White Cottage Bakery & Baking School

24/09/2026

Next Scandinavian workshop: October 22nd.

We'll be making buns galore together with Scandinavian bread and crispbread.

The Norwegian equivalent to hygge, is koselig.

It's where we get our word 'cosy'.

And, no wonder. The Scandis know a thing or two about spending their days as the nights draw in.

So join us next month, just before the clocks go back, and together we'll embrace the shorter days and cooler weather.

Where better to be than in the kitchen, baking.

Helen x

https://www.whitecottagebakery.com/store/p45/SCANDINAVIAN_BAKING.html

White Cottage Bakery is an artisan bakery in the South Cambridgeshire area, offering a range of bread-making courses for beginners, experts, and everyone in between.

20/09/2026

I was looking through a pile of old cookery books and came across this .

Ten years ago, the team behind the Great Taste Awards published a cookbook highlighting some of their award winners. This was back in the day when we were still running as a bakery as well as a training kitchen.

I'm not sure if they ever published another - it must have taken so much work to compile - but it was a beautiful publication.

Anyway, here we are, nestled within its pages. It was a very proud moment for us - recipe development has always been a big part of what I do and being recognised for your contribution gives a little thrill.

Ten years on, I'm still developing new recipes but, I have to say, I don't miss the long arduous hours of running a bakery and baking school concurrently. Looking back, I don't know how I did it. Being ten years younger helped, I guess! That headshot certainly has a much fresher face than the one that habitually stares back at me now!

Enjoy your weekend. Why not make yourself a coffee and sit down with a pile of old cookery books for inspiration? Who knows what you might find!

Helen x

19/09/2026

Join us this October for our Middle Eastern Breads workshop. Working our way around the Levant, we'll be exploring different flatbreads and techniques from various regions, incorporating delicious spices along the way and making our very own spice mixes. For lunch you'll be making Turkish pide (my latest obsession) - the most heavenly, delicious street food. If you're a big pizza fan, we're going to have you questioning your core beliefs.

Next class October 7th. Hope to see you there...

https://www.whitecottagebakery.com/store/p30/Middle_Eastern_Flatbreads.html

Helen x

13/09/2026

This Autumn we're heading back to in Tuscany for a week of baking in the castle kitchen! We'll be making bread, of course, but we'll be throwing ourselves into the Italian way of life: eating delicious food, drinking wine, making fresh pasta, making pecorino cheese and ricotta, foraging the local hills, picking olives, wine tasting, excursions to local heritage grain growers and Roman baths...

Enjoy fine company, good conversation and a great deal of fun.

Novices always welcome! Check out the website for more information.

A few places are still available and we'd love to see you there. The days should be warm with open fires in the evenings.

Come join us!

Charlotte Castello di Potentino and Helen White Cottage Bakery & Baking School 😊🍷🥖

https://www.whitecottagebakery.com/baking-retreat-tuscany-italy.html
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc70Ojpotig/?stkn=MXJudG5ncXVlenNlMg==

12/09/2026

Well, here we are. Gorgeous Autumn mornings with a definite chill in the air. A welcome relief after the summer we've had here in the UK.

The new term has begun and we were delighted to welcome a group of sourdough students last week. This week will be a basic artisan baking workshop - I think we still have two last minute spaces available.

Lots of exciting classes lead up to the busy Christmas period. We have a Baguettes and More French class coming up at the end of the month, followed by an Italian workshop (hoping my basil glut lasts so we can make fresh pesto for the bread).

Early October we have our new Breads of the Levant class, making Lebanese, Persian and Turkish breads (my latest obsession). More sourdough workshops (of course!) and then our new Scandi Bakes class (both bread and sweet buns!).

In November, I shall be teaching at our 6-night Baking Retreat over in Tuscany - the places are filling up but we still have rooms available if you'd like to join us there and get a little last minute warmth in your bones before the Winter chills, then straight into Christmas workshops throughout December. They are selling out fast, as ever, so we've just put an extra date on.

Dates for the Spring will be going up in the next couple of weeks and don't forget vouchers are available from our website all year round.

Hope to see some of you soon for some Autumnal baking!

Helen x

https://www.whitecottagebakery.com/book-workshops.html

27/07/2026

Well, the currants, cherries and apricots are over and the plums hard on their heels (my Opals are a delicious early variety). I'm picking the mulberries regularly, the mirabelles won't be long and the gages are 'à point'. Not sure when the figs will be ready - it's early yet but they turn so suddenly and it's been so hot and dry for so long...

I baked the last of the apricots with honey and thyme and served them with some pistachios roasted in a little maple syrup and some delicious whipped goats cheese. Barely a recipe really, but deliciously light and fresh for a summer lunch in the garden.

