Leakers News

Tally Ho!  It's a new Loaf

We are thrilled to have teamed up with Palmers Brewery to create a delicious hand-made bread with Tally Ho!, an award-winning fine ale brewed by the Bridport brewery.  Tally Ho!is a fantastically rich, strong beer and we knew the wonderful flavour would shine through. We’ve combined it with rye and white flour from Stoates Cann Mill Shaftesbury to create a loaf that will appeal to fans of real ale and real bread. There is a long history of brewers and bakers working side by side, because we both use yeast!’    Cleeves Palmer, Sales and Marketing Director at Palmers Brewery has given it his seal of approval; ‘The bread tastes delicious" The loaf is now available to try and buy at Leakers and will be sampled every day during Bridport Food Festival.

Leakers on the Road

Bournemouth was the location as we recently had the opportunity to talk bread with wide range of great chefs, restaurant, hotel and guest house owners at the Hotel and Catering Exhibition.  Then it was up to Birmingham, this time for the bi-annual Food Expo, a truly massive trade show that we always enjoy visiting. It's a great source of new ingredients and ideas - from coconut flour or dried mulberries to new toppings (pictured).

Feeding the Hungry Sailors

We were delighted to welcome the Hungry Sailors to the bakery to show them how to make our Dorset Apple Cake.  Aired on ITV on the 23rd January Dick and James Strawbridge visited several Bridport food producers and were keen to get hands-on with local food.  Jo Leaker (pictured) showed the boys the secret behind the origninal Leaker family recipe and both men managed to polish off a whole cake each.  We were impressed by their appetites - but that's the sea air for you!

Hairy Bikers Say Hello

In Bridport on their quest to find great British food the Hairy Bikers were not disappointed.  The cameras venutured behind the scenes at Leakers to the bakery at the rear of the shop where bakery owner Caroline Parkins told viewers about the history of bread and spelt flour before taking to the streets for a taste test.  Needless to say, it was the spelt sourdough that came out first for great flavour.

Many traditional Christmas desserts demand hours of stirring, feeding alcohol general and general faff.   So here’s a festive pudding from the Leakers kitchen which makes the most of the warm seasonal flavours of orange, almonds and fruits and is as easy to make as falling off a Yule Log.

Many traditional Christmas desserts demand hours of stirring, feeding alcohol general and general faff.   So here’s a festive pudding from the Leakers kitchen which makes the most of the warm seasonal flavours of orange, almonds and fruits and is as easy to make as falling off a Yule Log.

For 4 Portions: Mix together 50g each of dried chopped mango, chopped dried apricots, chopped dried prunes, toasted flaked almonds and halved glace cherries and stir in the zest of an orange before covering with amaretto and a glug of orange for at least 24 hours.  Covered, this will sit happily in the fridge for over a month, but it’s not necessary to soak for that long!

Whip 500ml cream then break up some Amaretti biscuits or for a wheat-free option use meringues.   Then either fold with whipped cream or layer (pictured) for a truly fuss-free festive pud!

However - if nothing but Christmas Pudding will do - then try a Leakers 1lb or 2lb pud - available here.

Eat Dorset at Parnham House

We're looking forward to taking part in this year's Eat Dorset food fair which takes place on the weekend of the 15 & 16 October in the glorious setting of Parhham House.  Leakers will be there alongside a host of other producers and chefs including Lesley Walters and Valentine Warner.  Entrance is just £5 for adults and free for under 16s.

Eat Your Hatcakes!

Lots of fun was had once again during this year's Cupcake Week as a riot of colourful creations emerged from the Leakers Bakehouse.  Cake couturier turned milliner Zoe Bevis fashioned a variety of Hat Cakes in celebration of Bridport Hat Festival alonside last year's favourite Banoffee Pie.  Also recreated were Lemon & Thyme and Rasbperry & Elderflower, voted Best in Show by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall at this year's Bridport Food Festival Bake Off.

Scones Win Great Taste Award

We scooped a rather lovely Gold Star for our no added sugar Fruit scones at this year's Great Taste Awards. Organised by the Fine Food Guild the Awards have been described as the "epicurian equivalent of the Booker Prize" so why not try one of our scones with your next cream tea!

World's Largest Ploughman's Lunch

Leakers were delighted to take part in an attempt to create the world's largest Ploughmans at the Foodies Festival. The sculpture included over 1 tonne of Seriously Strong cheddar and over 200 loaves of large white and granary bread from Leakers Bakery. Food artists and specialist set builders also used 21 Kilos of lettuce, 60 kilos of tomatoes, 1,500 spring onions, 6,500 pickled onions, 100 litres of pickle and 175 kilos of butter to create the World Record attempt. Festival-goers had the chance to experience the full magnitude of the sculpture "Alice in Wonderland" style before it was dismantled and shared into 1,000 Ploughman's lunches amongst spectators to enjoy.

Roundtable at Leakers
Great fun and much merriment was enjoyed as members from Bridport's Round Table visited the bakery. Keen to get "hands-on" the 'tablers were soon creating some excellent loaves which were placed in the bakery ovens while the group enjoyed a mince pie and some mulled cider. We were very impressed with their work – good effort lads!

Real Bread Campaign
We are proud to have been invited to join the Real Bread Campaign which is already making great strides in encouraging people to rediscover the delicious flavour of locally produced bread.