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Time Out
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The UK's best loaf of bread has been crowned for 2025
Good bread is one of life's greatest pleasures. If you ask us, few things beat a perfectly chewy slice of sourdough, a gorgeously crisp slab of focaccia or a warm, steaming roll of ciabatta. The joy of bread is that it comes in all sorts of different shapes, sizes and flavours. But which one is the greatest of them all? Every year, British Baker evaluates hundreds of loaves of bread to determine which one can be called the very best in the country. For 2025 a lemon and earl grey tea brioche from Kuma-San Bakehouse in Derbyshire was awarded the grand title of Britain's Best Loaf. The judging panel, made up of 14 experts from Britain's bread industry, praised the sweet, squidgy bake for its 'unique flavour profile featuring earl grey tea and limoncello-soaked candied lemon peel, combined with lemon curd and juice for a zesty, aromatic finish'. Finished off with white chocolate and pearl sugar, one judge said it was a bread that 'took you on a journey' to the Italian Riviera. The loaf was created by Japanese baker Miyo Aoetsu, who won the top prize back in 2023 too, for her matcha, white chocolate and fruit loaf. She told BBC News that the key ingredient of this year's winning loaf is the Japanese citrus fruit, yuzu. Aoetsu revealed that she made around 45 loaves before she felt that she had nailed it. She added: 'In the last few years in Japan, the combination of earl grey tea and citrus fruits like lemon has been really trendy so people make a lot of cakes and cookies with these. 'So I started to think about making a bread with these combinations... I like the subtle aroma of tea when used in baking. 'I baked and baked and baked until I was confident it would be ready for the competition.' There were eight categories in this year's awards. The lemon and earl grey brioche also won in the innovation category while the prize for best flavoured sourdough went to Cumbrian bakery Lovingly Artisan's dark chocolate malt and orange loaf and best wholegrain went to the rye sourdough with sunflower seeds by Oxford's Natural Bread. The overall prize for best loaf has remained in Derbyshire for the past three years, with the 2024 title going to 4 Eyes Bakery in Chesterfield for its garlic and rosemary deep pan focaccia.
BBC News
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Lemon and Earl Grey brioche crowned Britain's best loaf
A brioche bread infused with lemon and Earl Grey tea has been crowned Britain's best loaf. On a roll, Miyo Aoetsu - who started baking as a hobby - has now won the prize for the second time after her green loaf flavoured with matcha, white chocolate and fruit scooped the 2023 runs Kuma-San Bakehouse from her home in Darley Dale in Derbyshire, supplying businesses and baking loaves for customers to told the BBC she was delighted with the top award, and added: "I was speechless when I won... I was very, very happy, I was almost screaming on the stage." The bread won top spot in the Britain's Best Loaf competition, run by trade magazine British Baker, and also won in the Innovation said the loaf - which beat 200 others to the prize - impressed them with its "unique flavour profile" featuring Earl Grey tea and limoncello-soaked candied lemon peel, combined with lemon curd and juice for a "zesty, aromatic finish".Miyo, 55, said the limoncello gave the loaf "a kick" but the secret ingredient was a Japanese citrus fruit - commonly known as said: "In the last few years in Japan, the combination of Earl Grey tea and citrus fruits like lemon has been really trendy so people make a lot of cakes and cookies with these."So I started to think about making a bread with these combinations... I like the subtle aroma of tea when used in baking." But she added it was not a perfect bake from the start and made "about 45 loaves" before she was satisfied with the finished product."I baked and baked and baked until I was confident it would be ready for the competition," she winning for the second time on 8 April, Miyo added: "There's always a chance but I didn't really think it would happen... but when they called my name I was speechless but I was really glad and happy because of the effort I had put in."Born in Tokushima, about 93 miles (150km) from Osaka, Miyo first moved to the UK to study at the University of Manchester, where she met her couple later lived in Luxembourg and France, where Miyo got a taste for French bread. She then started baking her own bread after moving back to England. The prestigious award has not left Derbyshire since Miyo won with her green loaf in 2023. Last year, 4 Eyes Bakery, based in Staveley near Chesterfield, won with its garlic and rosemary deep pan focaccia creation."It's a great thing to keep the award here," Miyo said."I know Tom [at 4 Eyes Bakery] who won it last year... he's an excellent baker and I'm glad this award remains in the county."To have it still in Derbyshire is a wonderful thing because the quality of bread in this area is fantastic."On her next creation, Miyo said: "I'm always interested in combining both Western and Japanese cultures in my baking... I'm experimenting all of the time."
