melt in the mouth than expected, although considering I was melting in the heat it may have been too! The Bakewell was heavy on the frangipani, but that’s the best bit so I'm happy with choice.
Now to the other reason I starved myself of energy, the viewpoint. Box Hill has a beautiful viewpoint over Dorking and the surrounding countryside, there's several local places that have similar views, but this one is my favourite, I've come here many times and it never disappoints.
Conclusion
Unlike other towns when I can remark on my likeliness to return, I live here, and love there area so much. I'm a gentle soul at heart, and this fits me to a tee.
There is likely to be a part two of the Dorking reviews, firstly, because it’s on my doorstep and secondly, because its a dream to alcoholics of the non-recovering variety.
With a small chance of unconscious, my favourite beer and favourite wine both come from Dorking and I'm not even a fan of wine so the fact that I like this means to say it’s phenomenal or really bad. Stay tuned for that cliff-hanger!