I love to serve my summer fruit with something tangy - usually with whatever is in the fridge and needs using up. If there's some soft goats cheese in the mix, all the better.

This was a some Welsh soft goats cheese whipped with a little leftover marscapone, some proper Greek yogurt - I have never understood 0% fat Greek yogurt! The fat's the best bit! It's like having low-fat lardons - and finished with some double cream and about a dessertspoon of sifted icing sugar. But it's always different, depending on what needs using up. Recommend the goats cheese as a base, though! You won't regret it.

The only good thing to say about this relentless dry, hot weather is that, for once, you can rely on the garden or the park as a venue! Make the most of it!

I am!

Hx

30/06/2026

I threw together a batch of olive oil dough to take to friends over the weekend. I love how easy it is to knock something up from the most basic of ingredients - flour, oil, water, salt and yeast.

Here we have the prepped focaccia, ready for the oven - I went with a caramelised onion and za'atar one (which I finished with pomegranate molasses and coriander), one with roasted tomato, roast garlic, olives and fresh oregano and finally a simple sesame and nigella seed one I kept for myself. I could, of course, have simply thrown salt and a few herbs on. No frills. Delicious.

This is such a great time of year for sharing food - picnics and barbecues and garden gatherings. And wherever people gather, there will always be bread. And good bread will always be a focal point.

If your bread game is a little rusty or you'd simply love to learn, we have a few spaces left in the next couple weeks before we break for the summer recess when it gets too hot (oh, the irony of the past couple of weeks!).

There are a couple of spaces on next week's Baguettes and More Workshop and, due to a late cancellation, we have one space only on our Sourdough Workshop on Friday 10th July which is the last chance to join us for sourdough before the Autumn.

And finally, we still have spaces on our Breads of the Levant Workshop on Thursday 16th July, where we'll make wonderful flatbreads with delicious Middle Eastern flavours and fragrant spices - the perfect accompaniment to Ottolenghi-style salads over the summer.

These are the last workshops before the Autumn Term and late cancellations have opened up some that have been long booked up, so do check out availability if you'd like to come along.

Hope to see you there!

Hx

https://www.whitecottagebakery.com/book-workshops.html

27/04/2026

Pretty much getting to the end of the season for wild garlic here in Cambridgeshire. In some ways it's easier to identify once it's in full flower - the tell-tale white flowering carpet. However, it's harder to pick safely now as the past two to three weeks have seen the understory flourish.

To get at the wild garlic leaves, we have to push aside the burgeoning dogs mercury and cuckoo pint, both of which are toxic. Easily enough done, when picking with care. But then, why would you rush such a joyful endeavour with just the birdsong as a soundtrack?

This wild garlic will be a treat in store for this week's Italian Breadmaking class - we'll be using it to make pesto and then use it to fill some of our delicious olive oil picnic bread. We might also use a few dollops on our hand-thrown pizze. If you're free this Wednesday and can book by tomorrow am, there's still a couple of places left.

Next week, we have our Baguettes and More class (fully booked), but there's still space on our Intro to Artisan Baking the following week. The week after's Sourdough has sold out, but we still have spaces in July. Next month's Levant is sold out, but again, we have spaces in July.

Hoping we'll see some of you soon. Happy foraging!

16/04/2026

Wild garlic (or ramps) everywhere around us here at the mo. If you have a bluebell wood nearby, chances are there will be some wild garlic lurking. It's just coming into flower, here in Cambridgeshire, which makes it much easier to identify if you're unsure of exactly what to look for. The little white allium flowers are easy to spot and are edible too.

Last week it was wild garlic soup (roast garlic, celery, leek, broccoli, courgette, cavolo nero, parsley, veg stock and copious handfuls of wild garlic). I basically emptied the fridge of anything green and fresh, cooked them all down well then threw in the foraged greens, stock and seasoning with a splash of lemon juice. Delicious.

This week, I wanted to use up some mushrooms, cream and defrosted filo leftover from the Easter weekend. The rest of the leftovers could be frozen (I always manage to over-cater when family and friends descend) but these three needed using up.

I fried off the mushrooms in some butter before adding some sliced roasted garlic (I keep a store 'sott'olio' in the fridge) and a generous splash of marsala. I then wilted the wild garlic in the pan with the mushrooms, finally adding some double cream, seasoning and a handful grated Grana Padano and cooked for a few minutes. Once the sauce had thickened a little, I allowed the mixture to cool before layering up the filo with melted butter and piling the mix inside, scrunching the overlapping pastry back over the edges. Baked at 180C until golden. Quick and simple but sooo tasty!

What next? We still have a week or two left of the season...