Hairy Bikers - The Hairy Bikers’ Brilliant Bakes

Wed like to dedicate this book to our mams, who filled our childhoods with the scent of wonderful baking and fantastic memories that we carry with us to this day.

Thats what the old song says and its dead right. Whether a chocolate cake, a simple loaf or a savoury pie, baking is an expression of love. It delivers on all counts the anticipation, the aroma, the eating.

Some years ago, we were lucky enough to meet the late, great actor and comedian Ronnie Corbett. His father had been a master baker and Ronnie himself made good bread. He told us that when he visited friends, he would always take along a loaf of home-made bread, rather than wine or chocolates. It always goes down much better than anything else, he said. And we agree. You put yourself into a home bake, its something to share, something really special.

Nothing says home, welcome and comfort like baking that might sound like a clich, but its true. Ask any estate agent and theyll tell you that the smell of a loaf of bread cooking in the oven can help them sell a house. Weve always had a great tradition of baking in this country and in recent years that has only grown stronger particularly during the pandemic when many people were at home more and maybe had a bit of extra time on their hands. Were all embracing and enjoying baking more than ever.

When we first started on our Hairy Biker career, we did three TV series that involved us being on the road in different countries and cooking with charcoal ovens and a gas jet. Not much room for baking! But we both love making bread and cakes and we love our pies, so in 2008 we pitched an idea for a series featuring us travelling around the UK, discovering the best bread, cakes, pies and so on. That series was called the Hairy Bakersand we learned a lot and had fun. A few years later we filmed a series called Bakeationin which we visited various European countries and investigated their baking traditions. But what weve been hankering for recently is the chance to get back to the baking culture we know and love from our childhoods, the baking thats part of our heritage, and thats what this book is all about some much-loved classics, some twists on old favourites and plenty of brand-new ideas we know youre going to enjoy.

One of the things that we love about baking is the strongly regional nature of it. To name just a few, there are the stotties of Newcastle, Grasmere gingerbread from Cumbria, the gipsy tart of Kent, bannocks in Scotland, saffron buns in Cornwall, Welsh cakes and Lincolnshire plum bread. Recently we heard about pinkies. Pinkies are a sort of sponge cake with jam and pink icing and theres a whole culture around them, but only in Sunderland. There are fiercely fought competitions to find out who makes the best pinkies. Who knew?

And lets not forget: baking is not all about cakes and biscuits. There are so many wonderful savoury bakes think of cheese, onion and potato pies, meat pasties, cheesy biscuits. When we were growing up, every northern household had a special plate for making plate pies usually an old one, probably a bit chipped. The pie had a filling of mince and was served with chips. We both still love our plate pies.

Another important point is that somehow, home-made is always best. Sausage rolls are a great example. Even if you just squeeze the meat from a good sausage and wrap it up in some bought puff pastry, they will still be incredible. Everyone loves them and no shop-bought roll can compare. And that home-baked loaf of bread that you slice before you really should, still warm from the oven, gives you more of a thrill than anything you can buy.

So, big love to all of you out there with flour in your hair and pastry on your fingers. We hope you enjoy making these bakes as much as weve enjoyed creating them.

Si

Some of my very earliest memories are to do with baking the smell of baking in the house, helping my mam make the bread. We never bought bread or cakes or biscuits, everything was made at home. And if Mam didnt have time, my Auntie Hilda would rock up with something. There was always cake. Eventually, Ginny, my older sister, got into it all too it was part of the culture of our household.