I've been sent some delicious bread products from
Bakestone (feel free to check out their website) in return for a review
Little bit of info...
Bakestone are a company based in the North of England and was created over 30 years ago by Manchester born baker Howard Hunter. It still operates as a family run company. Bakestone make tasty treats such as bread, rolls, potato cakes, scones, lush fruitfuls, muffins and barms to name but a few...all of which are made from only the finest ingredients and contain no artificial preservatives! They supply local convenience stores and Aldi shops throughout the North West and have recently started selling in the North East too, including Newcastle (which pleases me no end)...so keep a lookout!
What I was sent....
In the box are (from left to right)
Pack of Oven Bottom Muffins
Pack of Potato Cakes
Pack of Fruited Scones
Pack of Lush Fruitfuls
Loaf of Medium Sliced Wholemeal Bread (Extra Long)
As you can see, that's quite a collection...yummy!
Oven Bottom Muffins
I'll be perfectly honest here, i'd never tried oven bottom muffins until I tried these, so had absolutely no idea what to expect. Each one was, for me, baked to perfection...the colour was neither too dark nor too light. I tried these with a little jam on as I don't like butter (my other half buttered his, hence the pic) and I have to say, they were really rather tasty! The texture was very light so they didn't lie too heavy and they had quite a distinct taste too...delicious!
Potato Cakes
Again, this wasn't a product I was familiar with, but i'm all for trying new things! This though was so new to me, that I didn't even know how to eat it or what with!! I tried it warmed but on it's own first and yummy.....I could see that I was gonna enjoy the rest of my taste testing. You can taste the potato but it's not too overpowering, and it's certrainly a bit different to toast or bread. Next, I decided to try them with scrambled eggs and a dollop of sauce. I loved them. Not only are they very tasty, but they are so versatile too...even my kids were impressed!
Fruited Scones
These are what I made a beeline for...I absolutely adore fruit scones! The scone half on the left was mine (butterless) and the other half was my man's (buttered) and his definately looked the most appealing - they'd be gorgeous with a dollop of clotted cream! I certainly wasn't disappointed, they were nicely baked and had a real fruitiness to them. To top it off, they melted lovely in your mouth. There was just the right amount of fruit and again, they were cooked to perfection. I sometimes find scones a little dry, but these were perfect and not under/overcooked.
Lush Fruitfuls
These are just like teacakes, and the best way I find to eat teacakes is, yes, you've guessed it...toasted and covered in jam! For review purposes, I did however try one without anything on it...just plain, and that left me stuck in two minds as to whether I actually wanted a toasted one, or just another plain one. Either way, I wanted more!! Full of flavour, nice consistency and delicious whether plain, jammed or toasted...the choice is yours, but i'd definately recommend these.
Wholemeal Medium Sliced Bread (Long Loaf)
Fabulous! I go through bread like it's nobody's business, so the idea of a 'Long Loaf' really appeals to me. My household don't usually eat anything other than white bread, but due to this review, we made an exception(at least some of us did anyway). Like many things, we were split straight down the middle with my youngest and other half both refusing to even try "because it's brown bread". My olest and myself however, couldn't wait to try it. No surprise that my first slice was just dried bread...what better way to test it? Admittedly, i'm not a huge fan of brown bread, but I actually found this to be really tasty. My only complaint would be that I prefer thick bread as oppose to medium sliced, but both are available so that's not a problem. Toasted, this was very tasty indeed. Accompanied with a smidgen of butter and, although not to everybody's taste, a healthy spreading of Marmite, this quickly became my new daytime snack, and it's healthy too!! My oldest daughter has asked if we can continue buying brown bread, so a thumbs up from her too!
More Information
If you want to know anything more about the above products or the company, please check out the
Bakestone website.
You can also find them on facebook
Bakestone Bread - why not pop along and 'like' their page, or if you prefer, you can follow on twitter
@Mrbakestone
Although I received the above products free of charge in return for a review, all opinions given are my own, and since we're not all the same, your own may differ!
