Freshly baked bread - could this be the smell of heaven?

Don't get me wrong, I love having a gift and home shop but I'm also a daydreamer and have a long list of other types of business I'd like to run.  Bookshop (dying breed), deli and cafe are top of the list but after this morning, I'll be adding bakery as well.

Beverley has its own bread shop.  Hurrah!  I posted briefly about the rolls I bought last week but promised I'd say more, so here it is.

Tucked away in a little yard off Ladygate is where you'll find the newly opened Bread Shed.

As you open the door, the most delicious smell of freshly baking bread hits you and you know you're in for a treat.

The owner bakes fresh batches all day long with the first loaves coming out of the oven at around 10am.  This morning our white loaf was still warm and temptingly soft.  It took all our willpower not to tuck in to it there and then.

It's a tiny place but perfectly formed.  The building is lovely, freshly painted and spotlessly clean.  The counter area is tiny which is as it should be because most of the room is given up to the important stuff - the preparation area, fridges and ovens.

You can see the bags of high quality Shipton Mill flour stacked on the side of the shop and their blackboard tells you exactly what you're getting.

This is a place to come if you believe in quality and tradition.  Don't come expecting a sliced white or even if you desperately want something specific.  Come instead to see what's baking.  It changes daily with the seasons or just because it's fun and exciting to change things up and use different ingredients.  If you want to know what's in the oven today, your best bet is to follow them on Twitter for their daily update.  Tradition and technology working in perfect harmony.  Love it.

Today we went in on the way to work thinking we'd pick up some rolls for bacon sarnies tomorrow morning but when we arrived, there were freshly baked croissants and pain au chocolat just out of the oven.  It took all of about a second to decide that we wanted them instead.  Seriously, how could we resist....?

I noticed too that they're selling small bags of Shipton Mill flour at the counter.  Last year I got quite into baking my own bread which I can highly recommend both for the fact that it makes you feel like a domestic goddess and because there's something strangely calming about it.  Turns out the trick to a crusty loaf is a hot oven for the first 10 minutes and a few ice cubes thrown in a baking tray at the bottom to create steam that helps the crust form.  Here's my effort from earlier this week - the best I've managed so far.

I haven't ventured far beyond an ordinary white loaf but now that I know where to come for quality flour, I may just get a little more experimental.