Scotland’s Larder: Rachel Morgan and Emily Cuddeford from Twelve Triangles Bakery
They use a number of flours from different mills and Rachel explains: "we try to get a nice range from lots of different UK producers; Mungoswells, from East Lothian, Cann Mills, Yorkshire Organic Millers, Shipton Mill, Scotland the Bread and Gilchesters.
Life and loaves
Rachel talks us through Twelve Triangles range of bread, "The big hitters, are the white sourdough Khorasan, made with seeds, a white Porridge sourdough, made with oats and porridge, The Miche, which is a larger more rugged loaf with a few different flours, a multi-seed, a wholemeal, a local rye cube, and baguettes, loads of baguettes."
Rachel said, we also have others, "as a nice treat, like Challah, a Jewish braided loaf on a Friday's and a sweet chocolate and fig loaf, and garlic cheese one at the weekend.
In addition, there are pastries galore; croissants and pain au chocolate, pistachio and cardamom knots, maple pecan swirl, sourdough pumpkin buns and a kimchi swirl, which is laminated with cheese. Rachel adds, "I love the almond croissant."
Rachel admits freely to being obsessed with bread, "I'm not very good at cutting off, anytime we go anywhere it is usually based around bread. If we are taking a trip anywhere, I'm like, where is the nearest bakery? It is all-consuming, and like any business, there is very little distinction between the business and my life. "
Juggling family life and business is a constant challenge, and Rachel is married to husband, Chris and they have two children, 5-year-old Freddie and, 3-year-old Binky.
Luckily the entire family shares the passion for bread and likes to sample products from the bakery, Rachel said, "Freddie for the early parts of his life, subsisted mainly on cinnamon buns."
Daily bread
Rachel explains to us more about the art of breadmaking, "there is a level of science, but so much of it is about intuition, how it feels, smells and looks," she said.
Rachel adds, "we have lots of regular customers and most of our shops are in residential areas, so for a lot of people it is their daily bread which is a really nice thing."
Obviously, if you are coeliac then bread is not going to be part of your diet but Rachel is keen to point out some of the benefits, "sourdough is full of things that actually contribute to an overall balanced diet, a lot of people talk about how the gut is a brain of its own, and that you need to have a healthy microbiome to make you feel good."
"If you have a well-made sourdough loaf, full of stone-ground flour you don't need to eat five slices to feel sustained, you won't feel horribly bloated and you won't feel like you have eaten something you shouldn't be eating. In general, good bread is incredible for you, and the cultures that we use are really good for you," she said.
