OUR STORY

JULIAN CARTER
Co-Owner, Head Baker & 10th Generation Baker

Julian’s successful career; started in the family Bakery in Liverpool, he then joined the RAF as a chef and later cooked for three years for John Major, when he was Prime Minister in Downing Street and Chequers. He joined the brigade at Hambleton Hall, cooking Michelin starred meals and quickly rising to become second chef, where he remained for some 9 years.

Julian is an enthusiast and generous teacher sharing his knowledge with employees, customers and all that will listen.

TIM HART
Co-Owner & Restaurateur

A Rutland based entrepreneur who founded Hambleton Hall (1980) Harts Restaurant (1997) Harts Hotel (2003) and Hambleton Bakery (2008).

THE BAKERY

Hambleton bakery was formed as a partnership between Julian and Tim to make top quality bread for the existing restaurants. The success of the product led to the opening of six shops and more than 150 wholesale accounts. The product range was gradually expanded to include cakes and savouries which share our bread philosophy. The best ingredients, no additives and traditional recipes.

A landmark moment came in 2012 when the Bakery was the outright winner of the ITV programme “Britain’s Best Bakery” to choose the country’s best small bakery.

We now deliver throughout our region bounded by Chatsworth and Doddington Hall to the North and Peterborough and Northampton to the south.

HAMBLETON BAKERY AND ITS PHILOSOPHY

“I STILL WANTED TO BE A BRITISH BAKER AND MAKE BRITISH PRODUCTS, BUT I WANTED TO MODERNISE THE WAY WE DO IT.”

“EMPLOYING ARTISAN BAKERS, SKILLED CHEFS AND CONFECTIONERS WE PRODUCE TRADITIONAL BREADS, SAVOURIES AND CAKES; USING THE BEST LOCAL INGREDIENTS, WHEREVER POSSIBLE; PRODUCING THEM WITHOUT ANY ADDITIVES, USING LONG ESTABLISHED RECIPES”
— JULIAN CARTER, CO-OWNER & HEAD BAKER

THE TASTE

Initially the aim was to rediscover the taste of good bread. Not the taste of sugar, cheese, onions, olives, sundried tomatoes, but the magical flavour that can be conjured from unadulterated flour, salt and water using the slow, traditional processes that made the bread that fed our ancestors.

KEEPING IT LOCAL

The Bakery is supplied by a network of producers from across the country, as well as a significant number from the East Midland region.

Waste is minimised. Any unsold stock goes back to local farms and suppliers – we never throw any of it away.

TODAY

Hambleton Bakery has grown to supply eight Hambleton Bakery shops, Hambleton Hall, Harts Nottingham, many farm shops and delis across the surrounding counties as well as restaurants, gastro pubs and artisan cafes. The network of wholesale customers continues to grow and spreads more widely word of the health benefits of traditional artisan bread and cake making. More recently the Elite Athlete Centre & Hotel in Loughborough University, has become a customer of ours; this University train some of our finest athletes and Olympians, who demand high nutritional standards.

TRADITIONAL BREAD MAKING

Hambleton Bakery use stoneground flour wherever possible to retain the vitamins and minerals contained in the germ. Many of our loaves use sourdough culture (developed from wild yeast) for a longer and slower fermentation and where we do use Bakers’ yeast, long fermentations are still employed. The sourdough system starts by allowing a flour and water mix to ferment naturally. The beer barm method, popular in England, captures some yeasts from the brewing process to make a ‘starter’. In both systems the yeast is relatively weak and used in small doses in conjunction with long fermentation periods up to 24 hours. Long fermentations, and stoneground flour underpin the flavour and nutritious quality of our breads.

KEEPING BREAD TRADITIONAL

Hambleton Bakery’s bread is completely free of additives of any kind – no preservatives, no enzymes, no enhancers so how well does it keep without them?

Luckily, slow fermentation encourages the development of lactobacilli in the dough which create lactic acid, responsible for the slightly sour taste of sourdough bread. Lactic acid naturally inhibits the growth of mould therefore we expect our breads to last up to a week before signs of mould growth occur.

Bread should not be kept in a refrigerator which has a drying effect so is best kept in a bread bin at ambient temperatures. Staling is the process by which starch in the bread gradually hardens and it can be reversed by warming bread in the oven or toasting. Refreshing bread this way means you can enjoy your loaf over a number of days if you haven’t already eaten it!