Australia’s oldest continually running bakery at Maldon is reopening its doors to the public this week.
Established in 1854, the bakery is home to a rare wood-fired scotch oven, believed to be the oldest brick structure in all of Maldon.
New owner Rebecca Barnett comes from a family of five generations of bakers.
“It’s exciting to bring really good bread and cakes using traditional baking techniques and using amazing quality, and largely local, produce,” Rebecca said.
“We will be using locally grown, heritage wheat and organic raw sugar.
“The small old shop people remember will be reopened as a ‘grab and go’ for coffee, muffins etcetera, and the big shop will have the rest of the produce.
“We’ve hired a head chef who is renowned for his sourdough creations, a fantastic pastry chef, and Jody, who has worked at the bakery for the past 34 years, will continue serving the customers.”
What’s on the menu in the newly renovated bakery?
There will be the good old traditional meat pie, plus vegetarian and vegan options. Traditional buns, pizza slices from the oven, filled baguettes, delicious cakes, and some amazing sourdough bread and delicacies from head baker John Downes.
John was one of the first on the sourdough bread scene in the early 1980s. He has studied gastronomy and history and is the author of a number of books including The Sourdough Loaf.
John is planning to introduce some wonderful new and (very very) old items to the menu. Perhaps the most exciting of these will be Barm Bread, the type of bread originally made in the bakery’s scotch oven when it was built in the mid-1800s.
“I found a clue about the bread in an old baking book from the 1940s and I went back to the UK to perfect the recipe,” John said. “It’s a traditional Scottish, English and Irish bread, made from beer yeast, which we will be importing from Germany.”
John is currently training Rebecca and a young local 18-year-old boy about the traditional methods of baking.
Maldon Historic Bakery is located at 53-55 Main Street and will be open Wednesday through to Sunday.
Call in and see the incredible transformations that have taken place and try some old-worldly goods that will transport you through time.